Need to Know
Annual Visitation Statistics Release
Annual visitor use statistics are released during the first quarter of the following calendar year. On this page you will find
- A quick highlight of the most recent published data
- An overview of the three main options for accessing visitor use data
- Dashboard (quick visuals to see trends at national or park levels)
- Data Portal (also known as IRMA, comprehensive tables and reports - this is the best option for exporting data)
- Abstract (PDF document available for each calendar year of reporting - useful for references and citations)
- An overview of data limiations and considerations
For questions or assistance, please reach out the Visitor Use Statistics Staff.
2024 Visitation At-A-Glance
- The National Park Service reported a record 331.9 million recreation visits in calendar year 2024.
- This is an increase of 6.36 million recreation visits, or 2%, from 2023.
- The previous record was set in 2016 with 330,971,689 recreation visits.
- Recreation visitor hours were 1.4 billion.
- There was a 2.6% increase from 2023 for overnight stays in concession and NPS operated facilities. Overnight stays at concession operated lodging alone were up 11.7%.
- 404 of the 433 National Park System units report visitor use.
- Four new parks began reporting in 2024.
- 28 parks, 7% of reporting parks, set a record for annual recreation visits.
- Visitors are spreading out their visits throughout the year. 55% of parks experienced an above average number of visits in February-June and October-December.
- 38 parks experienced visitation above the 10-year average in every month of the year.
| Park Unit Type | Percent of Total Visits |
|---|---|
| Miscellaneous | 6% |
| National Historic Site | 3% |
| National Historical Park | 9% |
| National Memorial | 12% |
| National Monument | 6% |
| National Park | 28% |
| National Parkway | 10% |
| National Preserve | 1% |
| National Recreation Area | 16% |
| National Seashore | 7% |
| Park (Other) | 2% |
Note: Miscellaneous includes those designations under the National Park System but not broken out in this figure: international historic site, national battlefield, national battlefield park, national lakeshore, national military park, national reserve, national river, and national wild & scenic river.
Visitor Use Statistics Dashboard
This dashboard includes simple line chart visualizations for the 11 official visitor use statistics. Visuals can be viewed at the monthly or annual level, and filters can be applied to see data for a specific park or designation. The data span from the most recently reported year back to 1979, the year in which every park unit began reporting monthly data for all 11 statistics. Prior to that time, only annual recreation visits are consistently available.
Visitor Use Statistics Data Portal
The NPS Visitor Use Statistics Program maintains a large data set with annual recreation visit estimates from 1904-1978 and monthly visitation estimates from 1979 to present. Electronic database records for all inputs and outputs have been kept since the early 1990s.
All Visitor Use Statistics data are housed within the Integrated Resource Management Applications (IRMA) Portal. Users can chose from a set of standard reports to view aggregated national level data, or park specific data.
Statistical Abstract
The Statistics Abstract is a PDF document containing a series of tables and figures that display visitor use data for the most recently reported year. By documenting these visits across the National Park System, the National Park Service (NPS) Statistical Abstract offers a historical record of visitor use in parks and provides NPS staff and partners with a useful tool for effective management and planning. This is also a useful tool for academics and researchers in need of references and citations for publications.The abstract is typically published mid calendar year, so there is a delay of several months between the publishing of a year's numbers and the release of the respective year's Statistical Abstract.
Download the 2023 Statistical Abstract.
Current year data are preliminary and must be thoroughly reviewed by the Social Science Program prior to being considered final. For that reason, most data are available only through last calendar year. If electing to use current year data, please use caution as it may not be complete or controlled for quality.
The way visitor use statistics have been tracked and reported has changed over time. More information related to these shifts is available on the History and Policy page, but here is a quick guide to what data is available for different time periods:
- 1904-1979 | Annual recreation visits
- 1979-1992 | Annual and monthly values for the 11 official statistics
- 1992-Present | Same as previous with addition of park level data inputs used to calculate official statistics.
Parks change their methods for tracking and calculating visitor use stats from time to time. This can result in trend shift in the years following a change.
Park operations and usage by visitors changes over time for most parks. Updating counting methods can take a great deal of time and financial resources for the park, making it challenging to keep measurement systems completely current and accurate.
Parks also must sometimes rely on estimated data due to equipment failures, staffing limitations, and unforeseeable circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters.
Depending on the data source, data users may notice slight rounding discrepancies across different reports.
Once the calendar year is over and data for a given year is finalized, no changes to the underlying values can be made. Some parks' data may contain permanent errors. Errors are noted in the Endnotes of the Annual Statistical Abstracts.
Need Help?
If you're still not able to find what you are looking for in the Visitor Use Statistics Data Portal, reach out to the Visitor Use Statistics Staff to inquire.
Last updated: March 5, 2025