{"id":270808,"date":"2026-04-16T14:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/270808\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T14:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:14:17","slug":"popular-ca-national-parks-yosemite-joshua-tree-golden-gate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/270808\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular CA national parks: Yosemite, Joshua Tree & Golden Gate"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Park Service<\/a> manages 28 sites across California.<\/p>\n

That includes Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s nine national parks recorded nearly 12 million visitors in 2025, surpassing a record set in 2019, according to newly released Park Service data.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an increase of more than 800,000 visits since 2024.<\/p>\n

Out of 63 national parks<\/a> in the United States, at least one California national park has ranked among the top 10 most visited places<\/a> annually over the past decade.<\/p>\n

These California public lands were the most popular with visitors in 2025:<\/p>\n

\"The The walk to Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park requires a half-mile hike but the views are quite pleasant and include sites of waterfalls along the way. CRAIG KOHLRUSS craig@craigkohlruss.com Where are national parks in California?<\/p>\n

The National Park Service has been tracking visitor data<\/a> since 1979.<\/p>\n

In total, more than 39.1 million<\/a> people visited federally managed public lands in California in 2025, including national historic monuments, memorials, preserves, recreation areas and trails.<\/p>\n

There are nine national parks in California:<\/p>\n

The Golden State is also home to Point Reyes National Seashore.<\/a><\/p>\n

Which other public lands does the National Park Service manage?<\/p>\n

In California, the National Park Services manages these national monuments:<\/p>\n

National historic sites that fall under Park Service supervision are:<\/p>\n

The federal agency also oversees these national historic trails:<\/p>\n

California also has a number of national historical parks and recreation areas:<\/p>\n

The National Park Service also manages Alcatraz Island<\/a>, Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Landmark,<\/a> Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial<\/a> and the Mojave National Preserve<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Check individual park websites for directions, hours of operation and other visitor information.<\/p>\n

\"Half Half Dome and Yosemite Valley in September 2025. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com What was California\u2019s most popular national park in 2025?<\/p>\n

In 2025, the most popular national park in California was Yosemite National Park<\/a> with more than 4.2 million visitors.<\/a><\/p>\n

2024 saw roughly the same amount of visitors, 4.1 million.<\/p>\n

Nestled in the Sierra Nevada, Yosemite National Park features waterfalls, meadows, giant sequioas and granite cliffs spread across 748,542 acres. It\u2019s home to El Capitan, Half Dome, the Mist Trail and other popular spots.<\/p>\n

Yosemite has consistently held the No. 1 spot<\/a> on the list of California\u2019s most visited parks since 1979.<\/p>\n

In 2020, however, Joshua Tree National Park<\/a> bumped Yosemite to second place \u2014 attracting about 131,000 more visitors that year.<\/p>\n

Yosemite saw its highest annual number of visitors in 2016, more than five million people<\/a> flocked to the park.<\/p>\n

Yosemite is expected to see even bigger crowds than usual<\/a> during the busy spring and summer seasons, The Fresno Bee previously reported.<\/p>\n

The national park is not requiring vehicle reservations<\/a> in 2026, which critics predict will lead to longer lines at entrances, road congestion and overcrowding at Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point and Mariposa Grove.<\/p>\n

\"Joshua Joshua Tree National Park in California. TNS How many visitors did Joshua Tree get?<\/p>\n

In 2025, Joshua Tree National Park<\/a> served about 2.9 million visitors<\/a>, making it the second most popular national park in California that year.<\/p>\n

About 70,000 more people visited Joshua Tree in 2024.<\/p>\n

The national park, which straddles the Colorado and Mojave deserts, saw its highest number of visitors in 2021. That year, more than 3 million people visited Joshua Tree.<\/p>\n

\"The The Golden Gate Bridge in Marshall\u2019s Beach in San Francisco, California. lucky-photographer\/Getty What are other popular recreation areas in California?<\/p>\n

Golden Gate National Recreation Area<\/a> has surpassed 10 million visitors every year since 1979<\/a>, according to National Park Service data.<\/p>\n

In 2025, more than 15.7 million people<\/a> visited the site next to San Francisco\u2019s famed Golden Gate Bridge.<\/p>\n

Golden Gate National Recreation Area saw its highest number of annual visitors \u2014 close to 21.8 million \u2014 in 1987, when the Golden Gate Bridge celebrated its 50th anniversary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The nearby San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park<\/a> saw more than 3.2 million visitors in 2025.<\/p>\n

The 50-acre park, which includes a maritime museum<\/a> and several historic vessels,<\/a> grew up around Aquatic Park Cove in the San Francisco Bay, the National Park Service said.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Golden Gate had 17.2 million visitors while San Francisco Maritime had 2.5 million.<\/p>\n

\"The The 275-foot tall General Sherman giant sequoia in Sequoia National Park in California. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com What were 10 most popular places to visit in 2025?<\/p>\n

According to the National Park Service, these 10 federally managed spots had the highest numbers of visitors in 2025:<\/p>\n

Golden Gate National Recreation Area: 15.7 millionYosemite National Park: 4.2 millionSan Francisco Maritime National Historical Park: 2.9 millionJoshua Tree National Park: 2.9 millionPoint Reyes National Seashore: 2.4 millionSequoia National Park: 1.3 millionDeath Valley National Park: 1.3 millionRedwood National Park: 1.2 millionFort Point National Historical Site: 1 millionKings Canyon National Park: 779,791<\/p>\n

Loading\u2026<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Alexiah Syrai Olsen<\/a><\/p>\n

The Tribune<\/p>\n

Alexiah Syrai Olsen is a service journalism reporter for The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, California. She earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in journalism and design from The New School in New York City.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Park Service manages 28 sites across California. That includes Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-270808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}