The Dyrt found that four out of five campers plan to camp in a national park in 2025. America’s first national park, Yellowstone, was ranked No. 1 among respondents when asked which parks they were most excited to visit.
These statistics are from the newly released 2025 Camping Report Presented by Toyota Trucks, a comprehensive look at the latest trends, topics and figures for the U.S. camping industry. The latest version of The Dyrt’s annual report is compiled from the results of surveys conducted with three groups — thousands of members of The Dyrt camper community, a representative sample of U.S. residents and camping property managers across all 50 states. The surveys were conducted in late 2024 — prior to recent layoffs in the federal government.
“It’s been said that our national parks are national treasures, and I wholeheartedly agree,” said The Dyrt CEO Kevin Long. “Setting up at a campsite amidst the natural wonder, among the native wildlife, staring off into the unchanged landscape — national parks provide an iconic setting for a camping trip.”
Young campers (18-34) are the most likely age group to plan on camping in a national park at 91.7%, followed by 35- to 54-year-olds at 82% and ages 55 and up at 78.9%. But camping in national parks was also the most common answer given by respondents 55 and over when asked about their camping plans for after retirement. Nearly four in five (79.1%) campers said staying in national parks was on their post-career to-do list.
“We’ve been camping in national parks across the country for years, and can’t think of a bad experience,” said The Dyrt camper Tom B. of Washington. “We started out as tent campers and backpackers, and now enjoy national parks with our campervan, ebikes and kayaks as we get on in our 60s. We’ve often been able to get campsites without reservations, but The Dyrt has been invaluable in locating campgrounds in the national parks and providing information about locations and availability. We treasure national parks and the ability to enjoy mostly unspoiled mountains, lakes and trails.”
Following Yellowstone and rounding out the top five for national parks campers are most excited to visit: Glacier, Great Smoky Mountains, Acadia and Yosemite. Great Smoky Mountains National Park had the highest rate of return customers, as 36.2% of campers planning to camp there in 2025 have already done so before. In general, 27.1% of campers planning to camp in a national park this year say they will revisit one they’ve camped in before.
