What are California’s most popular national parks? See latest visitor numbers
The National Park Service manages 28 sites across California.
That includes Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks.
California’s nine national parks recorded nearly 12 million visitors in 2025, surpassing a record set in 2019, according to newly released Park Service data.
That’s an increase of more than 800,000 visits since 2024.
Out of 63 national parks in the United States, at least one California national park has ranked among the top 10 most visited places annually over the past decade.
These California public lands were the most popular with visitors in 2025:
Where are national parks in California?
The National Park Service has been tracking visitor data since 1979.
In total, more than 39.1 million people visited federally managed public lands in California in 2025, including national historic monuments, memorials, preserves, recreation areas and trails.
There are nine national parks in California:
- Yosemite National Park
- Redwood National Park
- Sequoia National Park
- Channel Islands National Park
- Death Valley National Park
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Pinnacles National Park
- Kings Canyon National Park
The Golden State is also home to Point Reyes National Seashore.
Which other public lands does the National Park Service manage?
In California, the National Park Services manages these national monuments:
- Cabrillo National Monument
- Castle Mountains National Monument
- César E. Chávez National Monument
- Devils Postpile National Monument
- Lava Beds National Monument
- Muir Woods National Monument
- Tule Lake National Monument
National historic sites that fall under Park Service supervision are:
- Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site
- Fort Point National Historic Site
- John Muir National Historic Site
- Manzanar National Historic Site
The federal agency also oversees these national historic trails:
- Butterfield Overland Trail
- California National Historic Trail
- Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
- Old Spanish National Historic Trail
- Pony Express National Historic Trail
California also has a number of national historical parks and recreation areas:
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area
- Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park
- San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
- Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
- Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
The National Park Service also manages Alcatraz Island, Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Landmark, Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial and the Mojave National Preserve.
Check individual park websites for directions, hours of operation and other visitor information.
What was California’s most popular national park in 2025?
In 2025, the most popular national park in California was Yosemite National Park with more than 4.2 million visitors.
2024 saw roughly the same amount of visitors, 4.1 million.
Nestled in the Sierra Nevada, Yosemite National Park features waterfalls, meadows, giant sequioas and granite cliffs spread across 748,542 acres. It’s home to El Capitan, Half Dome, the Mist Trail and other popular spots.
Yosemite has consistently held the No. 1 spot on the list of California’s most visited parks since 1979.
In 2020, however, Joshua Tree National Park bumped Yosemite to second place — attracting about 131,000 more visitors that year.
Yosemite saw its highest annual number of visitors in 2016, more than five million people flocked to the park.
Yosemite is expected to see even bigger crowds than usual during the busy spring and summer seasons, The Fresno Bee previously reported.
The national park is not requiring vehicle reservations in 2026, which critics predict will lead to longer lines at entrances, road congestion and overcrowding at Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point and Mariposa Grove.
How many visitors did Joshua Tree get?
In 2025, Joshua Tree National Park served about 2.9 million visitors, making it the second most popular national park in California that year.
About 70,000 more people visited Joshua Tree in 2024.
The national park, which straddles the Colorado and Mojave deserts, saw its highest number of visitors in 2021. That year, more than 3 million people visited Joshua Tree.
What are other popular recreation areas in California?
Golden Gate National Recreation Area has surpassed 10 million visitors every year since 1979, according to National Park Service data.
In 2025, more than 15.7 million people visited the site next to San Francisco’s famed Golden Gate Bridge.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area saw its highest number of annual visitors — close to 21.8 million — in 1987, when the Golden Gate Bridge celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The nearby San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park saw more than 3.2 million visitors in 2025.
The 50-acre park, which includes a maritime museum and several historic vessels, grew up around Aquatic Park Cove in the San Francisco Bay, the National Park Service said.
In 2024, Golden Gate had 17.2 million visitors while San Francisco Maritime had 2.5 million.
What were 10 most popular places to visit in 2025?
According to the National Park Service, these 10 federally managed spots had the highest numbers of visitors in 2025:
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area: 15.7 million
- Yosemite National Park: 4.2 million
- San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park: 2.9 million
- Joshua Tree National Park: 2.9 million
- Point Reyes National Seashore: 2.4 million
- Sequoia National Park: 1.3 million
- Death Valley National Park: 1.3 million
- Redwood National Park: 1.2 million
- Fort Point National Historical Site: 1 million
- Kings Canyon National Park: 779,791
