National Sites Guide reveals when New Mexico's national parks are least busy

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National Sites Guide shows when National Parks are least busy

The website provides data about locations across the US

Donn Friedman GO New Mexico

Published August 23, 2026 - 9:05 a.m. Modified August 26, 2026 - 11:11 a.m.

Winter is the least busy and arguably the best time to visit in southeast New Mexico, .

And , monuments and historic sites keep getting busier especially during the shoulder-seasons, much like other venues in the nation.

鈥�(National Parks Service) visitation by month and Carlsbad Caverns鈥� spring and fall share rose from 29.5% to 33.4% over the decade,鈥� said Nick Major, National Sites Guide webmaster, in an email. 鈥淲hite Sands gained too, 34.3% to 35.7%.鈥�

Shoulder season is the time between seasons when parks are just opening and closing, weather is unpredictable, crowds are sparser, and all facilities may not be open.

You can no longer just wait out summer vacation time to end to find empty campgrounds and trails in the National Parks.

鈥淭wo-thirds of the park units I could measure gained shoulder-season share over the decade. This isn鈥檛 one crowded park or one region. It鈥檚 the whole system drifting the same way,鈥� he said.

鈥淪ummer is loosening its grip on the national parks. Take Yellowstone,鈥� Major鈥檚 data site says. 鈥淎 decade ago, June, July and August pulled in 66% of the year鈥檚 visits; now it is 58%. Almost all of that lost share moved into the shoulder months on either side of summer, with April and May, September and October together climbing from 31% to 38% of the year.鈥�

The National Sites Guide website, which displays interesting data about national parks in an easy-to-grasp, visual manner, is not affiliated with the U.S. government.

鈥淐urrently this is less of a company and more of just a passion project right now,鈥� Major said. 鈥淚 am building the site I wish existed for the national parks, pulling from the official NPS data.鈥�

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