Two National Parks · 163 miles apart
Death Valley or Yosemite
Yosemite drew 4,278,413 recreation visits in 2025, 3.2 times the 1,320,134 at Death Valley, so crowds are the largest difference. Death Valley holds an International Dark Sky designation and Yosemite does not. Death Valley lists 384 bird species in the NPSpecies inventory against 269 at Yosemite. On the rest they match, since neither uses timed entry. The two parks are 163 miles apart in a straight line.
| Death Valley National Park | Yosemite National Park | |
|---|---|---|
| Designation | National Park | National Park |
| States | California, Nevada | California |
| Recreation visits, 2025 | 1,320,134 | 4,278,413 |
| Entrance fee, private vehicle | $30 (Private Vehicle) | $35 (Private Vehicle) |
| Timed entry reservation | No | No |
| Campgrounds | 12 | 16 |
| International Dark Sky Park | Yes | No |
| Bird species, NPSpecies | 384 | 269 |
| Hours or season | Open all day, every day | Open all day, every day |
Death Valley visits by yearYosemite visits by year
Fees, hours, campgrounds and timed entry from the NPS API. Visits from the NPS Visitor Use Statistics system. Dark sky status from DarkSky International. Bird counts from the NPSpecies inventory. Data refreshed October 14, 2026. Other pairs.