When should you visit each national park?
Month-by-month crowd levels from official NPS visitation counts, plus NOAA 1991–2020 weather normals, for the 20 most-visited U.S. national parks (ranked by 2025 recreation visits).
Every number here is traceable: visitation comes straight from the National Park Service's public monthly statistics, weather from a named NOAA station near each park. Pick a park, then a month.
Great Smoky Mountains National Parkpeak Oct · 12.4 million/yrZion National Parkpeak Jun · 4.6 million/yrYellowstone National Parkpeak Jul · 4.4 million/yrGrand Canyon National Parkpeak Jul · 5 million/yrYosemite National Parkpeak Jul · 4.1 million/yrRocky Mountain National Parkpeak Jul · 4.3 million/yrAcadia National Parkpeak Aug · 3.7 million/yrGrand Teton National Parkpeak Jul · 3.5 million/yrOlympic National Parkpeak Aug · 3.1 million/yrGlacier National Parkpeak Jul · 3 million/yrCuyahoga Valley National Parkpeak Jul · 2.6 million/yrJoshua Tree National Parkpeak Mar · 3 million/yrIndiana Dunes National Parkpeak Jul · 2.4 million/yrHot Springs National Parkpeak Jun · 1.7 million/yrGateway Arch National Parkpeak Jul · 1.8 million/yrBryce Canyon National Parkpeak Sep · 2.4 million/yrNew River Gorge National Park & Preservepeak Jul · 1.4 million/yrHawaii Volcanoes National Parkpeak Jan · 1.5 million/yrShenandoah National Parkpeak Oct · 1.5 million/yrMount Rainier National Parkpeak Jul · 1.5 million/yr