In part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Allegany County, you can find Lockhouse 70 next ot Lock 70. The park, which runs thorugh Washington, D.C., Maryland and West Viriginia, was the eighth-most visited park in the National Park System in 2020, according to the National Park Service. (Clintonweaverphotos / Depositphotos.com)

The National Park Service keeps recreation visit statistics for more than 400 parks in the National Park System. The National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington are often cited as the most-visited park in the system with an estimated 32 million visitors each year, but that park doesn’t show up on its own in the data. Instead, the park service keeps visitor statistics for attractions you can find there, such as the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

Here’s a list of the top 10 most visited National Park Service sites in 2020, according to the park service:

  1. Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia and North Carolina, 14.1 million.
  2. Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, 12.4 million.
  3. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee, 12.1 million.
  4. Gateway National Recreation Area, New Jersey and New York, 8.4 million.
  5. Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada, 8 million.
  6. George Washington Memorial Parkway, Virginia, 6.2 million.
  7. Natchez Trace Parkway, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, 6.1 million.
  8. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Washington, D.C., Maryland and West Virginia, 4.9 million.
  9. Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts, 4.1 million.
  10. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 4.1 million.

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