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The National Park Service set a new visitor record in 2014, attracting more than 290 million people to the nation's 405 national parks, monuments and historic sites. Yet a few parks in Alaska recorded no visitors at all last year. Others in California and Texas only saw a few thousand visitors. So if you want to explore without fighting the crowds, check out these 10 least visited parks. [Read more about the most popular national parks]
1. Salt River Bay National Historical Park & Ecological Preserve, Virgin Islands
This is the only site in U.S. territory where members of the 1492 Columbus expedition set foot on land. (Photo credit: NOAA/NPS)
2. Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Texas
The flint quarries here provided sharp stone for prehistoric people for more than 13,000 years. (Photo credit: NPS)
3. Nicodemus National Historic Site, Kansas
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Tom Wellington and Robert Brogden are two of Nicodemus' veterans honored at a recent ceremony. It is the oldest remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi, founded after the Civil War. (Photo credit: NPS)
4. Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site, California
The historic home and grounds of playwright Eugene O'Neill. (Photo credit: NPS)
5. Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Alaska
The Bering Land Bridge was the primary pathway for people, animals and plants from the Old World to the New World. (Photo credit: NPS)
6. Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska
This roadless region protects the mighty Yukon River, home to critical habitat for Alaska's wildlife. (Photo credit: NPS)
7. Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania
Thaddeus Kosciuszko was a Polish freedom fighter whose defenses and fortifications helped protect Saratoga and West Point during the American Revolution. (Image credit: NPS)
8. Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Monument, California
The memorial commemorates 320 men who died in the Port Chicago disaster on July 17, 1944, when ships being loaded with munitions exploded. The mutiny afterward, and subsequent trial, were catalysts for the desegration of the U.S. Navy. (Photo credit: NPS)
9. Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River, Texas
The free-flowing Rio Grande attracts canoers and kayakers to this remote section of the scenic river. (Photo credit: Jennette Jurado/NPS)
10. Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, Alaska
This volcanic park is one of the least visited national places every year because of its remote location in the Aleutian Range. (Photo credit: NPS)
Becky Oskin covers Earth science, climate change and space, as well as general science topics. Becky was a science reporter at Live Science and The Pasadena Star-News; she has freelanced for New Scientist and the American Institute of Physics. She earned a master's degree in geology from Caltech, a bachelor's degree from Washington State University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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