When are national parks least crowded?

Across all 63 parks combined, January is the quietest month and July the busiest: on average about 2,953,334 recreation visits in January against 13,824,719 in July, over 2021–2025. But every park has its own rhythm, and 11 of them are busiest between December and April.

What is the best month to visit national parks?

If you want open parks without peak crowds, aim for shoulder season. September has the most parks in shoulder season (27 of 63), followed by May (26) and June (19).

What is shoulder season?

The months either side of a park's busy season. We call a month peak season when it averages at least 80% of the park's busiest month, and shoulder season when it borders the peak and still reaches 30%. A park's quiet shoulder month is the shoulder month with the fewest visitors.

Does the quiet month mean the best weather?

No. This calendar only measures visitors. A quiet month can also mean snow, heat, closed roads or shut visitor centers, so check the park's nps.gov page for conditions and seasonal closures before you go.

How is the crowd index calculated?

For each park we average every month's recreation visits over 2021–2025, then divide by the busiest month's average. 100 is the park's busiest month; 25 means a quarter as many visitors. It compares months within one park, not parks with each other.

Crowd calendar · NPS visits 2021–2025

The best time to visit every national park

Name: National park crowd calendar: monthly recreation visits, 2021–2025
Creator: National Park Service

Last verified October 1, 202663 parks × 12 months

Every park has a rush hour that lasts a season. This calendar shades all 63 national parks month by month, from five years of National Park Service visitor counts, so you can see when each one is packed and when it breathes out.

All 63 parks, combined

July is the busiest month. January is the quietest.

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Average recreation visits by month, 2021–2025 · NPS IRMA

The crowd calendar

Every park, every month

Each number is that month’s visitors as a share of the park’s busiest month, averaged over 2021–2025. The outlined cell is the park’s quiet shoulder month.

Quiet · under 40% of peak
Moderate · 40–69%
Busy · 70–89%
Peak · 90%+
Near-zero visits (likely closed)

StateTip: tap a month to sort quietest-first.

Crowd index by month for each national park: 100 is the park’s busiest month on average
Park													Quiet month
AcadiaME	2	2	4	13	41	77	98	100	83	70	9	2	Oct
American SamoaAS	35	62	50	100	32	14	76	24	78	45	35	17	May
ArchesUT	19	26	74	83	100	97	87	77	84	77	44	25	Mar
BadlandsSD	5	5	10	16	44	90	100	85	56	27	8	4	May
Big BendTX	50	52	100	71	46	26	22	18	26	51	63	63	Feb
BiscayneFL	74	81	96	90	100	81	95	74	74	59	66	77	Aug
Black Canyon of the GunnisonCO	19	14	19	26	71	100	97	90	98	61	29	16	Oct
Bryce CanyonUT	10	11	30	65	90	100	91	81	98	71	24	17	Apr
CanyonlandsUT	9	14	64	88	100	76	59	52	81	79	35	16	Aug
Capitol ReefUT	8	10	44	70	100	82	58	51	80	80	30	15	Nov
Carlsbad CavernsNM	38	39	92	73	67	88	100	62	53	55	55	63	Feb
Channel IslandsCA	35	46	60	69	72	89	100	85	77	71	64	46	May
CongareeSC	48	55	98	85	100	71	59	47	58	73	72	59	Feb
Crater LakeOR	4	4	7	10	22	44	100	76	49	23	7	4	Jun
Cuyahoga ValleyOH	26	28	51	64	82	91	100	93	79	80	46	34	Nov
Death ValleyCA·NV	58	73	100	88	66	46	51	47	38	55	68	72	May
DenaliAK	1	2	4	5	28	89	98	100	36	3	1	2	Sep
Dry TortugasFL	81	75	91	91	100	94	86	74	67	57	74	84	Nov
EvergladesFL	99	100	99	86	67	67	68	59	42	37	58	72	May
Gates of the ArcticAK	·	·	·	·	12	78	100	92	40	·	·	·	Sep
Gateway ArchMO	11	13	35	32	36	49	100	46	29	26	22	20	Aug
GlacierMT	2	2	3	6	27	72	100	91	73	18	3	2	Jun
Glacier BayAK	·	·	·	6	70	92	100	98	75	38	·	·	May
Grand CanyonAZ	32	34	67	85	95	94	100	90	81	83	62	56	Nov
Grand TetonWY	8	8	9	10	42	86	100	92	77	34	7	7	May
Great BasinNV	8	7	10	31	58	99	100	83	94	64	9	7	May
Great Sand DunesCO	6	8	21	28	76	100	96	73	53	41	14	9	Aug
Great Smoky MountainsNC·TN	26	30	55	64	77	91	96	76	74	100	62	47	Nov
Guadalupe MountainsTX	34	46	100	79	56	37	38	28	35	63	55	67	Feb
HaleakalāHI	76	74	88	88	97	99	100	86	85	86	82	94	Feb
Hawaiʻi VolcanoesHI	94	82	79	73	75	96	97	92	77	78	87	100	May
Hot SpringsAR	37	59	72	68	66	100	83	62	37	43	43	39	Aug
Indiana DunesIN	15	16	26	33	57	86	100	83	53	42	23	20	Sep
Isle RoyaleMI	·	·	·	·	17	68	100	100	39	2	·	·	Sep
Joshua TreeCA	64	72	100	89	62	43	33	34	39	51	76	83	May
KatmaiAK	·	·	·	·	·	34	100	79	44	2	·	·	Jun
Kenai FjordsAK	·	·	·	·	23	79	100	86	33	4	·	·	Sep
Kings CanyonCA	17	13	14	30	71	92	100	80	62	43	24	15	Sep
Kobuk ValleyAK	49	32	39	37	38	77	100	93	84	91	72	75	Nov
Lake ClarkAK	·	·	·	·	7	78	100	87	30	·	·	·	Sep
Lassen VolcanicCA	8	7	6	11	31	72	100	56	47	35	9	6	Aug
Mammoth CaveKY	15	21	62	63	62	84	100	69	58	56	33	29	May
Mesa VerdeCO	7	7	17	30	60	100	95	74	66	52	15	9	May
Mount RainierWA	6	4	6	7	20	53	100	95	56	32	7	5	Jun
New River GorgeWV	13	16	33	40	70	82	100	84	66	69	33	18	Sep
North CascadesWA	·	·	·	4	11	26	100	84	69	19	·	·	Sep
OlympicWA	13	15	21	21	40	48	80	100	67	42	28	16	Jun
Petrified ForestAZ	37	33	74	66	91	100	84	66	67	70	45	46	Apr
PinnaclesCA	60	67	97	100	95	78	72	56	51	55	63	59	Feb
RedwoodCA	26	26	34	43	68	100	96	85	76	52	30	24	May
Rocky MountainCO	15	14	19	21	40	79	100	85	75	50	19	16	Sep
SaguaroAZ	77	82	100	72	41	26	23	23	25	35	50	60	Apr
SequoiaCA	23	21	29	42	62	69	100	92	63	48	31	24	Sep
ShenandoahVA	8	9	23	40	50	53	59	56	48	100	48	11	Nov
Theodore RooseveltND	2	2	6	7	45	85	100	93	75	34	7	1	May
Virgin IslandsVI	88	83	100	91	81	81	79	49	34	40	69	89	Nov
VoyageursMN	6	13	7	·	58	92	97	100	49	23	5	1	Sep
White SandsNM	43	42	100	78	71	63	67	47	47	54	52	58	Feb
Wind CaveSD	10	9	15	32	56	81	100	84	66	25	12	10	May
Wrangell–St. EliasAK	·	·	1	2	18	71	100	78	25	2	·	·	Jun
YellowstoneID·MT·WY	5	5	4	8	55	90	100	89	86	33	3	4	Oct
YosemiteCA	21	24	25	48	71	95	100	100	88	77	40	28	May
ZionUT	23	25	68	81	94	100	92	77	79	82	50	36	Nov

Grey cells average under 200 visits a month (or under 0.5% of the park’s busiest month), which usually means the park, or the way in, is closed for the season. That’s our inference from the numbers; check nps.gov. Source: NPS Visitor Use Statistics.

Pick a month

The best national parks, month by month

Parks in shoulder season each month: open, past or before the peak, and quieter for it.

Park by park

Each park's quiet shoulder month

The shoulder-season month with the fewest visitors. It's a crowd pick, not a weather forecast.

February7 parks: Big Bend Carlsbad Caverns Congaree Guadalupe Mountains Haleakalā Pinnacles White Sands
March1 parks: Arches
April3 parks: Bryce Canyon Petrified Forest Saguaro
May16 parks: American Samoa Badlands Channel Islands Death Valley Everglades Glacier Bay Grand Teton Great Basin Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Joshua Tree Mammoth Cave Mesa Verde Redwood Theodore Roosevelt Wind Cave Yosemite
June6 parks: Crater Lake Glacier Katmai Mount Rainier Olympic Wrangell–St. Elias
August6 parks: Biscayne Canyonlands Gateway Arch Great Sand Dunes Hot Springs Lassen Volcanic
September12 parks: Denali Gates of the Arctic Indiana Dunes Isle Royale Kenai Fjords Kings Canyon Lake Clark New River Gorge North Cascades Rocky Mountain Sequoia Voyageurs
October3 parks: Acadia Black Canyon of the Gunnison Yellowstone
November9 parks: Capitol Reef Cuyahoga Valley Dry Tortugas Grand Canyon Great Smoky Mountains Kobuk Valley Shenandoah Virgin Islands Zion

Patterns in the data

Not every park peaks in July

Busiest in winter or spring

11 parks peak between December and April. Summer is their quiet season.

American Samoapeaks in April
Big Bendpeaks in March
Death Valleypeaks in March
Evergladespeaks in February
Guadalupe Mountainspeaks in March
Hawaiʻi Volcanoespeaks in December
Joshua Treepeaks in March
Pinnaclespeaks in April
Saguaropeaks in March
Virgin Islandspeaks in March
White Sandspeaks in March

Busy all year

Even their quietest month draws half the peak or more. There’s no off-season to hide in.

Haleakalālowest month 74%
Hawaiʻi Volcanoeslowest month 73%
Biscaynelowest month 59%
Dry Tortugaslowest month 57%
Pinnacleslowest month 51%

Short seasons

Four or more months with near-zero visits: plan around the window.

Gates of the Arctic7 near-zero months
Katmai7 near-zero months
Lake Clark7 near-zero months
Isle Royale6 near-zero months
Kenai Fjords6 near-zero months
Glacier Bay5 near-zero months
North Cascades5 near-zero months
Wrangell–St. Elias4 near-zero months

Meanwhile 44 of the 63 parks have their busiest month in June, July or August.

Method

How the calendar is built

The data. Monthly recreation visits for every national park, 2021–2025, from the National Park Service’s Visitor Use Statistics: 3,780 park-months with no gaps. Sequoia and Kings Canyon are reported, and shown, separately.

The crowd index. For each park, each calendar month’s five-year average divided by the busiest month’s average, times 100. It compares a park with itself: 50 at Zion and 50 at Kobuk Valley are very different crowds.

Peak, shoulder and the quiet month. Peak season is every month at 80 or above. Shoulder months border the peak and still reach 30. The quiet shoulder month is the shoulder month with the fewest visitors. It’s a visitation heuristic: it knows nothing about snow, heat or which roads are open.

What we leave alone. A month that averages under 200 visits, or under 0.5% of the busiest month, is shaded grey as a likely seasonal closure, which is an inference, not an NPS statement. Unusually low months stay in exactly as reported; they pull an average down a little rather than vanish.

Quiet isn't the same as open

Before you book a quiet month, check the park’s nps.gov page for road, campground and visitor center closures. Each park page here links straight to it.

Green means quiet

On this site green marks a park you’ve visited, and, in crowd charts, a quiet month. Nothing else.

FAQ

Crowds and timing, answered

When are national parks least crowded?: Across all 63 parks combined, January is the quietest month and July the busiest: on average about 2,953,334 recreation visits in January against 13,824,719 in July, over 2021–2025. But every park has its own rhythm, and 11 of them are busiest between December and April.
What is the best month to visit national parks?: If you want open parks without peak crowds, aim for shoulder season. September has the most parks in shoulder season (27 of 63), followed by May (26) and June (19).
What is shoulder season?: The months either side of a park's busy season. We call a month peak season when it averages at least 80% of the park's busiest month, and shoulder season when it borders the peak and still reaches 30%. A park's quiet shoulder month is the shoulder month with the fewest visitors.
Does the quiet month mean the best weather?: No. This calendar only measures visitors. A quiet month can also mean snow, heat, closed roads or shut visitor centers, so check the park's nps.gov page for conditions and seasonal closures before you go.
How is the crowd index calculated?: For each park we average every month's recreation visits over 2021–2025, then divide by the busiest month's average. 100 is the park's busiest month; 25 means a quarter as many visitors. It compares months within one park, not parks with each other.

Sources · 2

1.NPS Visitor Use Statistics — monthly recreation visits, 2021–2025 (IRMA stats REST service) · National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior) — Visitor Use Statistics Program
2.NPS Visitor Use Statistics Definitions · National Park Service

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