By Forrest Brown | CNN
Boy did Individuals and different guests make good use of US Nationwide Park Service websites in 2024 — sufficient to set a file.
The NPS has reached a brand new general milestone, with nearly 331.9 million recreation visits logged in any respect of its 433 items, which embrace well-known nationwide parks corresponding to Yellowstone but additionally locations corresponding to parkways, battlefields, nationwide seashores, memorials and historic websites.
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That quantity beats out the earlier file, which was set in 2016 with roughly 330.9 recreation visits. It’s additionally a rise of 6.36 million recreation visits, or 2%, from 2023, the NPS reported.
One other notable shift within the visitation numbers: Perennial No. 1 favourite Blue Ridge Parkway took a again seat to a preferred space in Northern California in 2024. (Nevertheless, it must be famous that the curvy, mountainous parkway needed to shut and reopen in stretches after the remnants of Hurricane Helene smashed the world in late September.)
Together with the file visits, the system noticed 4 new websites open in 2024.
High 10 most visited NPS websites in 2024
It was a increase yr for Golden Gate Nationwide Recreation Space, an enormous assortment of spots that stretch from southern San Mateo County to northern Marin County.
The No. 1 most visited NPS web site is house to navy websites such because the Presidio in San Francisco, and it helps 19 distinct ecosystems from seashore to redwood forests. Attendance jumped nearly 15% from 2023’s customer tally of 14.95 million.
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Right here’s the highest 10 amongst all NPS websites:
1. Golden Gate Nationwide Recreation Space (17.18 million visits)
2. Blue Ridge Parkway (16.73 million)
3. Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park (12.19 million)
4. Gateway Nationwide Recreation Space (8.92 million)
5. Lincoln Memorial (8.47 million)
6. Gulf Islands Nationwide Seashore (7.80 million)
7. Natchez Hint Parkway (7.36 million)
8. George Washington Memorial Parkway (6.78 million)
9. Lake Mead Nationwide Recreation Space (6.41 million)
10. Vietnam Veterans Memorial (5.29 million)
At No. 5, the Lincoln Memorial is the most-visited NPS web site that doesn’t cowl a big space.
High 10 most visited nationwide parks in 2023
In compiling a listing of simply these headliner nationwide parks vs. each NPS web site, a well-known identify has but once more topped the listing for 2024:
1. Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park (12.19 million)
2. Zion Nationwide Park (4.94 million)
3. Grand Canyon Nationwide Park (4.91 million)
4. Yellowstone Nationwide Park (4.74 million)
5. Rocky Mountain Nationwide Park (4.15 million)
6. Yosemite Nationwide Park (4.12 million)
7. Acadia Nationwide Park (3.96 million)
8. Olympic Nationwide Park (3.71 million)
9. Grand Teton Nationwide Park (3.62 million)
10. Glacier Nationwide Park (3.20 million)
Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park, which straddles North Carolina and Tennessee, introduced in essentially the most guests among the many headliner nationwide parks.
Zion Nationwide Park in Utah and Grand Canyon Nationwide Park in Arizona proceed their tight competitors for the silver and bronze. In 2023, it was Grand Canyon that claimed the No. 2 spot whereas Zion positioned at No. 3.
Whereas nationwide parks are likely to get all the eye and headlines, the 63 websites with “national park” of their identify accounted for simply 28% of all NPS visits in 2024.
Final yr, 28 websites within the system set a file for annual recreation visits.
The file numbers come as mass firings of nationwide park staffers numbering round 1,000 have been carried out. The New York Instances reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration doesn’t need to draw consideration to the visitation figures, in response to an NPS memo. Information releases weren’t issued, however the figures have been posted on-line.
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