Since the relaunch of the National Parks Traveler blog, it’s become one of my favourite sites.
These bloggers are passionate about the Parks. Extremely knowledgeable. And the depth and breadth of coverage is amazing.
This recent post, for example, I found very interesting:
Top 10 Most Visited National Parks
Rank Park Name Visitation 1 Great Smoky Mountains NP 9,289,215 2 Grand Canyon NP 4,279,439 3 Yosemite NP 3,242,644 4 Yellowstone NP 2,870,295 5 Olympic NP 2,749,197 6 Rocky Mountain NP 2,743,676 7 Zion NP 2,567,350 8 Cuyahoga Valley NP 2,468,816 9 Grand Teton NP 2,406,476 10 Acadia NP 2,083,588 These two ‘top ten’ lists look pretty similar to last year’s numbers, but there has been some movement in the bottom ten parks.Want to avoid the crowds? Check out these least visited park units. Aniakchak had only 60 visitors last year! It has been noted though, counting must be tough at Aniakchak considering there are no permanent buildings (NPS or otherwise) at the monument. The only real way to get there is by float plane, and even that can be tricky I’ve been told.
Counting down from 10 …
Bottom 10 : The Least Visited Park Units
Rank Park Name Visitation 10 Noatak NPRES 3,272 9 Kobuk Valley NP 3,005 8 2,598 7 Salt River Bay NHP 2,526 6 Alibates Flint Quarries NM 1,882 5 1,559 4 Bering Land Bridge NPRES 1,265 3 National Park of American Samoa 1,239 2 Rio Grande W&SR 135 1 Aniakchak NM & PRES 60
It’s well worth the time to read the entire post written by Jeremy Sullivan: Top 10 Most Visited National Parks – National Parks Traveler
Now …
What about best hikes in those least visited Parks?
besthike.com 