California’s national parks drew record crowds in 2025 – even as a historic government shutdown, staffing cuts and political battles rattled the federal agency that runs them.
Nearly 12 million people visited the state’s nine national parks last year, according to newly released National Park Service data. That surpassed the previous record set in 2019 and rose by more than 800,000 visits from 2024.
Across the country, the park system logged more than 323 million recreation visits in 2025, with 26 parks setting new attendance records, the National Park Service said Friday.
“America’s national parks continue to be places where people come to experience our country’s history, landscapes and shared heritage,” Jessica Bowron, the agency’s comptroller and the official exercising the delegated authority of the director, said in a statement.
The strong visitation numbers came during one of the most turbulent periods in recent memory for the park service.
A 43-day federal government shutdown in fall 2025, the longest on record, forced thousands of park service employees off the job and left many parks operating with skeleton crews. At Yosemite National Park, most federal staff were furloughed while roads, trails and concession-run businesses remained open.
Visitors kept coming anyway.
Visitors board buses in Yosemite National Park last May. The strong park visitation numbers came during one of the most turbulent periods in recent memory for the park service. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
Yosemite drew about 4.3 million visits in 2025, according to park service data. Joshua Tree recorded roughly 2.9 million, while Death Valley saw about 1.3 million visitors.
Some of the system’s heaviest traffic came closer to home for Bay Area residents. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which includes sites such as Muir Woods, Alcatraz and Ocean Beach, ranked among the most visited places in the national park system with about 15.7 million visits.
But the upbeat numbers landed amid sharp warnings from advocacy groups, which say the visitation report masks deeper damage to the National Park Service.
“The enduring popularity of America’s national parks is not surprising,” Emily Douce, deputy vice president for government affairs at the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association, said in a statement. “What’s shocking is this administration’s relentless attacks on these places and their caretakers, which threatens their future.”
This article originally published at California national parks hit record attendance in 2025 despite shutdown turmoil.