Every year, millions of Americans pack their bags, fire up Google Maps, and head for the same dozen or so national parks. Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Zion. You know the names. You’ve probably fought the crowds there. But here’s the thing most people don’t realize: the United States has 63 official national parks, and a surprising number of them are sitting nearly empty year after year.
Some of these overlooked parks are genuinely jaw-dropping. Others are so remote they make Antarctica look like a weekend destination. So what exactly is keeping people away? The answers are more fascinating, and sometimes more surprising, than you’d expect. Let’s dive in.
1. Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska – 11,907 Visits in 2024
In 2024, the National Park Service logged a record-high 331.9 million recreation visits. Yet, somehow, the least-visited national park in America remains Gates of the Arctic, with just 11,907 visitors in 2024. Located entirely north of the Arctic Circle, this vast wilderness area has no roads or trails, offering true backcountry adventure for those willing to charter a bush plane to reach its boundaries.
Gates of the Arctic spans 8.4 million acres, so there are thousands of miles of scenery to explore, should you have the resources to do so. The sheer cost and effort required to get here puts it firmly out of reach for most travelers. There are no paved roads, visitor centers, or established campgrounds. Visitation peaked at 12,669 in 2014, fell to just 2,872 in 2020, and climbed back up to 11,907 in 2024. Honestly, the math on this one is staggering. Over 8 million acres. Fewer than 12,000 people. That is roughly one person per 670 acres for the entire year.
2. North Cascades National Park, Washington – 16,485 Visits in 2024
One of the most underrated national parks out west, North Cascades saw only 16,485 visitors in 2024. The rugged and hard-to-access North Cascades reached a new low, with 24,000 fewer visitors in 2024 than in 2023. That is a significant drop, and it raises real questions about whether this park is simply falling off the map for modern travelers.
The main road going through the park, plus the visitor center and attractions like Diablo Lake, are technically located in adjacent Ross Lake National Recreation Area, rather than the national park itself. There are only two roads actually within the official park boundary, and both are gravel roads that are typically only traveled by adventurous hikers. This place is more appropriate for climbers and campers than your typical weekend RV traveler. Peaks crowned by more than 300 glaciers tower over this alpine landscape that sees a fraction of the visitors of Washington’s other national parks, Mount Rainier and Olympic.
3. Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska – 17,233 Visits in 2024
There are no roads, campgrounds, or entrance gates for this 1.8 million-acre expanse’s human visitors. Half a million caribou migrate through this park, crossing the Kobuk River and Onion Portage. An 8,000-year tradition of hunting caribou here continues today. Think about that for a second. Ancient traditions, half a million caribou, zero paved roads.
Remote Kobuk Valley National Park is hard to reach, like so many Alaska national parks. Despite that, over 17,000 people made the journey in 2024, which makes it one of the few parks seeing consistently higher visitation after the 2020 pandemic, when the pre-pandemic average was around 15,000 visitors. The park is growing, slowly, but it still remains wildly inaccessible for the average family looking for a road trip.
4. Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska – 18,505 Visits in 2024
Stretching across more than 4 million acres, Lake Clark is home to three designated Wild Rivers and two National Natural Landmark volcanoes. The land holds 10,000 years of human history and preserves the ancestral homelands of the Dena’ina people. Volcanoes, ancient cultures, and wild rivers all in one park. I know it sounds crazy, but almost nobody shows up.
Access remains the main hurdle. Like several other Alaska parks on this list, Lake Clark has no road connection to the outside world. Getting in requires a small plane or floatplane from Anchorage or Kenai. Lake Clark, which neighbors Katmai and also draws visitors for bear-watching, is similarly a low-visitation national park, but that’s a good thing as it helps protect the natural beauty and wildlife that call this park home. In the past four years, visitation to Lake Clark has averaged around 18,000.
5. National Park of American Samoa – 22,567 Visits in 2024
The National Park of American Samoa is the only American National Park Service system unit south of the equator. Situated in the South Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, it is also one of the system’s least visited parks. Only 22,500 people visited in 2024. To put that in perspective, the Grand Canyon averaged 13,000 visitors per day in 2024.
It is one of the few U.S. national parks that protect tropical rainforest. The islands are also home to some of the most pristine coral reefs in the Pacific, providing excellent opportunities for snorkeling and observing marine life in its natural habitat. Most parkgoers will need a passport to visit this spot in a remote part of the South Pacific. Hawaiian Airlines offers direct flights to American Samoa from Honolulu. The logistics alone are enough to deter most travelers, and that’s a real shame.
6. Isle Royale National Park, Michigan – 28,806 Visits in 2024
Accessible only by boat or seaplane, Isle Royale offers remarkable solitude and a unique ecosystem isolated from the mainland. The island is famous for its wolf and moose populations, extensive hiking trail network, and opportunities for kayaking along its rugged shoreline. There are fewer mammal species here, only 18, than on the mainland because animals must cross at least 14 miles of Lake Superior. Wolves and moose are among the notable animal residents.
An isolated archipelago in Lake Superior, Isle Royale boasts 165 miles of trails and more than 30 campgrounds. It is open only from mid-April through the end of October. Ferry and seaplane service typically runs from mid-May through the end of September. Getting to the main island requires a two-hour ferry ride, the shortest route, and costs $60 to $100 per passenger. That seasonal window, combined with the ferry cost, keeps casual visitors away.
7. Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska – 36,230 Visits in 2024
Known for the world-famous Brooks Falls, where bears gather to catch salmon, Katmai received 36,230 visitors in 2024. Despite its popularity on wildlife documentaries, Katmai’s remote location keeps visitor numbers low. Beyond bear viewing, the park preserves the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a dramatic ash-filled valley created by the 1912 Novarupta volcanic eruption.
Katmai is home to an estimated 2,200 brown bears, making it one of the world’s premier bear-viewing spots according to the Park Service. Brooks Camp along the Brooks River is one of the most popular viewing spots to observe bears feasting on salmon. The southern Alaska park is difficult to reach, but thousands make the effort because more than 2,000 bears live in the park. It’s the kind of place that shows up in stunning nature documentaries and yet somehow still sits nearly empty in real life.
8. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska – 81,670 Visits in 2024
America’s largest national park, Wrangell-St. Elias encompasses 13.2 million acres, or about the size of Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined, according to the Park Service. Most of the park is backcountry, and visitor services are limited. There are some maintained trails in the frontcountry Nabesna and McCarthy areas.
The drive is a bit of a trek, five hours from Anchorage, to get to McCarthy, Alaska, where visitors can access the historic Kennecott Mine and Root Glacier. The park’s scale is actually part of the problem: many visitors who do make it to Alaska gravitate toward more famous destinations like Denali, where infrastructure and tour options are far more developed. It’s a classic case of a spectacular place being overshadowed by a more famous neighbor. Wrangell-St. Elias deserves far better.
Conclusion
Underneath the staggering national totals is a very different story, one of parks so overlooked, so remote, or so logistically demanding that most Americans never even consider visiting them. What does it say about us as travelers when these wild, staggering places sit essentially empty while others require timed entry reservations?
A park’s popularity can depend on many things, including ease of access, perceived natural beauty, social popularity, and recreational opportunities. There’s something alluring about the thought of standing alone on a mountain ridge in North Cascades or watching bears fish at Brooks Falls in Katmai with just a handful of other visitors. These remote parks preserve not just wilderness, but also an increasingly rare experience in our hyperconnected world: genuine solitude in nature.
The parks on this list are not lesser places. They are simply harder places. They demand more planning, more money, more courage. If you’ve ever dreamed of standing somewhere truly wild and entirely alone, these eight parks are waiting. The question is whether you’re willing to make the effort. What do you think, would you visit one of these overlooked parks, or does the remoteness put you off? Tell us in the comments.
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