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A travel booking website commissioned a study in honor of America's National. Among other things, it asked which celebrities deserve enshrinement on Mount Rushmore, and which national parks are Americans' favorites.
Beyoncé on Mount Rushmore? The singer and actress came in as the eighth choice in an Expedia.com survey that asked respondents what famous non-President they would like to see alongside the cliff-sized visages of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt already carved into Mount Rushmore.
The travel booking site commissioned the study as part of 2016’s year-long celebration of the 100th birthday of America’s National Parks. More than 307 million people visited US National Parks, America’s great treasures, in 2015. The parks preserve natural habitats, protect wildlife, provide spaces for communing with nature, and honor US history.
Expedia also helped sponsor the new IMAX 3D film, National Parks Adventure that captures the iconic, the unusual and the amazing beautiful “ordinary” moments in our national parks.
>>>More: National Parks: Free Week, Fabulous Vacations
It’s always interesting and, sometimes a bit scary, to discover the predilections of fellow Americans, 1,039 of whom participated in the travel booking site’s survey. Mickey Mouse was voted the sixth choice for enshrinement on Mount Rushmore; the seventh selection was “a female leader.”
Top 5 Famous Non-Presidential Picks for Mount Rushmore
1. Martin Luther King, Jr, 11%
2. Benjamin Franklin, 7%
3. Albert Einstein, 3%
4. Jesus Christ, 2%
5. Donald Trump, 2%
Top 9 Modern Presidential Picks for Mount Rushmore
1. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 29%
2. John F. Kennedy, 21%
3. Ronald Reagan, 19%
4. Barack Obama, 9%
5. Dwight Eisenhower, 8%
6. Harry S. Truman, 5%
7. Bill Clinton, 4%
8. George H.W. Bush, 3%
9. George W. Bush, 2%
Despite Great Smoky Mountains National Park rating as the most-visited park with 10 million people exploring the park each year, it ranks as the third-most-popular choice in Expedia’s survey. The Grand Canyon, which had 5.5 million visitors in 2015, rates as both the second-most-visited national park and also as the second-most-popular park chosen by respondents.
Top 5 National Parks in Expedia Survey
1. Yellowstone (pictured above), 27%
2. Grand Canyon, 20%
3. Great Smoky Mountains, 18%
4. Rocky Mountain, 16%
5. Yosemite, 10%
Top 5 National Parks’ Landscape/Monument/Feature to Take a Selfie in Front of in the Expedia Survey
1. Mount Rushmore, 30%
2. Grand Canyon, 25%
3. Old Faithful, 18%
4. Lincoln Memorial, 13%
5. Great Smoky Mountains, 7%
What’s your favorite national park? Who is your non-presidential pick to be carved into Mount Rushmore? Comment below or connect with me on Twitter, @familyitrips.