National parks tell the story of the United States, from its earliest days to the modern era. Every year, millions visit national parks to learn about American history or to enjoy the outdoors. According to National Park visitation statistics, in 2012 more than 282 million people visited America’s national parks, ranking 2012 as the sixth highest annual visitation in the history of the National Park Service.
Despite an estimated loss of two million visitors as a result of park closures caused by Hurricane Sandy, the park system still saw an increase of more than 3 million visitors as compared to 2011. The hurricane hit 70 national park sites from North Carolina to Maine. While some parks closed briefly, others like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York remain closed for repairs.
Gateway National Recreation Area in New York lost nearly 1.2 million visitors from 2011 because of Hurricane Sandy yet still made the Top 10 list of most visited National Park Service sites. The ten Most Visited Places of the National Park System in 2012 (from most visited to least) include: Blue Ridge Parkway with 15,205,059 visitors, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Lincoln Memorial, Natchez Trace Parkway, Gateway National Recreation Area, Gulf Islands National Seashore, and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
In addition to this list, Nation Parks Services also compiled a separate list of 2012’s Most Visited National Parks. This ranking (highest to lowest) includes: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Zion National Park, Olympic National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Acadia National Park, and Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
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