15 Least-Crowded National Parks That Are Worth the Visit

Alone in nature

There’s nothing that can ruin your enjoyment of a pristine area of natural beauty as much as having to share it with hoards of tourists. And with social distancing still necessary due to the COVID-19 crisis, visitors have even more reason to head to less popular spots. We looked at the National Parks’ official visitor numbers for 2019 to see which had the fewest people coming to them. And because many people are opting to stick closer to home these days, we’re featuring parks in the continental United States—although Alaska also contains many uncrowded parks, including Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park, and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

The parks on our list all clock in at under 1 million visitors a year—for comparison, the most crowded is Great Smoky Mountains National Park at a whopping 12,547,743 visitors in 2019; second place is the Grand Canyon at 5,974,411; and the always-popular Yellowstone (in sixth place) had 4,020,288 visitors.

This year due to COVID-19, certain areas of some parks might be closed, so always check the park’s website before you travel. And make sure to remember the 12 things you shouldn’t do in reopened national parks.

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