Five national parks set new visitation records in 2023 — not ones you’d expect

We reported earlier on 2023 National Park visitation stats, up 4% from 2022. We won’t hit you with “the Big Five,” but put this to you: What five national parks set new visitation records in 2023? The answer may surprise you—and give you more places to visit for your Bucket List.

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

A big, 3.3-million-acre park in Alaska, Glacier Bay National Park is part of the 25-million-acre World Heritage Site. The park’s visitation numbers jumped 5% over its previous record, set in 2019, as 700,000+ folks flocked there in 2023. The busy season? May through September.

Much of this corresponds to a run of visitors via the Alaska cruise ship industry. Cruise ships broke all records, with 1.65 million passengers sailing into Juneau. Why come here? To see the glaciers, for which, as one writer puts it, “The grand and majestic glaciers move with such force that the rocks and the trees bow down to their power.”

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

It’s America’s newest national park, swinging the gates open officially in December 2020. A southwest West Virginia spectacular, its name is taken from a river gorge, popular for whitewater rafting.

New River Gorge visitors flocked in, drawing 1.7 million visitors last year, breaking the previous record set in 2021. One big draw? The park is the title holder for the third-longest single-arch bridge on the planet: The New River Gorge Bridge. Don’t miss “The Bridge Walk.”

Joshua Tree National Park

Renowned for its weirdly formed Yuccas and oddball rock formations, this California park was hit hard in 2023. An increase of 200,000 visitors bumped its total to 3.2 million, breaking a 2021 record.

This month and next, visitors will push those statistics looking for wildflowers. Super blooms, periods when wildflowers form a veritable carpet across areas of the park, attract visitors equipped with cameras. Recent super blooms came in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2023. What about this year? There was a lot of rain over the winter, so some are hopeful.

Another Joshua Tree drawing card? Its status as an International Dark Sky Park. June and July show off the core of the Milky Way. In August, the Perseid Meteor Shower comes calling.

Dry Tortugas National Park

Not one you’ll be able to reach with your RV, this Florida island park requires a boat, a ferry trip, or a seaplane adventure to get there. While Dry Tortugas is one of the least-visited parks in the National Park system, last year a new peak of 84,000 arrived on its shores. That was up from an average of 78,000 for the prior three years.

There aren’t a lot of other parks in the system where you’ll want to bring your flippers, face mask, and snorkel. You won’t need them to see birds and sea turtles, but there are a lot of species of these that call Dry Tortugas home.

Congaree National Park

Is this South Carolina park “one of the least visited” parks in the system because of mosquitos? Only in the hot summer months, say July to September. But the other nine months of the year see some serious visitation. But 2023 put an end to that, with folks coming year-round.

So what’s the buzz for Congaree? Not just mosquitos! You won’t hear these insects, but at night you’ll see them. See what? Synchronous fireflies! Gear up now, because for a couple of weeks, usually between mid-May and mid-June, the fireflies somehow get together and flash their lights in synchrony. Is it worth the price of admission? That’s another big draw—there’s no gate fee at Congaree.

From powerful glaciers to synchronized fireflies, these five national parks set new visitation records for good reasons.

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