Data report · Published October 2026
Free national parks score about as well as paid ones. The data, and the one caveat
An analysis of 476 US national park and public-land units shows that free-entry units generally score as well as or better than paid-entry units. The average score for free units is 74, compared to 75 for paid units. The median score for free units is 74, while for paid units it is 78. By Irene A. Taranina, founding editor.
Free units dominate top scores
Of the 476 units analyzed, 381, or 80 percent, offer free entry. Among units scoring 85 or higher, 127 are free and 37 require payment. This means 77 percent of the highest-scoring units are free, a proportion that is slightly lower than the overall share of free units.
Eight units achieved a perfect score of 100, and all eight are free-entry units. These include Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Montana, Wyoming, and Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Arizona, Nevada. Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, Lassen Volcanic National Park in California, Everglades National Park in Florida, New River Gorge National Park & Preserve in West Virginia, and Curecanti National Recreation Area in Colorado also scored 100.
The highest-scoring paid units achieved a score of 90. These include Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve in Colorado, Olympic National Park in Washington, Yellowstone National Park in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan, Glacier National Park in Montana, and Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida, Mississippi.
Formula includes free entry as a factor
The scoring formula assigns 10 of 100 points for free entry. This means a free unit starts 10 points ahead of an otherwise identical paid unit. This structural advantage contributes to the higher prevalence of free units among top scores. However, the average scores for free and paid units are close, with a 74 average for free units and a 75 average for paid units, and median scores of 74 for free units and 78 for paid units.
Activities offered at free versus paid units
Paid units generally offer a greater number of activities. The average number of activities for paid units is 22, while for free units it is 16. For example, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, a paid unit with a score of 90, offers 56 activities. Among the top-scoring free units, Grand Teton National Park offers 54 activities, and Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area and Lake Mead National Recreation Area each offer 48 activities.
Free entry by designation type
Certain designations consistently offer free entry. All 15 National Historic Trail units, 5 National Scenic Trail units, 10 National Battlefield units, 14 National Memorial units, 24 National Wildlife Refuge units, and 17 Lake & Reservoir units are free. For Park units, 90 percent offer free entry. National Military Park units have 89 percent free entry. This data reflects the types of units that typically do not charge entrance fees.
What to do with this: Visitors prioritizing free entry will find many highly-rated options, including all units that achieved a perfect score. Paid units, while fewer in number, tend to offer more activities on average.
The highest-scoring free units
- Grand Teton National Park
- Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
- Lake Mead National Recreation Area
- Voyageurs National Park
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Everglades National Park
- New River Gorge National Park & Preserve
- Curecanti National Recreation Area
The highest-scoring paid units
- Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve
- Olympic National Park
- Yellowstone National Park
- Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
- Glacier National Park
- Gulf Islands National Seashore
Free entry by designation
| Designation | Units | Free share |
|---|---|---|
| National Historic Trail | 15 | 100% |
| National Scenic Trail | 5 | 100% |
| National Battlefield | 10 | 100% |
| National Memorial | 14 | 100% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 24 | 100% |
| Lake & Reservoir | 17 | 100% |
| Park | 29 | 90% |
| National Military Park | 9 | 89% |
Method, in one paragraph
Every figure above is computed by code from the 476 units published on this site, each carrying one Experience Score from 0 to 100 built from documented activity breadth, topic breadth, imagery, camping and free access, floored at 18. The score reads what a unit documents and how reachable it is; it cannot see scenery, crowds, conditions or the quality of a program. The written analysis was drafted from those figures and edited; no number in it exists outside the tables on this page. Full detail is on how we score. Data is public-domain from the National Park Service Data API and Recreation.gov RIDB, last pulled July 2026.
Citing this report: attribute to parkverdict and link to this page. parkverdict is an independent publication and is not affiliated with the National Park Service.