National Parks Week Report: Carlsbad Caverns Ranks Top 20 in USA

For National Parks Week, Travel Lemming analyzed data to rank all 63 US national parks. New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park ranks at #17 while White Sands National Park comes in lower at #32.

Denver (April 27, 2023) – In celebration of National Parks week, Travel Lemming released a data-backed ranking of all 63 US national parks.

Travel Lemming’s national parks ranking is based on an analysis of data scoring each park across six factors: affordability, accessibility, biodiversity, crowds, reviews, and weather.

The report reveals the following insights regarding New Mexico’s national parks:

• New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns performs best among New Mexico’s two national parks, ranking #17 overall, while White Sands National Park comes in the middle of the pack at #32 overall.

• Both Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands rank in the Top 15 most affordable national parks for accommodation. They rank at #14 and #12 in the affordability rankings, respectively.

• Both White Sands National Park and Carlsbad Caverns score relatively low on accessibility, due to longer distances from nearby airports.

• Carlsbad Caverns places #14 in the weather rankings, while White Sands places #21.

• Several lesser-known parks rank in the top 20, challenging conventional ideas of the top US national parks.

• Iconic national parks fared worse in the data, largely due to crowds and affordability. Grand Canyon National Park was ranked #15, Yellowstone National Park at position #23, and Yosemite National Park at slot #34.

• Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains is the most biodiverse park, North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt the most affordable, Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic the least crowded, and Missouri’s Gateway Arch the most accessible.

The top 10 US national parks in the USA according the report are:

The most famous national parks fare surprisingly poorly in the data, largely due to the crowds and affordability factors. Grand Canyon National Park ranks #15, Yellowstone National Park at position #23, and Yosemite National Park at slot #34.

Travel Lemming Senior Travel Writer McKenna Mobley commented: “I have traveled the world, and can confidently say that the USA national parks are unparalleled, making them one of my all-time favorite travel destinations. Every US national park offers its own special flair, so in some sense ranking them is like ranking music genres — they’re all good!”

“However, I hope this report highlights the fact that some of America’s less famous parks offer far more than what meets the eye. Sometimes the best experiences can be found at hidden park gems that are off the lemming path.”

Methodology

National Parks were ranked on six factors, based on the following data:

• Crowds – Number of visits per acre of park land in 2022. (Sources: NPS 2022 Recreation Visit Data, Wikipedia Acreage Data)

• Reviews – Average visitor review score out of 5. (Sources: Google Maps, Yelp, TripAdvisor)

• Weather – Number of months with a comfortable average temperature, defined as between 50 and 90 degrees fahrenheit. (Source: NOAA NECI US Climate Normals)

• Affordability – Average nightly cost of a nearby quality hotel room during the first weekend of the park’s most popular month. (Sources: Booking, Google Travel, Hotel Websites)

• Accessibility – Average of driving distance to the park from the closest FAA Primary Airport and from the closest hub airport. (Sources: FAA, Google Maps Driving Distance, Wikipedia Major US Airports)

• Biodiversity – Number of species deemed “present or probably present.” (Source: NPS Species List)

Overall rankings were determined by each park’s average ranking across all factors. Further details are available in the report’s methodology section.

About Travel Lemming

Travel Lemming is an online travel guide with more than 10 million annual readers. It is known for highlighting emerging and lesser-known destinations, and for the authentic guides produced by its team of dozens of local and expert travel creators.

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