National Park Service: Most popular park sites for 2017

More than 318 million people visited the National Park Service sites around the United States in 2018, a nearly four percent decrease from approximately 331 million visits in 2017. Park service officials expected the slight decline after the centennial celebrations during the previous year. In 2016, the park service recorded its third consecutive all-time attendance record, and 77 national park sites set new records for annual recreation visits. (Of the 417 sites in the National Park Service, 385 count visits.) While attendance numbers remained relatively stable, people actually spent more time in the parks in 2017 – more than 1.4 billion hours last year, an increase of 19 million hours over 2016. “Our National Parks are being loved to death,” said US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in a statement, whose agency oversees the National Park Service. “As visitor rates continue at a high level, we must prioritize much-needed deferred maintenance including aging facilities, roads and other critical infrastructure. President Trump’s proposal to establish a Public Lands Infrastructure Fund is a step in the right direction. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue, this is an American issue, and the President and I remain ready to work with anyone in Congress who is willing to get the job done.” The National Park Service oversees 419 sites covering more than 84 million acres in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Those 419 sites include the 61 headliner national parks as well as national recreation areas, seashores, parkways, memorials, battlefields and more. To make the point, the National Park Service released cost estimates for deferred maintenance at each of the top 10 most popular park sites and national parks. Top three park sites attract more than 41 million visits With more than 15.2 million visitors in 2018, Golden Gate National Recreation Area took the top spot back from the Blue Ridge Parkway, the 2017 winner, which came in second place with 14.7 million visitors last year. The two park sites have been swapping the top and second place slots since 1979, the park service said. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (11.4 million) came in third place, followed by Gateway National Recreation Area (9.2 million) and the Lincoln Memorial (7.8 million). The top 10 park sites attracted more than 4 million recreation visits each, including Lake Mead National Recreation Area, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Grand Canyon National Park, Natchez Trace Parkway and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Trump’s first year in office President Barack Obama created more than a dozen National Park Service monuments during his eight years in office, including four in his final days. Some of those sites honored the country’s civil rights struggle, African-American history, Japanese-American history and the fight for women’s rights. While President Donald Trump hasn’t created any new NPS monuments during his first year in office, he did sign legislation to expand park service sites. Among his actions: He signed congressional legislation creating a new national historic park for Martin Luther King Jr., expanding what was a national historic site. He also signed legislation to create an African American Civil Rights Network within the National Park Service. What’s attracted a lot of attention doesn’t involve the National Park Service at all. Trump signed two presidential proclamations on December 4 after declaring that he would reduce the size of two Bureau of Land Management monuments in Utah. (Like the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management is within the Department of the Interior.) The two presidential proclamations split Bears Ears into two national monuments and Grand Staircase-Escalante into three separate monuments. In response, a group of Native American tribes filed a lawsuit against Trump and several administration officials claiming that his decision to shrink the Bears Ears National Monument significantly is “in violation of the United States Constitution and the Antiquities Act of 1906.” Separately, US conservation organizations sued Trump and Zinke for actions regarding the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. (Obama created Bears Ears, and President Bill Clinton created Grand Staircase-Escalante.) Most popular National Park Service sites (419 total) 1. Golden Gate National Recreation Area (CA): 15,223,697 visits 2. Golden Gate National Recreation Area (CA): 14,981,897 visits ($325,814,011 deferred maintenance) 3. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (NC/TN): 11,421,200 visits 4. Gateway National Recreation Area (NY/NJ): 9,243,305 visits 5. Lincoln Memorial (DC): 7,804,683 visits 6. Lake Mead National Recreation Area (AZ/NV): 7,578,958 visits 7. George Washington Memorial Parkway (DC/MD/VA): 7,288,623 visits 8. Grand Canyon National Park (AZ): 6,380,495 visits 9. Grand Canyon National Park (AZ): 6,254,238 visits ($329,437,056 deferred maintenance) 10. Vietnam Veterans Memorial (DC): 4,719,148 visits Most popular National Parks (61 total) 1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (NC/TN): 11,421,200 visits 2. Grand Canyon National Park (AZ): 6,380,495 visits 4. Zion National Park (UT): 4,320,033 visits 4. Rocky Mountain National Park (CO): 4,437,215 visits ($84,234,245 deferred maintenance) 6. Yosemite National Park (CA): 4,009,436. visits 6. Yellowstone National Park (ID/MT/WY): 4,116,524 visits ($515,808,008 deferred maintenance) 7. Acadia National Park (ME): 3,537,575 visits 9. Olympic National Park (WA): 3,104,455 visits 9. Grand Teton National Park (WY): 3,317,000 visits ($178,630,525 deferred maintenance) 10. Glacier National Park (MT): 2,965,309 visits Still free for fourth-graders A program started by then-President Barack Obama in 2015 to give every fourth-grader around the country a free one-year national parks pass for the student and their family has continued under the Trump Administration. The “Every Kid in a Park” program attracted more than 350,000 fourth graders in its first two years of operation.

CNN values your feedback

America’s most popular national parks are …