Most Popular National Parks

You may be surprised by some of the parks listed on the top ten list of most visited parks. Is your favorite park included?

These ratings are for the year 2015 and were calculated by the National Park Service:

Over the years, our national parks have thrilled generations including the 305 million visitors in the record breaking year of 2015. Yet, there are many people who have never experienced the natural wonders of a national park.

The United States boasts 59 national parks, some more well known than others. Not all of our 50 states and territories feature these national treasures. Currently, there are national parks located in only 27 states. In addition, 2 territories have national parks, American Samoa and the United States Virgin Islands.

California with its 9 parks is the state with the most, Alaska is a close second with 8, followed by Utah with 5. Following is a list of the parks located in those states:

All 3 of the states that are home to the most national parks are fortunate to have such diverse terrain, natural beauty and abundant wildlife. However, the state of Alaska is still uncharted territory for many vacationers who have not yet experienced what the 49th state has to offer. For a small glimpse of the Katmai National Park, there is a live webcam at Brooks Falls which features brown bears catching salmon for dinner.

Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest of our national parks with over 13.2 million acres. That's the size of Yellowstone National Park and the country of Switzerland put together!

Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas is the smallest park with less than 6,000 acres. It was established to protect the 47 hot springs that come out of Hot Springs Mountain at a temperature of 143 degrees. The water is perfectly safe to drink and many people bring bottles with them to fill up and take home.

The acreage of the largest and smallest parks mentioned here, along with the other 57 parks, make up an amazing total of almost 52 million acres which is the heritage of future generations.

President Ulysses S. Grant established Yellowstone as our first national park in 1872, Located in parts of 3 states, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, it has become one of the most popular parks, largely because of "Old Faithful", the well-known geyser.

California's Sequoia National Park is the second oldest park having been established in 1890 to protect the amazing sequoia trees that are some of the world's largest trees.

Also in 1890, Yosemite was christened as a national park. Located in California, it is home to North America's tallest waterfall.

From Arcadia to Zion, there is a national park waiting for you to explore. The National Park Service offers a website with information to assist you in planning a vacation or to provide a memorable "internet visit" for armchair travelers. Their "Find a Park" page has a map which makes it simple to locate a park in a particular state.

Whether you are camping, hiking, looking for that perfect photo, bird watching, or just sightseeing, our national parks have it all. Why not visit all 59 of them?