Since then, the U.S. government has been protecting vast swaths of the natural landscape by creating 61 national parks that keep conditions pristine and accessible to hikers and nature lovers.

Yosemite National Park saw more than 4.1 million visitors in 2024, according to National Park Service data. It's among the top 10 most-visited national parks in the nation, USA TODAY reported.

The U.S. National Park Service has welcomed more than 300 million visitors on average to any of the country's 63 national parks every year since 2019. But not every trip pans out accordingly.

Canyonlands National Park (800,322 visits) ended up 27th among all national parks. Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve was last year's least-visited park, as a little more than 11,000 ...