Closest national parks to Eau Claire

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July 7, 2025
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Closest national parks to Eau Claire

Approximately 323 million people visited American national parks in 2025, a 2.7% year-over-year decrease and the first annual decline since 2020.

President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 signed the act creating the National Park Service to leave natural and historic phenomenons "unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." Since then, our national parks have welcomed visitors from around the world to experience some of the best the country has to offer and showcase the country's natural beauty and cultural heritage. Today, the country's 63 national parks contain at least 247 species of endangered or threatened plants and animals, more than 75,000 archaeological sites, and 18,000 miles of trails.

Stacker compiled a list of the closest national parks to Eau Claire. National parks are ranked by closest straight line distance, measured from representative points in Eau Claire, WI Metro Area and each national park. Estimated driving times are from Here and are only available within the lower 48 states. All featured distances and driving times are estimated using representative locations from the center of each metro and national park—for some places within the metro area, the actual distance may be slightly shorter or longer to reach the closest entryway to a park.

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#1. Isle Royale National Park (Michigan)

- Distance: 254 miles
- Driving time: 6.5 hours
- Date founded: April 3, 1940
- 2025 visitors: 29,091 (#60 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 571,790.30 acres
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#2. Voyageurs National Park (Minnesota)

- Distance: 257 miles
- Driving time: 5.2 hours
- Date founded: April 8, 1975
- 2025 visitors: 206,326 (#53 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 218,222.35 acres
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#3. Indiana Dunes National Park (Indiana)

- Distance: 311 miles
- Driving time: 5.8 hours
- Date founded: February 15, 2019
- 2025 visitors: 2,629,497 (#13 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 15,349.08 acres
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#4. Gateway Arch National Park (Missouri)

- Distance: 439 miles
- Driving time: 8.0 hours
- Date founded: February 22, 2018[47]
- 2025 visitors: 2,209,028 (#15 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 192.83 acres
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Zack Frank // Shutterstock

#5. Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Ohio)

- Distance: 554 miles
- Driving time: 10.4 hours
- Date founded: October 11, 2000
- 2025 visitors: 3,025,325 (#11 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 32,571.88 acres
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#6. Badlands National Park (South Dakota)

- Distance: 561 miles
- Driving time: 9.3 hours
- Date founded: November 10, 1978
- 2025 visitors: 1,139,361 (#26 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 242,755.94 acres
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Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock

#7. Mammoth Cave National Park (Kentucky)

- Distance: 600 miles
- Driving time: 11.0 hours
- Date founded: July 1, 1941
- 2025 visitors: 660,734 (#34 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 54,011.91 acres
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#8. Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota)

- Distance: 602 miles
- Driving time: 9.9 hours
- Date founded: November 10, 1978
- 2025 visitors: 729,893 (#33 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 70,446.89 acres
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Zack Frank // Shutterstock

#9. Wind Cave National Park (South Dakota)

- Distance: 612 miles
- Driving time: 10.7 hours
- Date founded: January 9, 1903
- 2025 visitors: 606,258 (#37 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 33,970.84 acres
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#10. New River Gorge National Park (West Virginia)

- Distance: 710 miles
- Driving time: 14.1 hours
- Date founded: December 27, 2020
- 2025 visitors: 1,958,440 (#17 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 7,021 acres
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Zack Frank // Shutterstock

#11. Hot Springs National Park (Arkansas)

- Distance: 726 miles
- Driving time: 14.4 hours
- Date founded: March 4, 1921
- 2025 visitors: 2,494,611 (#14 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 5,554.15 acres
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#12. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (North Carolina, Tennessee)

- Distance: 758 miles
- Driving time: 14.3 hours
- Date founded: June 15, 1934
- 2025 visitors: 11,527,939 (#1 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 522,426.88 acres
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#13. Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado)

- Distance: 791 miles
- Driving time: 15.2 hours
- Date founded: January 26, 1915
- 2025 visitors: 4,171,431 (#6 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 265,807.25 acres
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#14. Shenandoah National Park (Virginia)

- Distance: 800 miles
- Driving time: 17.6 hours
- Date founded: December 26, 1935
- 2025 visitors: 1,682,152 (#19 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 199,223.77 acres
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#15. Great Sand Dunes National Park (Colorado)

- Distance: 890 miles
- Driving time: 17.9 hours
- Date founded: September 24, 2004
- 2025 visitors: 432,498 (#44 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 107,341.87 acres
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#16. Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, Montana, Idaho)

- Distance: 943 miles
- Driving time: 17.2 hours
- Date founded: March 1, 1872
- 2025 visitors: 4,762,988 (#3 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 2,219,790.71 acres
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#17. Congaree National Park (South Carolina)

- Distance: 952 miles
- Driving time: 18.1 hours
- Date founded: November 10, 2003
- 2025 visitors: 287,833 (#49 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 26,476.47 acres
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#18. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (Colorado)

- Distance: 954 miles
- Driving time: 19.4 hours
- Date founded: October 21, 1999
- 2025 visitors: 250,086 (#50 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 30,779.83 acres
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Zack Frank // Shutterstock

#19. Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)

- Distance: 968 miles
- Driving time: 18.1 hours
- Date founded: February 26, 1929
- 2025 visitors: 3,800,648 (#8 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 310,044.36 acres
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#20. Arches National Park (Utah)

- Distance: 1,035 miles
- Driving time: 19.8 hours
- Date founded: November 12, 1971
- 2025 visitors: 1,511,740 (#21 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 76,678.98 acres
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#21. Mesa Verde National Park (Colorado)

- Distance: 1,043 miles
- Driving time: 21.6 hours
- Date founded: June 29, 1906
- 2025 visitors: 463,130 (#43 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 52,485.17 acres
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#22. Canyonlands National Park (Utah)

- Distance: 1,069 miles
- Driving time: 25.6 hours
- Date founded: September 12, 1964
- 2025 visitors: 796,057 (#29 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 337,597.83 acres
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#23. Glacier National Park (Montana)

- Distance: 1,104 miles
- Date founded: May 11, 1910
- 2025 visitors: 3,136,557 (#10 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 1,013,125.99 acres
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#24. Capitol Reef National Park (Utah)

- Distance: 1,127 miles
- Driving time: 21.4 hours
- Date founded: December 18, 1971
- 2025 visitors: 1,388,476 (#22 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 241,904.50 acres
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#25. Carlsbad Caverns National Park (New Mexico)

- Distance: 1,130 miles
- Driving time: 21.1 hours
- Date founded: May 14, 1930
- 2025 visitors: 410,778 (#46 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 46,766.45 acres
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#26. Acadia National Park (Maine)

- Distance: 1,134 miles
- Driving time: 24.7 hours
- Date founded: February 26, 1919
- 2025 visitors: 4,079,318 (#7 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 49,076.63 acres
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#27. White Sands National Park (New Mexico)

- Distance: 1,157 miles
- Driving time: 21.7 hours
- Date founded: December 20, 2019[111]
- 2025 visitors: 659,742 (#35 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 146,344.31 acres
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#28. Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Texas)

- Distance: 1,158 miles
- Driving time: 22.2 hours
- Date founded: October 15, 1966
- 2025 visitors: 206,423 (#52 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 86,367.10 acres
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#29. Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona)

- Distance: 1,190 miles
- Driving time: 22.9 hours
- Date founded: December 9, 1962
- 2025 visitors: 315,951 (#48 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 221,390.21 acres
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#30. Bryce Canyon National Park (Utah)

- Distance: 1,196 miles
- Driving time: 23.5 hours
- Date founded: February 25, 1928
- 2025 visitors: 1,967,367 (#16 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 35,835.08 acres
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Galyna Andrushko // Shutterstock

#31. Zion National Park (Utah)

- Distance: 1,247 miles
- Driving time: 24.0 hours
- Date founded: November 19, 1919
- 2025 visitors: 4,984,525 (#2 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 147,242.66 acres
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#32. Great Basin National Park (Nevada)

- Distance: 1,250 miles
- Driving time: 23.5 hours
- Date founded: October 27, 1986
- 2025 visitors: 161,210 (#54 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 77,180.00 acres
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#33. Grand Canyon National Park (Arizona)

- Distance: 1,252 miles
- Driving time: 25.3 hours
- Date founded: February 26, 1919
- 2025 visitors: 4,430,653 (#4 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 1,201,647.03 acres
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#34. Big Bend National Park (Texas)

- Distance: 1,265 miles
- Driving time: 23.9 hours
- Date founded: June 12, 1944
- 2025 visitors: 568,104 (#38 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 801,163.21 acres
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#35. Saguaro National Park (Arizona)

- Distance: 1,353 miles
- Driving time: 26.5 hours
- Date founded: October 14, 1994
- 2025 visitors: 847,749 (#28 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 92,867.42 acres
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#36. North Cascades National Park (Washington)

- Distance: 1,433 miles
- Driving time: 27.2 hours
- Date founded: October 2, 1968
- 2025 visitors: 46,925 (#57 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 504,780.94 acres
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#37. Death Valley National Park (California, Nevada)

- Distance: 1,463 miles
- Driving time: 27.2 hours
- Date founded: October 31, 1994
- 2025 visitors: 1,320,134 (#24 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 3,408,406.73 acres
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#38. Mount Rainier National Park (Washington)

- Distance: 1,466 miles
- Driving time: 25.8 hours
- Date founded: March 2, 1899
- 2025 visitors: 1,635,342 (#20 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 236,381.64 acres
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#39. Biscayne National Park (Florida)

- Distance: 1,469 miles
- Driving time: 26.1 hours
- Date founded: June 28, 1980
- 2025 visitors: 486,567 (#41 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 172,971.11 acres
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#40. Everglades National Park (Florida)

- Distance: 1,471 miles
- Driving time: 27.1 hours
- Date founded: May 30, 1934
- 2025 visitors: 778,198 (#31 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 1,508,938.57 acres
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#41. Dry Tortugas National Park (Florida)

- Distance: 1,477 miles
- Driving time: 28.9 hours
- Date founded: October 26, 1992
- 2025 visitors: 89,355 (#56 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 64,701.22 acres
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#42. Joshua Tree National Park (California)

- Distance: 1,517 miles
- Driving time: 29.7 hours
- Date founded: October 31, 1994
- 2025 visitors: 2,932,644 (#12 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 795,155.85 acres
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#43. Kings Canyon National Park (California)

- Distance: 1,526 miles
- Driving time: 35.2 hours
- Date founded: March 4, 1940
- 2025 visitors: 779,791 (#30 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 461,901.20 acres
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#44. Crater Lake National Park (Oregon)

- Distance: 1,534 miles
- Driving time: 29.2 hours
- Date founded: May 22, 1902
- 2025 visitors: 632,242 (#36 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 183,224.05 acres
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#45. Yosemite National Park (California)

- Distance: 1,537 miles
- Driving time: 32.4 hours
- Date founded: October 1, 1890
- 2025 visitors: 4,278,413 (#5 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 761,747.50 acres
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#46. Olympic National Park (Washington)

- Distance: 1,541 miles
- Driving time: 27.9 hours
- Date founded: June 29, 1938
- 2025 visitors: 3,584,187 (#9 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 922,649.41 acres
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#47. Sequoia National Park (California)

- Distance: 1,545 miles
- Driving time: 34.0 hours
- Date founded: September 25, 1890
- 2025 visitors: 1,378,337 (#23 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 404,062.63 acres
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#48. Lassen Volcanic National Park (California)

- Distance: 1,559 miles
- Driving time: 29.5 hours
- Date founded: August 9, 1916
- 2025 visitors: 504,777 (#40 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 106,589.02 acres
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#49. Redwood National Park (California)

- Distance: 1,662 miles
- Driving time: 32.5 hours
- Date founded: October 2, 1968
- 2025 visitors: 1,202,480 (#25 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 138,999.37 acres
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#50. Pinnacles National Park (California)

- Distance: 1,662 miles
- Driving time: 31.7 hours
- Date founded: January 10, 2013
- 2025 visitors: 343,208 (#47 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 26,685.73 acres
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#51. Channel Islands National Park (California)

- Distance: 1,671 miles
- Date founded: March 5, 1980
- 2025 visitors: 227,186 (#51 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 249,561.00 acres
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#52. Glacier Bay National Park (Alaska)

- Distance: 2,122 miles
- Date founded: December 2, 1980
- 2025 visitors: 740,044 (#32 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 3,223,383.43 acres
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#53. Wrangell–St. Elias National Park (Alaska)

- Distance: 2,312 miles
- Date founded: December 2, 1980
- 2025 visitors: 108,840 (#55 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 8,323,146.48 acres
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#54. Virgin Islands National Park (U.S. Virgin Islands)

- Distance: 2,388 miles
- Date founded: August 2, 1956
- 2025 visitors: 471,074 (#42 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 15,052.53 acres
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#55. Kenai Fjords National Park (Alaska)

- Distance: 2,572 miles
- Date founded: December 2, 1980
- 2025 visitors: 425,369 (#45 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 669,650.05 acres
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#56. Denali National Park (Alaska)

- Distance: 2,595 miles
- Date founded: February 26, 1917
- 2025 visitors: 543,300 (#39 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 4,740,911.16 acres
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#57. Gates of the Arctic National Park (Alaska)

- Distance: 2,687 miles
- Date founded: December 2, 1980
- 2025 visitors: 14,923 (#62 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 7,523,897.45 acres
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#58. Lake Clark National Park (Alaska)

- Distance: 2,696 miles
- Date founded: December 2, 1980
- 2025 visitors: 19,778 (#61 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 2,619,816.49 acres
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#59. Katmai National Park (Alaska)

- Distance: 2,772 miles
- Date founded: December 2, 1980
- 2025 visitors: 34,479 (#59 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 3,674,529.33 acres
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#60. Kobuk Valley National Park (Alaska)

- Distance: 2,844 miles
- Date founded: December 2, 1980
- 2025 visitors: 7,786 (#63 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 1,750,716.16 acres
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#61. Haleakalā National Park (Hawaii)

- Distance: 4,008 miles
- Date founded: July 1, 1961
- 2025 visitors: 853,711 (#27 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 33,264.62 acres
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#62. Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii)

- Distance: 4,021 miles
- Date founded: August 1, 1916
- 2025 visitors: 1,877,854 (#18 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 325,605.28 acres
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Lloyd Wallin Photography // Shutterstock

#63. National Park of American Samoa (American Samoa)

- Distance: 6,402 miles
- Date founded: October 31, 1988
- 2025 visitors: 43,258 (#58 highest among all national parks)
- Park area: 8,256.67 acres

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