The new numbers are out. The National Park Service released its 2025 visitation data in March 2026, and we now have the official list of the least visited national parks in America.
We’ve spent years filming in many of these parks, and here’s the thing about this list. Least visited almost never means least worth visiting. It usually just means hardest to reach.
In this article we count down the 10 least visited national parks using official 2025 calendar-year data, explain why each one sits at the bottom, and tell you which ones deserve a spot on your list anyway.
At the bottom of this article, we’ve included the plain text detailed lists, including:
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- Top 10 Least Visited National Parks
- Least Visited National Parks in the Lower 48
- Complete List of All 63 National Parks Visitation Numbers
Table Of Contents – Least Visited National Parks
Overview of National Park Visits in 2025
The National Park Service recorded 323,014,305 recreation visits across the entire system in 2025. That’s a 2.7% dip from 2024’s all-time record of 331.9 million, which is remarkable considering a 43-day government shutdown left most parks short-staffed or closed for parts of October and November.
Parks Featured in This Guide
9 parks mapped — click a pin for details
Five of the ten least visited national parks are in Alaska. No roads will do that to a place.
The biggest story at the bottom of the list is a comeback. North Cascades National Park saw visitation jump 185% in 2025 after wildfires wrecked its 2024 season. Meanwhile Kobuk Valley reclaimed the title of America’s least visited national park, dropping from 17,233 visits in 2024 to just 7,786.
One key takeaway before we start the countdown. A park having low visitation doesn’t mean it’s:
- Easy to enter with no lines or wait times.
- Not worth making the effort to visit.
- A reflection of the quality of the park itself.
The Dry Tortugas ferry books out months in advance. Try telling those folks they picked an unpopular park.
US National Parks List & Map
Check out our Complete List of National Parks with detailed resources for each one, including FREE National Parks Maps, best hikes & trails, interesting facts, amazing things to do, & more.
10. Great Basin National Park
Location: Nevada, USA
2025 Visitation: 161,210
Our Favorite Resources: Things to Do| Map| Guidebook
Eastern Nevada’s Great Basin National Park rounds out the bottom ten with 161,210 visits in 2025. That’s actually a strong year for this park, and we’d argue it’s the best value on this entire list. It’s the only park in the bottom ten you can drive to on a paved road without a boat or a bush plane.
About Great Basin National Park
Great Basin holds Wheeler Peak, which stands at 13,063 feet, plus ancient bristlecone pines that were already old when Rome was founded. The real surprise lies underground. The Lehman Caves are the only place in Nevada with guided cave tours, and wild caving in roughly 40 other caves is allowed here with a permit, something you won’t find in most national parks with cave systems.
With some of the darkest skies in the United States, this International Dark Sky Park runs astronomy programs throughout the year, including an annual astronomy festival in September. We’ve filmed night skies all over the country. The ones here are hard to beat.
Want a road trip? Consider the Park to Park in the Dark route from Death Valley National Park to Great Basin.
9. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Location: Alaska, USA
2025 Visitation: 108,840
Our Favorite Resources: Guide| Map| Guidebook
The ninth least visited national park in 2025 was Wrangell-St. Elias with 108,840 visits. For a park that requires real effort to reach, crossing six figures is a quietly impressive showing.
About Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest national park in America at 13.2 million acres. If it were a state, it would be bigger than Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island combined. The park features 9 of the 16 tallest mountain peaks in the country.
Unlike most Alaska parks, you can actually drive into this one. The trek to McCarthy takes about 5 hours from Anchorage on a road that demands patience, but it puts you at the doorstep of the historic Kennecott Mines and Root Glacier.
It is a park of seemingly impossible landscapes, and the fact that a road reaches into the middle of it makes Wrangell the most accessible of Alaska’s wilderness giants.
READ: Our detailed Wrangell St Elias National Park Guide
8. Dry Tortugas National Park
Location: Florida, USA
2025 Visitation: 89,355
Our Favorite Resources: Guide| Facts
Dry Tortugas logged 89,355 visits in 2025, and calling it unpopular is flat wrong. Just 1% of this park sits on land. The other 99% is on and under the water. The bottleneck is boats, not interest.
About Dry Tortugas National Park
What was once a strategic fort 70 miles west of Key West is now one of the most unusual parks in the system. Fort Jefferson remains remarkably intact, ringed by water so clear it looks rendered.
Getting here requires a seaplane or the Yankee Freedom ferry from Key West. Once there, folks snorkel, swim, camp, and wander the fort. Despite the “least visited” label, the ferry books up months in advance and campsites are critically hard to come by.
No facilities are available on the island, and ferries and planes have weight limits, so pack smart. Given how early this park sells out, you’ll have plenty of time to strategize what to bring.
READ: Our detailed Dry Tortugas Guide
7. North Cascades National Park
Location: Washington, USA
2025 Visitation: 46,925
Our Favorite Resources: Map| Guidebook| Where to Stay| Things to Do| Best Hikes
North Cascades National Park recorded 46,925 visits in 2025. Here’s the wild part. That’s a 185% increase over 2024, when wildfires gutted the park’s season. The rebound made North Cascades the fastest-growing park in the entire system, and it still landed seventh from the bottom.
Why the North Cascades Numbers Mislead
North Cascades is part of a three-unit complex alongside Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas, much like Sequoia and Kings Canyon share management. The catch is that Highway 20, the road everyone actually drives, runs through Ross Lake NRA, not the park itself.
So the recreation area absorbs nearly all the drive-through visitation while the park proper only counts folks who get out and walk into its roadless wilderness. Count the whole complex and the picture changes completely, with visitation comparable to mid-tier national parks.
About North Cascades National Park
Referred to by some as the “American Alps,” North Cascades is the crown jewel of the mighty Cascade Range, and we don’t say that lightly.
One of three Washington state national parks, North Cascades is the least visited, the most difficult to access, and perhaps the most rewarding for those who put in the work. Its wilderness designation means no roads will ever penetrate the park’s interior. That’s going to cut into the number of people who explore its terrain, and frankly, that’s the point.
This is a backpacker’s park. It’s not very approachable for the average parks enthusiast, and amenities are essentially nonexistent. But the glaciated interior and empty trails are the reward. If you’re interested in getting off the beaten path, here’s your chance.
RELATED: Our Guide to All of Washington’s National Parks
6. National Park of American Samoa
Location: American Samoa, USA
2025 Visitation: 43,258
The National Park of American Samoa logged 43,258 visits in 2025. That’s roughly triple the park’s typical average of about 12,000, the strongest showing this park has had in years as travel to the territory continues to rebound.
About the National Park of American Samoa
This is the only US national park south of the equator, spread across three volcanic islands in the heart of the South Pacific. Steep rainforest mountains drop straight into coral reef. There is nothing else like it in the system.
Getting there is the hard part. The only practical route is a flight through Honolulu to Pago Pago, and airfare from the mainland will swallow most of a trip budget on its own.
Once you arrive, trails are few and park facilities are minimal. The flip side is you’ll experience Samoan culture and scenery that 99.99% of park travelers never will. If you’re ever in the South Pacific, make the detour.
Top 5 Least Visited National Parks
5. Katmai National Park
Location: Alaska, USA
2025 Visitation: 34,479
Our Favorite Resources: Guide| Map
Katmai saw 34,479 visits in 2025. Considering how difficult and expensive it is to reach, that’s a pretty impressive number.
About Katmai National Park
We’ve all seen the famous Fat Bear Week cameras of grizzlies hunting salmon at Brooks Falls, and most of us want to see it in person, safely from the viewing platforms.
The fact of the matter is that it just ain’t easy or cheap to do so. There are no roads into Katmai. Getting there means flying to King Salmon, then catching a floatplane to Brooks Camp, and a guided day trip typically costs well over a thousand dollars before lodging.
Is it worth it? The best bear viewing on the planet, plus the otherworldly Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Yes. Start saving.
READ: Our detailed Katmai National Park Guide
4. Isle Royale National Park
Location: Michigan, USA
2025 Visitation: 29,091
Resources: Guide| Map| Guidebook
The fourth least visited national park in 2025 is Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park with 29,091 visits, making it the least visited park in the lower 48.
This comes with a giant caveat. Isle Royale closes completely from November 1 through April 15, the only national park that shuts down for winter. Ferry service is even narrower than that, running roughly mid-May into September. The park gets about five months to post numbers other parks get twelve to hit.
About Isle Royale National Park
Isle Royale gets overlooked by first timers, but those who go keep coming back. It’s famous for having one of the highest rates of repeat visitation in the entire park system.
The park is a network of some 450 islands out in Lake Superior, reachable only by ferry, seaplane, or private boat. The shortest ferry crossing still takes a couple hours. Once you land, it’s a roadless wilderness of moose, wolves, shipwrecks, and silence.
Paddling routes, lighthouse tours, fishing, cross-island backpacking, a lodge, cabins, and three dozen campgrounds mean nobody gets bored here. You just have to commit to the crossing.
3. Lake Clark National Park
Location: Alaska, USA
2025 Visitation: 19,778
Our Favorite Resources: Guide| Map
Alaska’s Lake Clark was the third least visited national park in America with 19,778 visits in 2025.
About Lake Clark National Park
Lake Clark packs glaciers, turquoise lakes, two active volcanoes, and world-class brown bear viewing into a single park. The coastal meadows at Chinitna Bay and Silver Salmon Creek offer some of the most reliable bear encounters anywhere in Alaska.
The only problem, as with most Alaska parks, is getting there. No roads reach Lake Clark. Everyone arrives by small plane, and that’s where the cost piles up.
Expect a day trip to run around a thousand dollars per person, with multi-day lodge trips climbing into the thousands. It sits maybe an hour by air from Anchorage, which makes it one of the closest truly wild places to a major city on the continent. The price tag, not the distance, keeps the numbers low.
READ: Our detailed Lake Clark National Park Guide
2. Gates of the Arctic National Park
Location: Alaska, USA
2025 Visitation: 14,923
Our Favorite Resources: Guide| Facts| Map
Gates of the Arctic saw 14,923 visits in 2025. The Park Service is perfectly fine with that. This park exists for the most experienced and self-sufficient travelers, full stop.
About Gates of the Arctic National Park
Gates of the Arctic sits entirely north of the Arctic Circle, and it contains no roads and no trails. Zero. At best, you follow routes that caribou made.
Getting in requires multiple flights, a guide if you want to do it safely, and thousands of dollars. The easiest route is a flight from Fairbanks to the tiny town of Bettles, then a bush plane into the Brooks Range.
It has seemed to us for years that this place functions more like a wilderness area than a national park, and honestly, that’s its charm. If you want the most remote experience the park system offers, the Brooks Range is it.
1. Kobuk Valley National Park
Location: Alaska, USA
2025 Visitation: 7,786
Our Favorite Resources: Guide
The least visited national park in America in 2025 was Kobuk Valley National Park. Its 7,786 visits represent a steep drop from 17,233 in 2024, returning Kobuk Valley to the bottom spot it has held many times before.
About Kobuk Valley National Park
Kobuk Valley sits north of the Arctic Circle and is nearly impossible for the average person to access. Getting into the park requires multiple flights, a guide to do it safely, and thousands of dollars.
What’s out there is genuinely strange and wonderful. The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes rise 100 feet above the Arctic tundra, and twice a year the Western Arctic caribou herd streams across them on migration.
To get there, fly about 1 hour 45 minutes from Anchorage to the isolated town of Kotzebue, then charter a bush flight into the park. There are no roads, no trails, no campgrounds, and no cell service. For 7,786 people last year, that was exactly the appeal.
List of the Top 10 Least Visited National Parks
- Kobuk Valley National Park – 7,786
- Gates of the Arctic National Park – 14,923
- Lake Clark National Park – 19,778
- Isle Royale National Park – 29,091
- Katmai National Park – 34,479
- National Park of American Samoa – 43,258
- North Cascades National Park – 46,925
- Dry Tortugas National Park – 89,355
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park – 108,840
- Great Basin National Park – 161,210
Least Visited National Parks in the Lower 48
Ok, we get it. Alaska and the South Pacific come with a lot of travel, and islands take reservations and serious advance planning. So here are the least visited mainland parks you can actually drive to, using the same 2025 data.
| 1 | North Cascades NP | 46,925 |
| 2 | Great Basin NP | 161,210 |
| 3 | Voyageurs NP | 206,326 |
| 4 | Guadalupe Mountains NP | 206,423 |
| 5 | Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP | 250,086 |
| 6 | Congaree NP | 287,833 |
| 7 | Petrified Forest NP | 315,951 |
| 8 | Pinnacles NP | 343,208 |
| 9 | Carlsbad Caverns NP | 410,778 |
| 10 | Great Sand Dunes NP & PRES | 432,498 |
Complete List of All 63 National Parks by 2025 Visitation
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains NP | 11,527,939 |
| 2 | Zion NP | 4,984,525 |
| 3 | Yellowstone NP | 4,762,988 |
| 4 | Grand Canyon NP | 4,430,653 |
| 5 | Yosemite NP | 4,278,413 |
| 6 | Rocky Mountain NP | 4,171,431 |
| 7 | Acadia NP | 4,079,318 |
| 8 | Grand Teton NP | 3,800,648 |
| 9 | Olympic NP | 3,584,187 |
| 10 | Glacier NP | 3,136,557 |
| 11 | Cuyahoga Valley NP | 3,025,325 |
| 12 | Joshua Tree NP | 2,932,644 |
| 13 | Indiana Dunes NP | 2,629,497 |
| 14 | Hot Springs NP | 2,494,611 |
| 15 | Gateway Arch NP | 2,209,028 |
| 16 | Bryce Canyon NP | 1,967,367 |
| 17 | New River Gorge NP & PRES | 1,958,440 |
| 18 | Hawaii Volcanoes NP | 1,877,854 |
| 19 | Shenandoah NP | 1,682,152 |
| 20 | Mount Rainier NP | 1,635,342 |
| 21 | Arches NP | 1,511,740 |
| 22 | Capitol Reef NP | 1,388,476 |
| 23 | Sequoia NP | 1,378,337 |
| 24 | Death Valley NP | 1,320,134 |
| 25 | Redwood NP | 1,202,480 |
| 26 | Badlands NP | 1,139,361 |
| 27 | Haleakala NP | 853,711 |
| 28 | Saguaro NP | 847,749 |
| 29 | Canyonlands NP | 796,057 |
| 30 | Kings Canyon NP | 779,791 |
| 31 | Everglades NP | 778,198 |
| 32 | Glacier Bay NP & PRES | 740,044 |
| 33 | Theodore Roosevelt NP | 729,893 |
| 34 | Mammoth Cave NP | 660,734 |
| 35 | White Sands NP | 659,742 |
| 36 | Crater Lake NP | 632,242 |
| 37 | Wind Cave NP | 606,258 |
| 38 | Big Bend NP | 568,104 |
| 39 | Denali NP & PRES | 543,300 |
| 40 | Lassen Volcanic NP | 504,777 |
| 41 | Biscayne NP | 486,567 |
| 42 | Virgin Islands NP | 471,074 |
| 43 | Mesa Verde NP | 463,130 |
| 44 | Great Sand Dunes NP & PRES | 432,498 |
| 45 | Kenai Fjords NP | 425,369 |
| 46 | Carlsbad Caverns NP | 410,778 |
| 47 | Pinnacles NP | 343,208 |
| 48 | Petrified Forest NP | 315,951 |
| 49 | Congaree NP | 287,833 |
| 50 | Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP | 250,086 |
| 51 | Channel Islands NP | 227,186 |
| 52 | Guadalupe Mountains NP | 206,423 |
| 53 | Voyageurs NP | 206,326 |
| 54 | Great Basin NP | 161,210 |
| 55 | Wrangell-St. Elias NP & PRES | 108,840 |
| 56 | Dry Tortugas NP | 89,355 |
| 57 | North Cascades NP | 46,925 |
| 58 | National Park of American Samoa | 43,258 |
| 59 | Katmai NP & PRES | 34,479 |
| 60 | Isle Royale NP | 29,091 |
| 61 | Lake Clark NP & PRES | 19,778 |
| 62 | Gates of the Arctic NP & PRES | 14,923 |
| 63 | Kobuk Valley NP | 7,786 |
Why Listen to Us About the National Parks?
We’ve spent our entire adult lives exploring and filming America’s national parks and public lands. We’ve worked with the National Park Service, the Department of Interior, and the U.S. Forest Service for years creating films on important places and issues.
The Parks Brothers
We are Will and Jim Pattiz, a.k.a. The Parks Brothers. Our work has been featured in leading publications all over the world, and even some people outside of our immediate family call us experts on national parks.
Permit Systems and Reservations
Check to see if the national park you’re visiting has a permit or reservation system in place before going. As parks get more crowded, more has to be done to safeguard them, which means managing the hundreds of millions of people who visit each year.
Popular national parks with reservation systems of some kind include Yosemite, Zion, Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Arches, Acadia, and more.
Want Smaller Crowds? Try a National Forest!
Try visiting a national forest while you’re on your trip to avoid the crowds. There are 154 national forests in America, many of which are every bit as beautiful as the national parks they neighbor and see a fraction of the foot traffic.
For example, try the Flathead National Forest next to Glacier National Park, the Bridger-Teton next to Grand Teton, and the Dixie, which borders nearly all of the Utah national parks.
VIDEO: Bridger Teton National Forest Film by More Than Just Parks
Practice Safety, Seriously
National parks are amazing but wild places, so it is essential to practice basic safety while visiting them, and that goes double for the remote parks on this list. Stay safe by:
- Sticking to trails where they exist
- Checking the weather before going out on a hike
- Keeping at least 25 yards from most wildlife and 100 yards from predators
- Avoiding ledges with steep drop-offs
- Downloading offline maps before entering zones without mobile service
- Always telling someone where you are going and when you plan to return
More Helpful Information on the National Parks
List of National Monuments: Ultimate List of National Monuments (Alphabetical + By State)
Largest National Parks: 15 Largest National Parks in the United States (+ Full List)
Best National Parks Ranked: ALL 63 US National Parks Ranked By Experts
Free Downloadable National Parks Map & List: LIST & MAP of National Parks By State (+ Printable Checklist)
Best National Monuments: All 128 US National Monuments Ranked (Best to Worst)
Most Visited National Parks: Top 10 Most Visited US National Parks
Best East Coast National Parks: Top 10 Best East Coast National Parks Ranked
Utah National Parks Road Trips: 5 Best Utah National Park Road Trips
Best National Park Road Trips: 10 Best National Park Road Trips
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