Editing National Park Service (section)

==Visitation==
The National Park System received over 325 million recreation visits in 2023.<ref name=":3" /> Park visitation grew 64 percent between 1979 and 2015.<ref name="NPS Reports">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=NPS Reports|url=https://irma.nps.gov/STATS/SSRSReports/National%20Reports/Annual%20Park%20Ranking%20Report%20(1979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year)|access-date=September 6, 2016|website=|publisher=Nature.nps.gov|archive-date=July 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713070837/https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/National%20Reports/Annual%20Park%20Ranking%20Report%20%281979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year%29|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2024, NPS reported a record 331.9 million recreation visits.<ref name="irma24">{{cite web |url=https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/National%20Reports/Query%20Builder%20for%20Public%20Use%20Statistics%20(1979%20-%20Last%20Calendar%20Year) |title=NPS Public Use Statistics Query Builder |work=irma.nps.gov|access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Friedman |first=Lisa |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/climate/national-parks-record-visitors-trump.html |title=National Parks Had a Record Year. Trump Officials Appear to Want It Kept Quiet.|work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 6, 2025 |access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref>

The 10 most-visited units of the National Park System handle around 30 percent of the overall visits. The top 10 percent of parks (43) handle over 64 percent of all visits, leaving the remaining more than 380 units to accommodate around 36 percent of visits.<ref name=":3" /> (Note that only 380 sites recorded visitors during 2021 due to COVID-19-related closures).<ref name="NPS Reports" />

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Park
! Rank (2023)<ref name=":3" />
! Visits (2023)<ref name=":3" />
! Rank (2024)<ref name="irma24"/>
! Visits (2024)<ref name="irma24"/>
|-
| [[Blue Ridge Parkway]]{{efn|When [[Hurricane Helene]] hit the area September 27–29, 2024, the Blue Ridge Parkway received major damage and was closed during peak tourist season.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Razek |first1=Raja |last2=Sutton |first2=Joe |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/05/us/blue-ridge-parkway-closed-helene/index.html |title=Scenic Blue Ridge Parkway remains closed after suffering catastrophic impacts from Helene |work=[[CNN]] |date=October 5, 2024 |access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref> Repairs were ongoing in February 2025.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/helene-impacts-and-recovery.htm |title=Blue Ridge Parkway — Helene Impacts and Recovery |work=National Park Service |access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref>}}
| {{center| 1}}
| {{right|16,757,635}}
| {{center| 2}}
| {{right|16,733,639}}
|-
| [[Golden Gate National Recreation Area]]
| {{center|2}}
| {{right|14,953,882}}
| {{center|1}}
| {{right|17,187,508}}
|-
| [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]]{{efn|Parts of Great Smoky Mountains National Park closed after Hurricane Helene hit the area in September 2024 and remained closed as of January 2025.<ref>{{cite news |last=Turner |first=Devarrick |url=https://knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2025/01/14/great-smoky-mountains-national-park-visits-dropped-in-2024/77492289007/ |title=Great Smoky Mountains National Park visits dropped in 2024 - not just because of Helene |work=[[Knoxville News Sentinel]] |date=January 14, 2025 |access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref>}}
| {{center|3}}
| {{right|13,297,647}}
| {{center|3}}
| {{right|12,191,834}}
|-
| [[Gateway National Recreation Area]]
| {{center|4}}
| {{right|8,705,329}}
| {{center|4}}
| {{right|8,929,035}}
|-
| [[Gulf Islands National Seashore]]
| {{center|5}}
| {{right|8,277,857}}
| {{center|6}}
| {{right|7,801,176}}
|-
| [[Lincoln Memorial]]
| {{center|6}}
| {{right|8,099,148}}
| {{center|5}}
| {{right|8,479,349}}
|-
| [[George Washington Memorial Parkway]]
| {{center|7}}
| {{right|7,391,260}}
| {{center|8}}
| {{right|6,782,717}}
|-
| [[Natchez Trace Parkway]]
| {{center|8}}
| {{right|6,784,853}}
| {{center|7}}
| {{right|7,364,833}}
|-
| [[Lake Mead National Recreation Area]]
| {{center|9}}
| {{right|5,798,541}}
| {{center|9}}
| {{right|6,412,854}}
|-
| [[Glen Canyon National Recreation Area]]
| {{center|10}}
| {{right|5,206,934}}
| {{center|15}}
| {{right|4,725,610}}
|-
| [[Vietnam Veterans Memorial]]
| {{center|11}}
| {{right|5,039,454}}
| {{center|10}}
| {{right|5,295,711}}
|}
{{clear}}

'''Notes''':
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css"/><div class="reflist reflist-lower-alpha"><references group="lower-alpha"/></div>

===Entrance fees===
{{Main|List of fee areas in the United States National Park System}}

Most areas of the National Park System do not charge entrance fees and are completely supported by tax dollars, although some of the most popular areas do charge entrance fees. Fees vary site to site and are charged either on a per-vehicle or per-person basis, with most passes valid for 7 days. The [[America the Beautiful Pass]] series waives the per-vehicle fee or per-person fee for the holder and up to 3 other adults (children age 15 and younger are admitted for free at most sites). Annual passes for single areas are also available for those who visit the same site often.

===Overnight stays===
Over 15 million visitors spent a night in one of the national park units during 2015. The largest number (3.68 million) were tent campers. The second largest group (3.38 million) stayed in one of the lodges, followed by miscellaneous stays (on boats, group sites—2.15 million). The last three groups of over-night visitors included RV campers (2.26 million), backcountry campers (2.02 million) and users of the concession-run campgrounds (1.42 million).<ref name="Stats">{{cite web|last=Butch Street|title=Statistical Abstract 2010|url=http://nature.nps.gov/socialscience/docs/PUSO_Abstract_2010.pdf|access-date=September 6, 2016|website=Natural Resource Data Series NPS/NRPC/SSD/NRDS—2011/147|publisher=National Park Service|archive-date=September 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916182837/https://nature.nps.gov/socialscience/docs/PUSO_Abstract_2010.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>