How Crowded Is Greenbelt Park in May?

May runs about 1.8× Greenbelt Park's average month, which makes it a very busy month here — roughly 15% of the park's yearly visitors come in May.

In a typical May the park sees about 14,000 recreation visits, based on National Park Service monthly counts from 1979 to 2025.

It is the single busiest month of the year at Greenbelt; January, the quietest, runs only about 0.4× the average — a 5-to-1 swing between high and low season.

On our Best Time to Visit score May rates 21/100 ("Poor"), versus the top-rated January at 78/100 — the best overall balance of crowds and daylight.

Because June, July and August together draw about 36% of annual visitors, choosing May instead steps outside that summer crush — the single biggest lever on how crowded the park feels.

You'll have about 14.1 hours of daylight in May to explore — between the 9.3-hour midwinter low and the 14.7-hour summer high.

Park-wide, 2025 drew 130,314 recreation visits, up 67.8% from 77,642 in 2024.

Across the past decade overall visitation has eased about 44%, so May may feel a touch quieter than it once did.