What are California’s least popular national parks? These spots had fewest visits
California is home to some of the “very best” national parks in the United States, according to travel experts.
In 2025, the top national parks, seashores and historic sites in California each attracted more than a million visitors, according to the National Park Service.
Yosemite National Park drew 4.2 million visitors in 2025, while Golden Gate National Recreation Area recorded a whopping 15.7 million visits.
In contrast, the least popular national park in California reported fewer than 300,000 visitors in 2025.
One national monument failed to bring in 5,000 people, and a national memorial attracted fewer than 800 visitors.
Here’s which federally managed public lands lagged behind the rest in California:
Which national parks are in California?
The National Park Service operates 28 sites in California.
The agency has been tracking visitor data since 1979.
In total, more than 39.1 million people visited federally managed public lands in California in 2025, including national historic monuments, memorials, preserves, recreation areas and trails.
There are nine national parks in California:
- Redwood National Park
- Sequoia National Park
- Channel Islands National Park
- Death Valley National Park
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Pinnacles National Park
- Kings Canyon National Park
The Golden State is also home to Point Reyes National Seashore.
Which other public lands does the National Park Service manage?
In California, the National Park Services manages these national monuments:
- Castle Mountains National Monument
- César E. Chávez National Monument
- Devils Postpile National Monument
- Lava Beds National Monument
- Muir Woods National Monument
- Tule Lake National Monument
National historic sites that fall under Park Service supervision are:
- Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site
- Fort Point National Historic Site
- John Muir National Historic Site
- Manzanar National Historic Site
The federal agency also oversees these national historic trails:
- Butterfield Overland Trail
- California National Historic Trail
- Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
- Old Spanish National Historic Trail
- Pony Express National Historic Trail
California also has a number of national historical parks and recreation areas:
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area
- Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park
- San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
- Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
- Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
The National Park Service also manages Alcatraz Island, Presidio of San Francisco National Historic Landmark, Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial and the Mojave National Preserve.
Check individual park websites for directions, hours of operation and other visitor information.
What was the least popular national park in 2025?
With only 227,186 visitors, Channel Islands National Park was the least visited California national park in 2025, according to Park Service data.
That’s about 35,000 fewer visitors in 2024, when 262,581 people traveled to the park off the coast of Santa Barbara.
Channel Islands National Park saw its visitation peak in 2002. That year, more than 600,000 people visited the park.
For the past 14 years, Channel Islands National Park has shared the title of the least visited national park in California with another Central Valley spot.
Pinnacles National Park recorded 343,208 visitors in 2025, the Park Service said, compared to 354,076 in 2024.
The national park east of the Salinas Valley saw the most visitors — 393,219 people — in 2011.
How many people visited Lassen Volcanic National Park?
Lassen Volcanic National Park also saw lower visitor numbers in 2025, compared to other parks.
That year, 504,777 people visited the park east of Redding. That’s a considerable increase from 2024, when 357,651 visitors.
Lassen Volcanic National Park saw its highest number of visitors in 2020, with 542,274 people.
What are the least visited national monuments in California?
The National Parks Service only had 2025 visitor data for six of California’s national monuments. The agency didn’t include a visitor count for Castle Mountain National Monument.
According to the latest Park Service data, the least visited national monument in California in 2025 was Tule Lake National Monument in Modoc County.
Tule Lake is “the largest and most controversial of the sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II,” the Park Service said.
The park saw just 4,868 visitors in 2025, compared to 3,810 the previous year.
Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Kern County attracted a total of 31,497 visitors in 2025. The previous year, it drew 26,641 people.
The national monument memorializes controversial civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.
What were the 10 least popular places to visit in 2025?
In 2025, the top 10 least visited places in California and their number of visitors are:
- Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial: 782
- Tule Lake National Monument: 4,868
- Eugene O’Neill National Historical Site: 14,881
- Cesar E. Chavez National Monument: 31,497
- Rosie The Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park: 33,689
- John Muir National Historical Site: 38,384
- Manzanar National Historical Site: 95,764
- Devils Postpile National Monument: 99,652
- Lava Beds National Monument: 143,659
- Channel Islands National Park: 227,186
This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What are California’s least popular national parks? These spots had fewest visits."
