Mobile Coverage Still Spotty for Some Visitors at U.S. National Parks
T-Mobile leads Verizon and AT&T in having the highest median upload and download speeds in six of the 10 most popular U.S. National Parks.
A familiar item on many people’s bucket lists is the desire to visit all 63 U.S. National Parks. Thanks to social media sharing of photos and videos taken at popular national parks and the growing popularity of outdoor recreation, the number of visits to the U.S. National Parks grew to more than 94.3 million in 2024, up from 67.9 million in 2020, according to the National Park Service.
But sharing photos and videos on social media from most of these national parks can only be accomplished with sufficient mobile connectivity, something that is still lacking at some U.S. National Parks.
Using Ookla’s Speedtest® Intelligence data, we analyzed mobile connectivity at 42 of the most frequently visited U.S. National Parks and found that in 10 of the most popular parks, the median download and median upload speeds of the three big national providers — AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon — varied dramatically.
In addition, we found that in some of these popular parks, low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite provider Starlink delivered median download and upload speeds that were equal to, or better, than those of the big three providers.
Key Takeaways:
- Starlink users experienced faster median download speeds than those from any of the top mobile providers in four of the most visited US national parks during the first seven months of 2025.
- T-Mobile had faster median download speeds than AT&T and Verizon in six of the 10 most popular US national parks for the first seven months of 2025. The operator also had higher median upload speeds than its mobile operator peers in those same six parks during the same time period.
- Sequoia, Mount Rainier, and Grand Teton National Parks had the fastest median download speeds among the 42 major national parks we monitored in the first seven months of 2025. Sequoia was No. 1 with the highest median download speed of 163.3 Mbps.
- Death Valley, Kings Canyon, and Redwood National Parks had the slowest median download speeds of all the 42 national parks in the first seven months of 2025. Death Valley had the slowest median download speed at just 7.56 Mbps.
Performance at the Most Popular National Parks
Although there are 63 U.S. national parks, not all of them are equal in popularity. Some parks such as the Grand Canyon have iconic landscapes that appeal to tourists while others, such as the North Cascades National Park in Washington, attract few visitors because of their limited accessibility and harsh weather conditions.
We looked at 10 of the most frequently visited U.S. national parks (by annual visitors) to see how well these parks delivered on key performance metrics such as median download and median upload speeds.
We then analyzed how the three major mobile carriers performed across these parks. When looking specifically at median download performance for each of the top three mobile providers in 10 of the most popular US national parks, T-Mobile had the fastest median download speeds in six of those 10 parks for the first seven months of 2025. The operator also had the highest median upload speeds in those same six parks during the same time period.
T-Mobile’s median download speeds were noticeably higher than its peers AT&T and Verizon in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and in Great Smoky National Park, which straddles the states of North Carolina and Tennessee.
Starlink Stands Out in Upload Speeds
U.S. national parks attract many campers who travel with portable Starlink connectivity kits that allow them to stay connected in remote areas where mobile connectivity is limited or unavailable.
According to Speedtest data, Starlink outperformed the big three mobile operators in median upload speeds in eight of the 10 most visited parks. Yosemite National Park and Zion National Park were the only two parks where mobile operators delivered faster upload speeds than Starlink.
Starlink users also experienced better median download speeds than users on the big three national mobile providers in four parks:Joshua Tree National Park, Acadia National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Olympic National Park.
Sequoia and Mount Rainier: The Speediest National Parks
As mentioned above, national parks located near population centers tend to have a big advantage when it comes to connectivity. When we looked at the median download speeds for all mobile providers combined for all major U.S. national parks, Sequoia National Park, which is located just 85 miles from Fresno, California, was the leader with a median download speed of 163.3 Mbps followed by Mount Rainier National Park, which is just 65 miles from Tacoma, Washington, with a median download speed of 156.22 Mbps.
Mt. Rainier’s leading performance comes as no surprise; the park also ranked high in our May 2021 report and has shown steadily improving download speeds over the past four years. Specifically, median download speeds measured at Mount Rainier National Park have more than doubled from 72.89 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 156.22 Mbps in the first seven months of 2025.
Another leading park that has experienced a boost in download speeds is Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. Cuyahoga Valley’s median download speeds increased from 55.30 Mbps in Q1 2021 to 147.16 Mbps July 2025.
Mount Rainier also dominated in median upload speeds, posting 21.04 Mbps, which was more than double that of the No. 2 park Hawaii Volcanoes, which clocked in with a median upload speed of 10.12 Mbps.
Death Valley, Kings Canyon Struggle with Slow Speeds
Death Valley National Park in California is more than 120 miles from Las Vegas, which is the closest major city. The park is the largest national park in the contiguous U.S. and is known for its vastness and its limited services, including cell phone reception. Speedtest data shows Death Valley getting a median download speed of just 7.56 Mbps in the first seven months of July.
Surprisingly, Kings Canyon National Park, which is adjacent to Sequoia National Park, suffers from slow median download speeds of just 8.33 Mbps. This is dramatically different from its close neighbor, Sequoia, with its median download speed of 163.3 Mbps in 2025.
However, the terrain of Kings Canyon is likely the reason for its dramatically slower download speeds than its neighboring park, Sequoia. Kings Canyon is known for its deep canyons and steep rugged mountains, making it difficult for cell reception.
Satellite Service May be the Answer
Although visiting national parks remains a popular activity for hikers, campers, and nature lovers, mobile connectivity throughout national parks all across the country will likely remain challenging in many areas.
The high cost of building cell towers in remote areas coupled with the landscapes of most of the park–mountains and dense forests–make many areas of the parks unconducive to mobile signals.
That’s why it’s not surprising that Speedtest is seeing more evidence of Starlink being used as a connectivity option. We expect to see Starlink and other emerging LEO services (such as Amazon’s Kuiper) being used for connectivity in national parks in the future.
To find out more about Speedtest Intelligence® data and insights, visit our website.
Ookla retains ownership of this article including all of the intellectual property rights, data, content graphs and analysis. This article may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed or published for any commercial purpose without prior consent. Members of the press and others using the findings in this article for non-commercial purposes are welcome to publicly share and link to report information with attribution to Ookla.
