The Most Popular National Parks In The US

The most popular national parks include Big Bend National Park, Glacier Bay, Death Valley National Park, and others.

By Tiffany Velasquez | Published

popular national parks

There are 63 national parks in the United States of America. By name, some of the most well-known national parks are the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, and the Everglades. The most popular national parks include Blue Ridge Parkway, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, The Great Smokey Mountains, and the Golden Gate National Recreational Area.

National parks are set up to protect and preserve natural and semi-natural, or any piece of land that an entity with the highest jurisdiction claims to own. The government has set aside these pieces of land so that we can enjoy untouched fragments of the earth and keep balance within the ecosystem. Any of the 63 national parks could easily be considered the most popular national park.

California has nine total national parks, with some of the most notable being Yosemite National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, and Death Valley National Park. People travel worldwide to visit Yosemite National Park to take in the scenery, relax, and hike unknown land, making it undoubtedly one of the most popular national parks.

Following behind California, with the most popular national parks, is Alaska. The sovereign state of Alaska contains eight United States National Parks. Some of the most popular national parks in Alaska include Glacier Bay National Park, with 500,000 people visiting every single year, and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, with over 3 million visitors year after year.

People from all over flock to one of Alaska’s most popular national parks, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, for a sense of the gold rush feeling. In 1896, over 100,000 came to Alaska from Canada and America on a quest to find gold. Though changes are slim today to find a good chunk of gold, the site is considered a part of history, and the story still continues today.

For anyone traveling through Oklahoma, the Chickasaw National Recreational Area is one of the most popular national parks in the state. The Chickasaw people play a vital role in the history of what is now known as The United States Of America, and the park and surrounding area keep the spirits of the past alive. The Sooner State has 51 state parks and a vast network of wildlife preservation and conservation areas.

Texas, which contains a land surface of over 268,000 square miles, has two national parks. Guadalupe Mountain National Park and Big Bend National Park are the top two most popular national parks in the Lone Star State. Guadalupe National Park is unique because it protects the world’s most far-reaching Permian fossil reef.

The Guadalupe Mountains also contain the highest peak in the state at nearly 9,000 ft high. As for the other most popular national park in Texas, Big Ben is a must-see and spans over 1,200 square miles. Both parks are in the western portion of the state.

Each of the 63 national parks contains something unique and has been established as a national park for a very good reason. Consider planning a road trip to the nearest national park and then move further out. See as many as you can and then decide for yourself what is the most popular national park.