2020 saw a major decline in most segments of the travel and tourism industry due to stay-at-home orders in the spring and ongoing restrictions to promote social distancing and discourage the spread of the coronavirus.
But once many of the strongest restrictions were dialed back, outdoor recreation became more appealing. Because the risk of outdoor virus transmission is low, many who were eager to get out of their homes saw camping and RV travel as safe options for leisure.
Few destinations attract outdoor enthusiasts like America’s national parks. Overall visitation numbers to the national parks were down substantially in 2020, as many parks were completely closed for two months or more during the early stages of the pandemic. But notwithstanding the impact of the pandemic, interest in America’s national parks has grown over time.
Yellowstone became America’s first national park in 1872; since then, America’s national parks system has grown to 63 parks with dozens more monuments, historical sites, and other units managed through the National Park Service (NPS). The national parks alone attracted more than 91 million visits in 2019, which marked the peak of a rapid increase in visitation that began following the Great Recession and showed no signs of slowing down until the COVID-induced decline to approximately 68 million visits in 2020.
One popular way to experience America’s national parks is through RV camping. As a result, many of the states that have the most national parks also draw the most RV overnight stays. California is home to nine national parks, the most of any state, and sees nearly 600,000 overnight stays from RV campers—a number 3.5 times higher than the next closest state. Other leading states for RV stays include Utah (five parks) and Colorado (four), followed by Montana and Tennessee, which are home to two of the system’s most popular parks in Yellowstone and Great Smoky Mountains, respectively.
National parks are not the only attractions that bring in recreational visits: the National Park Service also maintains national recreation areas, parkways, historical parks, and national seashores that also prove popular with visitors. But national parks remain the primary draw, and this reality has not changed due to COVID. Visitation is down across all types of attractions, but national parks still outstrip other types by a healthy margin. In 2020, visits to national parks were 40% greater than for any other category of NPS unit.
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To identify which particular national parks attract the most RV visitors, researchers at Outdoorsy evaluated National Park Service data from 2017–2019 on the total number of recreation visits, the number of overnight stays, and the number of overnight stays by RV campers. The research team used this data to rank parks by the average annual number of overnight stays by RV campers.
Here are the most popular national parks for RVs.
The most popular national parks for RVs
15. Kings Canyon National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 36,846
- Total overnight stays: 232,286
- Total recreation visits: 674,688
- Total park area (acres): 461,901
14. Bryce Canyon National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 38,219
- Total overnight stays: 132,120
- Total recreation visits: 2,615,355
- Total park area (acres): 35,835
13. Shenandoah National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 54,699
- Total overnight stays: 317,515
- Total recreation visits: 1,383,087
- Total park area (acres): 199,224
12. Acadia National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 57,241
- Total overnight stays: 217,588
- Total recreation visits: 3,494,711
- Total park area (acres): 49,077
11. Rocky Mountain National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 64,484
- Total overnight stays: 233,196
- Total recreation visits: 4,565,920
- Total park area (acres): 265,807
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10. Grand Canyon National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 67,476
- Total overnight stays: 1,224,546
- Total recreation visits: 6,203,048
- Total park area (acres): 1,201,647
9. Sequoia National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 68,055
- Total overnight stays: 312,060
- Total recreation visits: 1,255,634
- Total park area (acres): 404,063
8. Zion National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 74,382
- Total overnight stays: 334,645
- Total recreation visits: 4,437,704
- Total park area (acres): 147,243
7. Yellowstone National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 74,929
- Total overnight stays: 1,417,285
- Total recreation visits: 4,083,937
- Total park area (acres): 2,219,791
6. Olympic National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 75,774
- Total overnight stays: 441,629
- Total recreation visits: 3,250,752
- Total park area (acres): 922,649
5. Joshua Tree National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 76,604
- Total overnight stays: 400,780
- Total recreation visits: 2,928,183
- Total park area (acres): 795,156
4. Death Valley National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 97,069
- Total overnight stays: 216,725
- Total recreation visits: 1,571,477
- Total park area (acres): 3,408,396
3. Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 112,429
- Total overnight stays: 398,779
- Total recreation visits: 11,769,279
- Total park area (acres): 522,427
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2. Glacier National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 115,768
- Total overnight stays: 381,367
- Total recreation visits: 3,106,887
- Total park area (acres): 1,013,126
1. Yosemite National Park
- Number of overnight stays by RV campers: 255,180
- Total overnight stays: 1,576,865
- Total recreation visits: 4,256,396
- Total park area (acres): 761,748
Detailed findings & methodology
The data used in this analysis is from the National Park Service. To determine the most popular national parks for RVs, researchers used data from 2017 through 2019 to rank national parks by the average annual number of overnight stays by RV campers. In the event of a tie, the national park with the greater number of total overnight stays (including lodge guests, backcountry campers, tent campers, etc.) was ranked higher.
