The Least-Visited National Parks — and Why They’re Worth a Look

Of the United States’ 63 majestic national parks, some stand out as must-sees for most travelers: Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon all come to mind as bucket-list sites. And indeed, these and other parks welcome millions of visitors each year. Yet there are many other lesser-known parks equally worth your time – parks with extraordinary wildlife and unique natural features that mere thousands of visitors experience annually.

Here, we’ve rounded up the least-visited national parks and made a case for why each one is worth a visit. Some are little-known, others are obscurely located, but all celebrate the beauty and power of America’s natural wonders (and, as a bonus, can be enjoyed with fewer crowds). 

Annual visitors: 663,147

Kentucky is not a state most people think of when national parks are mentioned, but it boasts a remarkable one: Mammoth Cave, the longest known cave system in the world, with over 400 explored miles. This park was established in 1941, and is located about equidistant from Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee.

Visitors to Mammoth are often overwhelmed by the sheer variety of underground features found within – including Gothic Avenue, featuring a ceiling covered in 19th-century visitors’ signatures, reminding today’s tourists that they were not the first here.

The only way to visit the cave is by a ranger-lead tour, and reservations are recommended.

*Visitor numbers come from National Parks Services‘ 2022 data.

Annual visitors: 640,986

Though it’s adjacent to Sequoia National Park (so much so that they share a single page in the National Parks Service site), Kings Canyon isn’t as frequented as its sister park. This is mostly because Sequoia has more famous sites, like General Sherman, the tree with the highest volume in the world. 

But while Sequoia receives 1.2 million visitors per year, Kings Canyon gets almost half of that. You’ll still get to enjoy the beauty of the magnificent sequoia trees without the crowds. Besides, the park has much more than the trees to lure people in, including the deepest canyon in the U.S. — yep, Kings Canyon is actually deeper than the Grand Canyon. That’s definitely a sight you need to behold.