Report: New River Gorge Ranked no. 8 Best National Park in USA

denver — For National Parks Week, Travel Lemming released a data-backed ranking of all 63 US national parks. New River Gorge in West Virginia clinched the No. 8 spot overall, also ranking among the most affordable and biodiverse parks in the country.

Travel Lemming’s national parks ranking is based on an analysis of data scoring each park across seven factors: affordability, accessibility, biodiversity, crowds, reviews, jobs, and weather.

The report revealed the following insights:

• At 243.1595214 visitors per acre, New River Gorge National Park is the third most-crowded national park in the country.

• New River Gorge is the No. 4 most biodiverse park in the USA, with 2776 species present or probably present in the park.

• With an average review score of 4.866666667/5, the park is the No. 12 best-reviewed national park in the USA.

• New River Gorge scores moderately in the weather category, ranking at No. 35.

• The park ranks No. 5 in Visitor Spending, indicating it’s a cost-effective park to visit. The average visitor spends approximately $46.45 while visiting New River Gorge.

• New River Gorge ranks No. 28 in the jobs category, with 1,040 jobs across various industries associated with the park.

• The park is the No. 27 most accessible national park in the USA, based on the average distance in miles to its FAA Primary airport and its airport hub.

National Parks were ranked on seven factors, based on the following data:

• Crowds — Number of visits per acre of park land in 2023.

• Reviews — Average visitor review score out of 5.

• Weather — A human comfort-based points system based on monthly temperature, seasonal humidity, amount of precipitation, and number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes.

• Affordability — Average spending per visitor per park in 2023

• Accessibility — Average driving distance to the park from the closest FAA Primary Airport and the closest hub airport.

• Jobs — The total number of jobs associated with each national park as defined by the 2022 NPS Visitor Spending Effects Report

• Biodiversity — Number of species deemed “present or probably present.”

Overall rankings were determined by each park’s average ranking across all factors.

Travel Lemming is an online travel guide with more than 10 million annual readers.