How Many National Parks Are There in the US? (64 as of October 2026)

There are 64 national parks in the United States. The newest is Chiricahua National Park in southeastern Arizona, which Congress redesignated from a national monument in October 2026. Before that the number was 63, and it had stayed at 63 since New River Gorge in West Virginia was upgraded in December 2020. A lot of pages still say 63, so if you see that number, the page was written before the change.

Last checked against the National Park Service list on October 25, 2026, by the Private USA Tours planning team.

64 national parks vs. 433 park units

The two numbers people mix up most are 64 and 433. The National Park Service manages 433 individual units, according to its own National Park System page. Only 64 of them carry the title "National Park."

The rest have other names: national monuments, national historic sites, national seashores, national battlefields, national recreation areas, parkways and so on. The Statue of Liberty is a national monument. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a parkway. Both are run by the NPS, both are on the 433 list, and neither counts toward the 64.

The difference matters in practice for one reason. The "National Park" title is set by Congress, not by the NPS, so the count only changes when a law passes. That is what happened with Chiricahua.

The newest one: Chiricahua National Park, Arizona

Chiricahua sits near Willcox, Arizona, about two hours' drive southeast of Tucson. The park protects hundreds of rhyolite pinnacles and balanced rocks left by the Turkey Creek volcano eruption about 27 million years ago. The Chiricahua Apache called them "standing up rocks." Early settlers called the area the Wonderland of Rocks, and it had been a national monument since 1924.

It is a small park by western standards, which is part of the appeal. You can drive the 8-mile scenic road up to Massai Point in about 20 minutes, and the park has 17 miles of trails. The Echo Canyon Trail is the one most people do first: it drops you between the pinnacles and through a narrow passage called the Grotto. Faraway Ranch, a historic homestead that later ran as a guest ranch, is near the entrance and is worth an hour.

Two practical notes from the park's NPS page: oversized vehicles and trailers are not allowed on the scenic drive, and the nearest real services are in Willcox. Fees and visitor-center hours may change after the redesignation, so check the park's site the week you go.

Echo Canyon Trail, Chiricahua. Photo: w_lemay via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Which states have the most national parks?

California has the most, with 9. Alaska is second with 8, and Utah third with 5.

State	National parks	Names
California	9	Channel Islands, Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen Volcanic, Pinnacles, Redwood, Sequoia, Yosemite
Alaska	8	Denali, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier Bay, Katmai, Kenai Fjords, Kobuk Valley, Lake Clark, Wrangell-St. Elias
Utah	5	Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Zion
Arizona	4	Chiricahua, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Saguaro
Colorado	4	Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain
Florida	3	Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, Everglades
Washington	3	Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic

Chiricahua moved Arizona from 3 to 4, which ties it with Colorado. A few parks cross state lines (Yellowstone covers parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho; Great Smoky Mountains is split between Tennessee and North Carolina), so state totals add up to more than 64 if you count each state a park touches.

Two of the 64 are outside the 50 states: National Park of American Samoa and Virgin Islands National Park.

Biggest, smallest and busiest

Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska is the largest at roughly 13.2 million acres, bigger than Switzerland. Gateway Arch in St. Louis is the smallest at about 91 acres; you can walk the whole thing in an afternoon.

Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited by a wide margin, with more than 12 million recreation visits a year in recent NPS counts. Gates of the Arctic, which has no roads into it at all, is usually the least visited.

How to actually see more than a handful

Nobody we plan for tries to see all 64 in one go. The parks cluster, though, and that is how we build trips:

• Southern Utah: all 5 Utah parks fit in 7 to 9 days on a loop from Las Vegas or Salt Lake City.
• Arizona: Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest and Saguaro work as one trip, and Chiricahua now adds a fourth stop about two hours from Saguaro.
• California: Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon sit close together in the Sierra Nevada.
• Pacific Northwest: Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades are all within a few hours of Seattle.

Fees changed on January 1, 2026, and the change hits overseas visitors hardest. US residents still pay $80 for the America the Beautiful annual pass. Nonresidents pay $250 for the same pass, or a $100 per-person surcharge on top of the normal entrance fee at 11 of the busiest parks: Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion. If you are visiting from abroad and plan to see two or more of those 11, the $250 pass is almost always cheaper. Confirm current prices on the NPS passes page before you buy.

Our USA national parks guide covers the parks we send travelers to most, with the best months for each.

FAQ

How many national parks are there in the US in 2026?

64. Chiricahua National Park in Arizona became the 64th in October 2026.

What was the 63rd national park?

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia, redesignated in December 2020.

How many national park sites are there in total?

433 units are managed by the National Park Service. Only 64 of them are called national parks.

Which state has the most national parks?

California, with 9.

Is Chiricahua worth visiting?

Yes, if you like hiking among rock formations and want something quieter than the Grand Canyon. Plan a full day. If you are already in Tucson for Saguaro, it is an easy addition.

Plan a national parks trip

We build private, guided national park itineraries with drivers, lodge bookings and timed-entry reservations handled for you. Talk to a USA specialist about which parks fit your dates.

Sources: National Park Service, National Park System; Chiricahua National Park, NPS; NPS visitor use statistics.

Cover photo: w_lemay via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.