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Can you guess the nation’s national park with the best mobile connectivity? New speed test reveals all

Sequoia, Mount Rainier and Grand Teton National Parks have the fastest download speeds

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A landscape shot looking over a lake surrounded by mountains
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What’s happened? Ever been wandering around a US National Park and thought, how good is the cell reception here? Well, we hope not, because these places of outstanding natural beauty should be more than enough to feast your eyes on. But this hasn’t stopped connectivity experts Ookla finding out which national park is best for mobile performance.

  • Ookla’s speed tests found that Sequoia is number one for connectivity, with the highest median download speed of 163.3 Mbps.
  • Mount Rainier and Grand Teton National Parks came in second and third.
  • Death Valley had the lowest median download speed of just 7.56 Mbps, of the 42 most popular National Parks visited as part of the study. 
  • Of the three main US carriers, T-Mobile was found to have the highest median download speeds in six of the 10 most popular national parks.
  • Satellite-internet provider Starlink was also included in the tests, providing faster median download speeds than those from any of the top mobile providers in four of the most visited US national parks.
  • A chart showing the five national parks with the fastest median download speeds
    Ookla
  • A chart showing the five US national parks with the fastest median upload performance
    Ookla
  • A chart showing the five national parks with the slowest median download speeds
    Ooka
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Why this matters: Our lives are more connected than ever, and mobile providers are continuously pushing to bring connectivity to as many places as possible.

  • For hikers campers and nature lovers, having strong mobile connectivity while explore the US National Parks allows you to keep in touch with friends and family.
  • In parks with fast download and upload speeds, you’ll be able to share your experience with others, with the ability to make and receive video calls, as well as send and receive images and video clips.
  • Speed tests like Ookla’s offer unbiased snapshots of average user experiences across locations and carriers, not just hyped max speeds.

Okay, what’s next? While traditional mobile carriers aren’t going away anytime soon, Ookla is seeing more people using Starlink to connect to the internet.

  • Starlink is a good option for those camping remotely, outside of traditional cell reception, as it uses satellite connectivity to provide a access to the internet.
  • A Starlink unit acts like a Wi-Fi router in your home, allowing you to connect multiple devices at once.
  • Ookla predicts it will see more people turn to Starlink, and rivals such as Amazon’s Project Kuiper, in the near future.
John McCann
John McCann
Former Managing Editor
John has been a consumer technology & automotive journalist for over a decade.
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