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WhenToVisitParks

Updated June 2026

Best Time to Visit First State

National Historical ParkDelawarePennsylvania

Our recommendation

Visit First State in April

April offers best overall balance of crowds, weather and daylight. For comparison, October is the most crowded month (~2.4× the average month) and January is the quietest.

Annual visits

200K

2025

Busiest month

Oct

2.4× avg

Quietest month

Jan

0.4× avg

10-yr trend

steady

How crowded is First State by month?

Relative crowd level by month (1.0 = the park's average month), from NPS visitation records 20232025.

0.4×Jan
0.4×Feb
0.6×Mar
0.6×Apr
1.1×May
1.7×Jun
1.9×Jul
1.1×Aug
0.9×Sep
2.4×Oct
0.7×Nov
0.4×Dec

Month-by-month crowd, weather & daylight

MonthCrowd levelBest-time scoreDaylight
JanuaryVery quiet78 Excellent9.5 h
FebruaryVery quiet81 Excellent10.5 h
MarchQuiet79 Excellent11.7 h
April★ bestQuiet82 Excellent13.1 h
MayAverage66 Good14.2 h
JuneVery busy50 Fair14.8 h
JulyVery busy42 Poor14.6 h
AugustAverage66 Good13.6 h
SeptemberAverage68 Good12.2 h
OctoberVery busy10 Poor10.9 h
NovemberQuiet67 Good9.8 h
DecemberVery quiet76 Excellent9.2 h

About visiting First State

First State National Historical Park is a National Historical Park in DE, PA and a relatively quiet park, drawing about 200,000 recreation visits in 2025. Visitation has held fairly steady over the past decade. Crowds concentrate sharply by season: October is the busiest month at about 2.4× the park's average month, while January is the calmest at roughly 0.4× — a 7-to-1 swing between high and low season. Roughly 39% of the year's visitors arrive in the three summer months of June, July and August alone, so timing a trip outside that window is the single biggest lever on how crowded the park feels. If avoiding people matters most, January offers the thinnest crowds of the year, though you'll trade some warmth and daylight for the solitude. Daylight ranges from about 9.2 hours in midwinter to 14.8 hours near the summer solstice, which shapes how much ground you can cover in a day. These crowd figures are drawn from 2023–2025 of National Park Service visitor-use records, and are updated as new monthly data is released.

Park overview

Famous as the First State to ratify the Constitution, Delaware was born out of a conflict among three world powers for dominance of the Delaware Valley. From this beginning, the region developed a distinct character that tolerated diversity in religion and national origin and valued independence.

Weather & conditions

For details and information, visit, http://www.nps.gov/frst/index.htm.

Park overview text courtesy of the National Park Serviceofficial park site.

Frequently Asked Questions

April offers best overall balance of crowds, weather and daylight at First State National Historical Park. The park is busiest in October (about 2.4× the average month) and quietest in January.

October is the busiest month at First State National Historical Park, running roughly 2.4 times the park's average monthly visitation.

January is the quietest month at First State National Historical Park, at about 0.4× the average month — a good choice if you want to avoid crowds.

First State National Historical Park recorded about 200,173 recreation visits in 2025. Visitation has been steady over the past decade.

Sources: National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics (20232025). Crowd index = a month's visits ÷ the park's average month.