Visitor statistics
How many people visit Great Smoky Mountains?
Last verified NPS Visitor Use Statistics1979–2025
11,527,939 recreation visits in 2025, #1 of 63 national parks. The record is 2021 (14,161,548). Every year since 1979, straight from the National Park Service’s own counts.
- 2025 visits
- 11,527,939
- −5.4% vs 2024
- Rank, 2025
- #1
- of 63 national parks
- Record year
- 2021
- 14,161,548 visits
- vs 2015
- +7.6%
- ten-year change
- vs 1979
- +43.7%
- since the first full year
- Busiest month ever
- Jul 1986
- 1,761,918 visits
1979–2025
Every year since the counts began
Recreation visits per calendar year, as reported to the NPS Visitor Use Statistics office. The 2025 bar is highlighted; a missing bar means the park did not report all twelve months that year.
Show the full table (47 years) ↓
| Year | Recreation visits | Change | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 11,527,939 | −5.4% | #1 |
| 2024 | 12,191,834 | −8.3% | #1 |
| 2023 | 13,297,647 | +2.8% | #1 |
| 2022 | 12,937,633 | −8.6% | #1 |
| 2021 | 14,161,548 | +17.1% | #1 |
| 2020 | 12,095,720 | −3.6% | #1 |
| 2019 | 12,547,743 | +9.9% | #1 |
| 2018 | 11,421,200 | +0.7% | #1 |
| 2017 | 11,338,893 | +0.2% | #1 |
| 2016 | 11,312,786 | +5.6% | #1 |
| 2015 | 10,712,674 | +6.1% | #1 |
| 2014 | 10,099,276 | +8.0% | #1 |
| 2013 | 9,354,695 | −3.4% | #1 |
| 2012 | 9,685,829 | +7.5% | #1 |
| 2011 | 9,008,830 | −4.8% | #1 |
| 2010 | 9,463,538 | −0.3% | #1 |
| 2009 | 9,491,437 | +4.9% | #1 |
| 2008 | 9,044,010 | −3.5% | #1 |
| 2007 | 9,372,253 | +0.9% | #1 |
| 2006 | 9,289,215 | +1.1% | #1 |
| 2005 | 9,192,477 | +0.3% | #1 |
| 2004 | 9,167,046 | −2.1% | #1 |
| 2003 | 9,366,845 | +0.5% | #1 |
| 2002 | 9,316,420 | +1.3% | #1 |
| 2001 | 9,197,697 | −9.6% | #1 |
| 2000 | 10,175,812 | −1.0% | #1 |
| 1999 | 10,283,598 | +2.9% | #1 |
| 1998 | 9,989,395 | +0.2% | #1 |
| 1997 | 9,965,075 | +7.5% | #1 |
| 1996 | 9,265,667 | +2.0% | #1 |
| 1995 | 9,080,420 | +5.2% | #1 |
| 1994 | 8,628,174 | −7.1% | #1 |
| 1993 | 9,283,848 | +3.9% | #1 |
| 1992 | 8,931,690 | +3.2% | #1 |
| 1991 | 8,654,459 | +6.2% | #1 |
| 1990 | 8,151,769 | −2.2% | #1 |
| 1989 | 8,333,553 | −5.0% | #1 |
| 1988 | 8,770,781 | −14.1% | #1 |
| 1987 | 10,209,841 | +3.8% | #1 |
| 1986 | 9,836,306 | +5.5% | #1 |
| 1985 | 9,319,290 | +9.5% | #1 |
| 1984 | 8,508,390 | +0.9% | #1 |
| 1983 | 8,435,475 | +3.2% | #1 |
| 1982 | 8,177,869 | −1.6% | #1 |
| 1981 | 8,312,884 | −1.5% | #1 |
| 1980 | 8,440,953 | +5.3% | #1 |
| 1979 | 8,019,788 | — | #1 |
By decade
The long view
- 1970s
- 8.02 million
- avg · 1 yr
- 1980s
- 8.83 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 1990s
- 9.22 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2000s
- 9.36 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2010s
- 10.5 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2020s
- 12.7 million
- avg · 6 yrs
Seasonality: in 1979–1983 the three busiest months carried 47% of the year’s visits; in 2021–2025 they carried 36% — visits have spread out across the year.
Average visits by month
2021–2025 · NPS IRMAJFMAMJJASOND
Quietest: JanuaryBusiest: October
The weather page puts these crowd levels beside each month’s temperatures.
About these numbers
Figures are the National Park Service’s monthly recreation-visit counts, retrieved from its public statistics service and summed by calendar year. A year is shown only when all twelve months were reported. The NPS revises recent months occasionally, so small differences from a later nps.gov table are normal. Rankings compare the 63 national parks for the same year. See every park ranked for 2025.
Sources · 2
- 1.NPS Visitor Use Statistics — monthly recreation visits by park, 1979–2025 · National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior)
- 2.NPS Visitor Use Statistics Definitions · National Park Service
FAQ
Great Smoky Mountains visitor questions
- How many people visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park each year?
- 11,527,939 recreation visits in 2025, ranking #1 of the 63 national parks. The 2010s averaged 10,494,546 a year.
- What was Great Smoky Mountains's busiest year?
- 2021, with 14,161,548 recreation visits — +22.8% more than 2025. The single busiest month on record was July 1986 (1,761,918 visits).
- Is Great Smoky Mountains getting more crowded?
- 2025 visits were +7.6% compared with 2015 and +25.4% compared with 2005.
- What counts as a recreation visit?
- The NPS counts a recreation visit as one person entering the park for recreation; someone who leaves and re-enters is counted again, and commuters, through-traffic and staff are excluded. Counts come from gate and traffic counters with park-specific multipliers, so they are estimates.
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