Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in February

Roughly 9% of the park's yearly visitors come in February: roughly 4,700 recreation visits in a typical year, based on National Park Service monthly counts from 1979 to 2025.

That makes February the 7th-busiest of the park's twelve months, sitting between the June peak (1.5×) and the January low (0.4×).

On our Best Time to Visit score February rates 23/100 ("Poor"). Our recommended month is September: pleasant weather with noticeably thinner crowds (shoulder season).

The daily average of about 40°F is cool, so layers and a shorter daylight window matter. These figures are 1991–2020 NOAA climate normals from the nearest station, about 2.9 miles from the park.

Because June, July and August together draw about 33% of annual visitors, choosing February instead steps outside that summer crush — the single biggest lever on how crowded the park feels.

You'll have about 10.5 hours of daylight in February to explore — between the 9.3-hour midwinter low and the 14.7-hour summer high.

Park-wide, 2024 drew 25,836 recreation visits, down 57.7% from 61,063 in 2019.

Across the past decade overall visitation has risen about 22.2%, so a February visit is likely to feel busier than it did a few years ago.