Nuggets of News Blog 

Last year, more than 285 million people visited national parks and other units of the National Park System, marking 2009 the fifth busiest year ever. For those who like statistics, that means 10 million more Americans and foreign tourists visited national parks than the year before— a 3.9% increase. The all-time visitation record of 287.2 million was set in 1987.

In 2010, the National Park Service is once again offering fee-free days, allowing visitors to check out the nation’s 392 national parks without paying an admission fee that usually ranges from $3 to $25, depending on the park. The fee waiver includes entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other costs such as reservations, camping, concessions, and fees collected by third parties are not waived. The first fee-free period this year is actually an entire week—National Parks Week, April 17-25.

Although you cannot use your metal detector in a national park, take your detector along on your trip because there are plenty of public lands, parks, etc. to explore while you're traveling.

The Top 10 most visited national parks are:

1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina

2. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

3. Yosemite National Park, California

4. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming/Montana/Idaho

5. Olympic National Park, Washington

6. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

7. Zion National Park, Utah

8. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio

9. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

10. Acadia National Park, Maine