An Arizona national park had the third most visitors in 2024 of all the parks in the United States. Here's how many visited and why it's so popular.

According to data published on the National Park Service website, there were 6.36 million more visits in 2024 than there were in 2023, with 28 parks setting new visitation records. Now, the National Park Service is directing employees not to share those numbers with the public unless they’re asked, The New York Times reports.

National parks saw a record-breaking 331.8 million visitors in the last year, a 2% increase from the previous year. Great Smoky Mountains National Park remains the most visited national park, while Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve had the fewest visitors.