Would you venture to some of these least-visited national parks?

Yahoo

19-03-2025

Millions flock to the national parks every year to witness spectacular fall color light up the Great Smoky Mountains or to see the otherworldly geothermal pools in Yellowstone. Last year, in particular, was a banner year for national park visitation, according to newly released figures from the park service: The parks welcomed 331.86 million visitors to the more than 400 national park sites. The visitation numbers are up 2.6% from 2023, marking a full rebound from the years leading up to the pandemic when the parks saw nearly 330 million visitors.
While parks like Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone national parks continue to be the most popular parks in terms of the number of visitors they attract, park rangers in recent years have said they're noticing that more people are coming during shoulder season and some lesser-known parks are breaking their visitation records. In 2024, there was also a 2.6% increase from 2023 for overnight stays in concession and NPS-operated facilities.
Still, there's some parks, many in Alaska, that are mostly undiscovered and receive less than 1% of the parks visitors every year — and it's not because these places aren't just as beautiful as the most popular ones, but rather because they're far more difficult to reach (and some even require backcountry survival skills as a prerequisite for visiting).
Ahead, see the most popular national parks, then get an intro to some of the lesser-known parks that are most certainly worth the trek.
America's most popular national parks each draw millions of visitors each year. The Smokies top the list with more than 12 million visitors. The park straddles the Tennessee and North Carolina border and is a known destination for leaf peepers who come to see sugar maples, sweetgum, and hickories change colors. It's also a popular place in late-April to June when visitors take a shot with the lottery system to get in and see the synchronous fireflies.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park (12.2 million)
Zion National Park (4.94 million)
Grand Canyon National Park (4.92 million)
Yellowstone National Park (4.74 million)
Rocky Mountain National Park (4.15 million)
Yosemite National Park (4.12 million)
Acadia National Park (3.96 million)
Olympic National Park (3.71 million)
Grand Teton National Park (3.63 million)
Glacier National Park (3.21 million)
Some of the country's least visited national parks are only accessible by seaplanes or ferries, so their remote locations are likely what's keeping their visitation numbers low. But these lesser-known parks are most certainly worth the trek, and adventurous visitors who make it to these more far-flung spots might see caribou in Gates of the Arctic or see the Northern Lights in the night sky over Michigan.
Here's five of the least visited national parks, and what to see while there.
Annual Visitors: 11,907
With no trails (unless you count those made by the Western Arctic caribou herd), roads or pre-established campsites, this 8.4-million acre swath of untouched wilderness is north of the Arctic Circle in the Brooks Range, which is the northernmost mountain range in Alaska.
Visitors to this remote park need to have solid outdoor survival skills if they're visiting the park on their own, though outfitters and guide services also guide rafting, canoeing, backpacking, or packrafting trips in Gates of the Arctic. The most common way to get into this wildland is to fly in with an air taxi, starting in Fairbanks with several small airlines that provide flights into communities close to the park, including Bettles, Anaktuvuk Pass, and Coldfoot.
With glacial valleys and rugged mountains, visitors come to fish for Arctic char and trout as well as float and raft the rivers and hike the Arctic valleys.
Annual Visitors: 22,567
This is the only national park that's located south of the equator. The remote park about 2,600 miles southwest of Hawaii, and located in the south Pacific Ocean, is spread out over three tropical islands (Tutuila, Ta'ū, and Ofu) in the Territory of American Samoa.
Visitors come here to birdwatch, see fruit bats with three-foot wingspans, and snorkel coral reefs. The park is made up of tropical rainforests, volcanic mountain slopes, and the surrounding water is teeming with reefs that are home to 950 fish varieties as well as endangered sea turtles.
The park is also dedicated to protecting Samoan the customs, beliefs and traditions of the 3,000-year-old Samoan culture.
Hawaiian Airlines has limited flights from Honolulu to Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa.
Annual Visitors: 18,505
Most visitors arrive at Lake Clark National Park via small planes, as the park, which is 120 air miles southwest of Anchorage, doesn't have any developed roads. Visitors come from far and wide to see the brown bears, who feast on salmon and hang out in spots like Chinitna Bay, Crescent Lake in the Chigmit Mountains, and Silver Salmon Creek.
The park also has some great half-and full-day hikes, including the Tanalian Falls trek, which is 4 miles round-trip where you'll witness a waterfall over a 30-foot cliff that's made of ancient lava.
Annual Visitors: 17,233
Nation park rangers caution that Kobuk Valley isn't for the average tourist, as the Alaskan park is best suited for experienced backcountry explorers. Getting here is a challenge, too, with most visitors arriving via an air taxi from Kotzebue or Bettles.
The must-see here are the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, which are more reminiscent of the Sahara Desert than a national park that's 35 miles north of the Arctic Circle. During the summer months, park-goers also boat, float, fish and photograph the landscape. Winter is a tougher visit, but for those well versed in Arctic winter survival skills may come to ski.
Annual Visitors: 28,806
Isle Royale is located in the middle of Lake Superior, and those interested in seeing this remote island wilderness can arrive by ferry, seaplane or a private watercraft. The park is open April 16 to Oct. 31, and shuts down in the colder months because of extreme weather conditions.
Isle Royale is a destination for scuba divers because of the well-preserved shipwrecks. Hiking, paddling, bikepacking, and camping are other popular activities in the park, though you can also stay in cabins or lodge rooms at Rock Harbor Lodge.
South of the Canadian border in the northwoods, visitors to Isle Royale have a shot at seeing Northern lights paint the sky during the shoulder season months.
Thanks to its jagged peaks, North Cascades National Park is considered "America's Alps" and visitors here can hike a portion of the iconic Pacific Coast Trail. So it makes sense thtop questions at one of the about North Cascades on Google is: "Why does no one visit?" The short answer: It's a tough park to get to, but those who journey 105 miles northwest from Seattle are rewarded with rugged beauty and a remote wilderness.