It may only be March, but we bet there are some parents already thinking about what you’re going to do with your kids this summer. And there’s no doubt more than a few of us are considering a trip to visit one of America’s great national monuments, parks or memorials. So, which of these destinations attracts the most visitors?
Well, according to the National Parks Service, Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs 469 miles, connecting Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, is the most visited national site, attracting 16,093,765 people last year, while the Lincoln Memorial is the most popular monument/memorial, visited by 7,956,117 people last year.
Top Five Most Visited National Parks
- Blue Ridge Parkway (16,093,765 visitors)
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, CA (14,981,987)
- Great Smokey Mountains National Park, Tennessee (11,338,893)
- Gateway National Recreation Area, Staten Island, NY (9,190,610
- Lake Meade National Recreation Area, Nevada (7,882,339)
Top Five Most Visited National Monuments/Memorials
- Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC (7,956,117 visitors)
- Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, Washington, DC (5,072,589)
- World War II Memorial, Washington, DC (4,876,842)
- Castle Clinton National Monument, New York (4,737,113)
- Statute Of Liberty National Monument, New York NY ((4,441,988)
Source: USA Today