How Crowded Is George Washington Memorial Parkway in August?

August runs about 1.4× George Washington Memorial Parkway's average month, which makes it a busy month here — roughly 12% of the park's yearly visitors come in August.

In a typical August the park sees about 885,000 recreation visits, based on National Park Service monthly counts from 1979 to 2025.

It is the single busiest month of the year at George Washington; January, the quietest, runs only about 0.4× the average — a 4-to-1 swing between high and low season.

On our Best Time to Visit score August rates 40/100 ("Poor"), versus the top-rated September at 58/100 — pleasant weather with noticeably thinner crowds (shoulder season).

Typical August weather, from 1991–2020 NOAA climate normals at the nearest station, averages a daytime high near 86°F and an overnight low around 66°F, with about 4.4" of precipitation.

That average of about 76°F is warm enough that midday heat is worth planning around.

August falls inside the park's busiest stretch: June, July and August together pull about 34% of the year's visitors, so a visit this month means sharing the park with the peak-season crowd.

You'll have about 13.5 hours of daylight in August to explore — between the 9.3-hour midwinter low and the 14.7-hour summer high.

Park-wide, 2025 drew 6,732,932 recreation visits, down 0.7% from 6,782,717 in 2024.

Across the past decade overall visitation has eased about 9.7%, so August may feel a touch quieter than it once did.