(CNN) — The US National Park System has over 420 sites, but only 63 have headings -- UPPERCASE N, capital P -- the title of "National Park".
The most visited of these is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee, with a record 14.2 million visitors in 2021. welcomed recreational visitors. Zion, Yellowstone, and Grand Canyon are other areas. Top Visitor Draws. See full list of most popular National Park Service sites here
but least visited headliners What about parks that may be particularly wild or difficult to reach, but are uncrowded and largely undiscovered. Take a peek at them.
Seven of the 15 least-visited national parks in 2021 will be in Alaska.
It's no big surprise that a good chunk of the least-visited national parks are in her 49th state. Covering nearly 665,000 square miles -- mostly wild and often frozen -- the state can be difficult to navigate,and there is plenty of wilderness to see.
It's safe to say that the people responsible for his 7,362 recreational visits in 2021 were passionate about wilderness experiences. Alaska's Denali National Park ranks 13th among the least-visited parks, but by comparison he had a whopping 229,521 visits.
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Alaska Preserve is the least visited national park in the United States.
Matt Brain/Adobe Stock
Remote islands, historic forts, etc.
Second A less-visited national park couldn't be more different. American Samoa National Park is located in a volcanic island arc in the South Pacific, with flying foxes and coral reefs as part of its ecosystem. The park will hit just under 8,500 visitors in 2021.
Among other non-Alaskan entries on the list of least-visited parks is Washington's North Cascades. Isle Royale in Michigan and Dry Tortugas in Florida.
His two latter are markedly different in island environment. Isle Royale is a wooded island on Lake Superior accessible by ferry or seaplane. Dry Tortugas lies 110 kilometers west of Key West and encompasses open water and several islands, including one with an impressive 19th-century fort.
Parks in Nevada, South Carolina, Minnesota and Texas also make the list of the 15 least visited parks.
Here is a list and some park highlights. Parks of 2021
With no roads, no trails, no cell service, and no established campgrounds, this vast expanse is a veritable wilderness. It's an experience. The park and nature reserve has six of the designated His WildsRivers, and "Visitors will have 8.4 million acres of prime natural beauty at their fingertips." You can walk around," says the park's website. Visitors should be self-sufficient, flexible, and "able to perform self-extraction and communication in the event of an emergency." Arrive ready.
Most park visitors need a passport to visit this remote spot in the South Pacific . Hawaiian Airlines flies direct from Honolulu. The only National Park Service site south of the equator, the park has units on her three different islands within the territory of American Samoa. The park spans 13,500 acres, of which about 4,000 are marine acres, mostly coral reefs.
In American Samoa National Park, in 2021 he recorded 8,495 recreational visits.
© Michael Runkel / Danita Delimon / Adobe Stock
His 1.8 million acre sprawl includes roads, campgrounds, There is no entrance gate. According to the National Park Service, half a million caribou migrate through the park, crossing the Kobuk River and the Onion Portage. His 8,000-year-old tradition of caribou hunting here continues today.
More than 300 glacier-capped mountains tower over this alpine landscape. More than 1,600 species of plants have been identified in the land, which ranges from temperate rainforest to arid ponderosa pine ecosystems. More than 400 miles of trails
Spread over four million acres, this national park and reserve includes three designated wild rivers and two Landmark volcanoes that are national nature reserves. This land holds his 10,000 years of human history and preserves the ancestral homeland of the Dena'ina people.
Katmai is an important habitat for thousands of brown bears. One of the world's top bear-watching spots, Katmai is home to an estimated 2,200 brown bears, according to the National Park Service.Brooks Camp is on the Brooks River and is one of the popular spots to see bears eating salmon.
An isolated archipelago on Lake Superior, Isle Royale has 265 miles of trails and more than 30 campgrounds. Open from mid-April to the end of October. Ferries and seaplanes generally operate from mid-May to the end of September, according to NPS. Only 19 species of mammals are here, as animals must cross Lake Superior at leastmiles.Wolves and elk are among the notable animal habitats.
Wrangell St., America's largest national park. At 13.2 million acres, Elias is the size of Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined, the Park Service said. Much of the park is backcountry and visitor services are limited. There are several groomed trails in the Front Country Navesna and McCarthy areas.
The Dry Tortugas, about 70 miles (113 km) west of Key West, is an open ocean consisting mostly of her seven small islands. Garden Key is home to Fort Jefferson, one of his largest 19th-century forts in the country. The park is accessible by boat or plane and is home to nearly 300 species of birds. Bush Key is closed from February to September each year to allow sooty terns and brown noddies to breed undisturbed.
Another Alaskan wilderness park, Glacier Bay covers 3.3 million acres. The main tourist season is from late May to early September. Visitors arrive by ferry or boat, and sea kayaking is a popular way to see the park's spectacular tidewater glaciers. Black bears and brown bears live here, andthe park recently closedan areatemporarily after the bears were fed by campers.
Peaks meet hot desert valleys here. The Great Basin National Park is home to 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak, ancient bristlecone pines, nearly 40 caves, and a wide variety of flora and fauna. Elevations range from 5,000 to 13,000 feet, with hiking trails for all levels.
Congaree National Park's landscape is "defined by the presence of both floods and fire," the Park Service said. Floods from the Congaree and Waterleigh rivers regularly blanket the park's primary forest, lowland hardwood forests, and upland pine forests that rely on wildfires to clear out competing vegetation. Canoeing and kayaking are popular ways to explore the park. There are 15 miles of marked canoe trails.
Six million acres of wild land is home to North America's tallest park, Denali at 20,310 feet. Off-trail hiking is common, and vehicle access to the only road is largely restricted to buses. Grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, reindeer, elk and doll's sheep all live here.
Voyageurs, advertised as a park of 'Water, Islands and Horizons', covers 218,055 acres (84,000 of which are water). There are over 500 islands and his four large lakes within the park, plus over 20 smaller lakes, best experienced by boat. Voyager shares its northern border with Canada, andlucky visitors may even be able to see the Northern Lights
This park has , the four tallest peaks in Texas and the world's most extensivePermian fossil reefThe wilderness of the Guadalupe Mountains hassalt basin dunes rising 100 feet from the desert floorThere are over 80 miles of trails, including hikes in
