The 10 Best National Parks to Visit in Fall, According to Actual Visitors

Despite the dark nights and cold temperatures, fall is one of the most beautiful times of the year, and for many of us – all around 29 million Every October, to be precise – you want to make the most of the fall colors by taking a trip to a national park. And now, a new survey conducted by the travel site Hello tickets He revealed what was best about America National parks It is a must visit at this time of year.

The survey’s authors looked at official US National Park Service visitor data, covering the period from 2020 to 2024, across a range of different metrics, including the number of visitors, the amount of time people tend to spend in each park, and the reviews and responses visitors left on Google (and the exact number of those that mentioned fall).

Best national parks by fall degree

All of these facts and figures were then weighted and combined to give each national park an official “fall score” out of 100, with the higher number representing the best fall experience. See the top ten list below, and more information about the analysis.

In first place was Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains National Parkwith an unparalleled drop score of 96.9 out of 100, putting it more than 10 points away from the closest competitor at the top of the list.

With more than 19.7 million individual visits recorded during the five-year period surveyed, the Smokies weren’t just AmericaIt is the most visited park, but also one of the highest rated, with an average score of 4.90 on Google, and more than 1,800 visitor reviews specifically referring to visits made there during the fall.

But in total hours spent inside the park, the Smoky Mountains surpassed all of its competitors, becoming the only park in the entire United States to record a nine-figure number of visitor hours from 2020 to 2024. In all, those 19 million visitors spent up to 132.5 million hours walking and hiking its trails.

Not far from the Smokies, Maine Acadia National Park It finished the survey with a falling score of 84.7 out of 100. Its 6.2 million visitors couldn’t quite compete with the Smoky Mountains’ 19 million visitors, but they nonetheless spent nearly 39 million hours inside the park — and similarly earned an average Google rating of 4.90 — to earn second place in the survey overall.

In fact, the rest of the top five were only a few points away from each other. Just one drop behind Acadia, Utah Zion National Park It finished with an overall score of 83.2 out of 100. It recorded more visitors (6.4 million) and visitor hours (40 million) than Acadia, but fell at the final hurdle with a Google average of 4.80 – despite recording more online reviews related to the falls (2,323 in total) than any other park in the entire United States.

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