Statistical abstract: 2019

Ziesler, Pamela

In 2019, recreation visits exceeded 300 million for the fifth year in a row. The NPS received 327,516,619 recreation visits and recorded the third highest year since record-keeping began in 1904. Recreation visits were over 9 million more than in 2018 for a 2.9% increase. It was also less than 3.5 million below the all-time high visitation set during the NPS centennial celebration year of 2016. Recreation visitor hours were up 2% from 2018 at 1.43 billion hours. Thirty-three NPS units set a new record for recreation visits and 14 of these parks broke a record they set in 2018. While the number of reporting units over 10 million visits was the same as in 2018 (3 parks), there was one more unit over 5 million recreation visits (11 parks) and three more units (80 parks) over one million visits in 2019. Several parks passed annual visitation milestones: Great Sand Dunes NP & PRES and Little River Canyon NPRES passed 500,000 annual visits for the first time, Ross Lake NRA and Saguaro NP passed one million annual visits for the first time, and Great Smoky Mountains NP passed 12 million annual recreation visits for the first time. Other parks passed milestones for accumulated recreation visits since record keeping began including Death Valley NP (1933-2019) and Sleeping Bear Dunes NL (1976-2019) passing 50 million total recreation visits each and Yosemite NP (1906-2019) passing 200 million total recreation visits. While recreation visits and visitor hours were up from 2018, overnight stays were down slightly (-0.65%). All categories of overnight stays were down from 2018 except concession operated lodging (up 3.9%) and backcountry camping (up 1.4%). Factors influencing the increase in recreation visits from 2018 are related more to events in previous years than in 2019. 2018 visitation was influenced by lingering closures from 2017 hurricanes, large wildland fires in California and a volcanic eruption in Hawai’i. Visitation at most of the parks affected by these events in 2017 and 2018 recovered during 2019. One exception is Virgin Islands NP which continues to experience reduced visitation after extreme damage to the park and nearby island communities from the 2017 hurricane season. A new appendix is added to this abstract with a table of parks setting recreation visit records in 2019 and a graphic showing the location of these record-setting parks. Parks are identified in the graphic by their NPS unit ID; IDs are listed in the accompanying table. In the pages that follow, a series of tables and figures display visitor use data for calendar year 2019. By documenting these visits across the National Park System, the NPS Statistical Abstract offers a historical record of visitor use in NPS units and provides NPS staff and partners with a useful tool for effective management and planning. In 2019, 385 of 419 NPS units collected visitor use data; the remainder are unable to do so for a variety of reasons, such as administration by another agency, non-federal land ownership or new parks that lack staff and facilities for management of visitor statistics. The responsibility for compiling and summarizing visitation records lies with the Social Science Program in the Environmental Quality Division, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate. The Program relies on the conscientious efforts of NPS field staff to count, record and report visitor use. This system of collecting and analyzing monthly visitor use data is combined with continuous review and assessment of park counting procedures to ensure consistency and accuracy of data. Detailed, unit-specific instructions for the units that collect data are available on the Visitor Use Statistics website (https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/). In addition to this Abstract, the Social Science Program produces monthly visitation summaries and reports displaying trends in park visitation and changes in visitation patterns over time. These reports are available...

Statistical abstract: 2019

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