Park units within a drive of the 50 largest metros
Each page lists the National Park System units within an estimated two, four and eight hours by road of a metro area, with the fee flag, 2025 visits and campground count for each. The metros are the 50 most populous metropolitan statistical areas in the Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates. Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, multiplied by 1.25 and divided by 55 mph, so treat them as a rough sort rather than a route plan.
| Metro | Population 2024 | Within 2 h | Within 8 h |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | 19,940,274 | 27 | 148 |
| Los Angeles Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 12,927,614 | 3 | 26 |
| Chicago Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | 9,408,576 | 2 | 29 |
| Dallas Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 8,344,032 | 1 | 22 |
| Houston Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | 7,796,182 | 1 | 17 |
| Miami Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 6,457,988 | 3 | 10 |
| Washington Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 6,436,489 | 64 | 147 |
| Atlanta Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 6,411,149 | 6 | 56 |
| Philadelphia Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 6,330,422 | 23 | 156 |
| Phoenix Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 5,186,958 | 2 | 48 |
| Boston Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 5,025,517 | 18 | 71 |
| Riverside Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 4,744,214 | 4 | 36 |
| San Francisco San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | 4,648,486 | 11 | 26 |
| Detroit Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 4,400,578 | 2 | 24 |
| Seattle Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 4,145,494 | 4 | 15 |
| Minneapolis Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 3,757,952 | 2 | 15 |
| Tampa Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 3,424,560 | 1 | 17 |
| San Diego San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | 3,298,799 | 3 | 26 |
| Denver Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 3,052,498 | 2 | 46 |
| Orlando Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 2,940,513 | 1 | 18 |
| Charlotte Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 2,883,370 | 4 | 116 |
| Baltimore Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 2,859,024 | 70 | 148 |
| St. Louis St. Louis, MO-IL | 2,811,927 | 6 | 43 |
| San Antonio San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | 2,763,006 | 2 | 12 |
| Austin Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 2,550,637 | 3 | 13 |
| Portland Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | 2,537,904 | 2 | 20 |
| Sacramento Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 2,463,127 | 3 | 27 |
| Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA | 2,429,917 | 6 | 140 |
| Las Vegas Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | 2,398,871 | 5 | 44 |
| Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 2,302,815 | 4 | 54 |
| Kansas City Kansas City, MO-KS | 2,253,579 | 3 | 29 |
| Columbus Columbus, OH | 2,225,377 | 3 | 108 |
| Indianapolis Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN | 2,174,833 | 0 | 43 |
| Cleveland Cleveland, OH | 2,171,877 | 4 | 103 |
| Nashville Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | 2,150,553 | 3 | 60 |
| San Jose San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 1,995,484 | 9 | 28 |
| Virginia Beach Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC | 1,794,278 | 10 | 132 |
| Jacksonville Jacksonville, FL | 1,760,548 | 5 | 32 |
| Providence Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | 1,700,901 | 19 | 82 |
| Milwaukee Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | 1,574,452 | 1 | 27 |
| Raleigh Raleigh-Cary, NC | 1,562,009 | 1 | 115 |
| Oklahoma City Oklahoma City, OK | 1,497,821 | 2 | 24 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 1,394,234 | 4 | 56 |
| Richmond Richmond, VA | 1,370,165 | 14 | 139 |
| Memphis Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 1,339,345 | 6 | 52 |
| Salt Lake City Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | 1,300,762 | 2 | 36 |
| Birmingham Birmingham, AL | 1,192,583 | 4 | 50 |
| Fresno Fresno, CA | 1,189,557 | 4 | 32 |
| Grand Rapids Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI | 1,178,826 | 0 | 23 |
| Hartford Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | 1,169,048 | 21 | 135 |
Data refreshed October 14, 2026.