Trivia - What US National Park Is Often Visted But Rarely Mentioned By Name?

I think a lot of people visit this park thinking it’s part of another park. Name it…

King’s Canyon?

Good guess and perhaps true but I’m thinking of a more prominent natl park.

Gateway National Park.
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Top 10 Most Visited National Parks Rank Park Name /Visitation
1 Great Smoky Mountains NP 9,289,215
2 Grand Canyon NP 4,279,439
3 Yosemite NP 3,242,644
4 Yellowstone NP 2,870,295
5 Olympic NP 2,749,197
6 Rocky Mountain NP 2,743,676
7 Zion NP 2,567,350
8 Cuyahoga Valley NP 2,468,816
9 Grand Teton NP 2,406,476
10 Acadia NP 2,083,588

Yes, it’s on this list but doesn’t garner the respect and awe of it’s neighbor. I like it a ton more, myself.


You can’t be talking about Grand Teton can you?

Spot on, yes. I can’t tell you how many times somone has told me they are going to Yellowstone and when I ask if they are going to see GTNP they always say “where’s that”?.

Yellowstone even includes photos taken in GTNP in thier promotional stuff which is misleading. The rocky range is only in GTNP, not in Yellowstone, which has almost exclusively lower elevation forested mountains.


We went to both last summer and loved Grand Teton. Great hiking. Whitewater rafting on the Snake River outside of Jackson Hole. Would definitely go back.

The only one I could think of when reading your question was Grand Teton indeed - definitely not in the same class as its neighbor as far as I’m concerned. And definitely in the Top 10 due to its proximity, I guess a lot fewer people would go to Grand Teton if it wasn’t so close to the big Y.

Having visited quite a few National Parks, National Monuments, State Parks, National Historic Sites and what not, I can vouch for the fact that these names are purely linked to administrative issues.

Guillaume, ofcourse there is no right or wrong answer but I’m currious why you like Yellowstone better? I’ve spent a lot of time in both but am completely awed by the splendor of the jagged, toothy, rocky range in GTNP over everything else I like about Yellowstone. For me Yellowstone is very interesting for its thermal and it’s Grand Canyon of Yellowstone but nothing is even remotely as beautiful as the Cathedral group in GTNP with the Snake River winding in front of the range. For me, GTNP is the most beautiful park anywhere and perhaps best kept secret too. I’ve been to the rest of NP in the US and the Swiss Alps.

Craig, I think one issue is linked to “what have I/you seen first?”. I often play this game with people who like Asia or South America more: they actually usually like the continent they’ve been to first. I’m a South America guy and some of my friends are Asia guys, as you said no wrong answer.

I happen to think that the Mont Blanc area really kicks the GT range’s ass, but it’s probably because I’ve seen it first and that’s what “mountains” are for me, and it’s so ingrained that it’s probably not going to change. Most mountains I see seem quite boring in comparison. And I’d still rate the Bariloche area in Argentina and the Mount Cook area in NZ above GT, for example. The only interesting part I thought the GT range had is that it’s not surrounded by mountains but by very flat terrain - a nice specificity but nothing so out of the ordinary that I’d go heads over heels about it.

On the other hand I thought Yellowstone just had everything going for it: incredible thermal spots (pretty much unlike anything else in the world), great nature (I have some pictures of Lake Yellowstone that are just some of my favorite pics) and incredible wildlife (I saw through a scope 2 wolves and a grizzly kind of fighting for territory around a carcass - among many other things). In comparison for me GT is, well, just some other mountains with a river and a few lakes - been there, done that was my feeling.

But I have to say that quite a few people I’ve met preferred GT to Yellowstone. I was similarly generally unimpressed by Glacier NP or Rocky Mountains NP, but loved Banff/Jasper - so it’s probably just me :slight_smile:

nice place to visit…