The U.S. is home to some of the world’s most amazing and breathtaking national parks, from bucket list destinations like Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. It is estimated that the total area protected by national parks covers around 210,000 square kilometres of the United States.
The national parks attract millions of visitors each year, but which national parks are the best to explore if you’re looking for a quieter natural adventure? We’ve analysed the area size (km2) and visitor numbers of 62 U.S. national parks to find out which have the fewest visitors per square kilometre.
Take a look at the top 16 quietest national parks across the U.S. in our ranking below.
Coming in first place is the Gates of the Arctic with as few as 10,518 visitors annually, over 4 million visitors less than Yosemite. Following closely behind with 17,157 visitors annually is Lake Clark, in Alaska, which has just 2 visitors per square kilometre.
Also making it into the top 10 is Death Valley in Nevada which has 126 visitors per square kilometre. Of all the national parks analysed, Gateway Arch in Missouri is the busiest per square kilometre, with 2,569,136 visitors per square kilometre heading to the park each year.
Which national park is next on your adventure list? Before you start planning your trip, check out the ESTA requirements.
Data available here.