Bureau Releases Top 10 Lists and other Highlights
WASHINGTON – The National Park Service (NPS) today announced 330,882,751 recreation visits in 2017 – almost identical to the record-setting 330,971,689 recreation visits in 2016. While numbers were steady, visitors actually spent more time in parks during their 2017 visits compared to 2016.
Increased attendance at parks, 1.5 billion visits in the last five years, also means aging park facilities are incurring further wear and tear. President Trump has proposed legislation to establish a Public Lands Infrastructure Fund that would help address the $11.6 billion maintenance backlog in the National Park System. The fund would take new revenue from federal energy leasing and development and provide up to $18 billion to help pay for repairs and improvements in national parks, national wildlife refuges and Bureau of Indian Education funded schools.
“Our National Parks are being loved to death,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. “As visitor rates continue at a high level, we must prioritize much-needed deferred maintenance including aging facilities, roads and other critical infrastructure. President Trump’s proposal to establish a Public Lands Infrastructure Fund is a step in the right direction. This is not a Republican or Democrat issue, this is an American issue, and the President and I remain ready to work with anyone in Congress who is willing to get the job done.”
National Park System 2017 visitation highlights include:
- More than 1.44 billion recreation hours in 2017, an increase of 19 million hours over 2016
- Most – 385 of 417 parks in the National Park System – count park visitors
- 61 of the 385 reporting parks set new visitation records (about 16 percent of reporting parks)
- 42 parks broke a record they set in 2016
- 3 parks had more than 10 million recreation visits – Blue Ridge Parkway, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- 10 parks had more than 5 million recreation visits
- 81 parks had more than 1 million recreation visits – one more million-visitor park than 2016
- Half of national park visitation occurred in 27 parks
- The total solar eclipse last August brought visitors in record numbers to several parks
Parks that passed notable recreational visit milestones for the first time:
- Grand Canyon National Park 6 million
- Zion National Park 4.5 million
- Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 4 million
- Boston National Historical Park 3 million
- Glacier National Park 3 million
- Bryce Canyon National Park 2.5 million
- Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park 2.5 million
- Big Bend National Park 400,000
- Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve 400,000
- Mississippi National Recreation and River Area 400,000
- Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site 200,000
- Congaree National Park 150,000
- Great Basin National Park 150,000
- Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site 150,000
- Monocacy National Battlefield 100,000
- Waco Mammoth National Monument 100,000
- Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument 75,000
- Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park 75,000
- James A. Garfield National Historic Site 50,000
- National Park of American Samoa 50,000
- Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site 50,000
- Agate Fossil Beds National Monument 30,000
- Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument 30,000
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve 30,000
Top 10 Visitation National Park System
| Park | Recreation Visits | Deferred Maintenance |
| Blue Ridge Parkway | 16,093,765 | $186,619,608 |
| Golden Gate National Recreation Area | 14,981,897 | $325,814,011 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 11,388,893 | $64,049,392 |
| Gateway National Recreation Area | 9,190,610 | $788,419,471 |
| Lincoln Memorial | 7,956,117 | $33,868,238 |
| Lake Mead National Recreation Area | 7,882,339 | $205,540,564 |
| George Washington Memorial Parkway | 7,562,793 | $233,441,316 |
| Natchez Trace Parkway | 6,326,062 | $10,656,651 |
| Grand Canyon National Park | 6,254,238 | $329,437,056 |
| Vietnam Veterans Memorial | 5,072,589 | $625,250 |
Top 10 Visitation National Parks
| Park | Recreation Visits | Deferred Maintenance |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 11,388,893 | $64,049,392 |
| Grand Canyon National Park | 6,254,238 | $329,437,056 |
| Zion National Park | 4,504,812 | $65,291,893 |
| Rocky Mountain National Park | 4,437,215 | $84,234,245 |
| Yosemite National Park | 4,336,890 | $582,670,827 |
| Yellowstone National Park | 4,116,524 | $515,808,008 |
| Acadia National Park | 3,509,271 | $59,858,099 |
| Olympic National Park | 3,401,996 | $120,719,515 |
| Grand Teton National Park | 3,317,000 | $178,630,525 |
| Glacier National Park | 3,305,512 | $153,838,276 |
For an in depth look at 2017 visitation figures please visit the NPS Social Science web site.
Editor’s Note: Photo caption: More than 10,000 people descended on Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Nebraska, for the total solar eclipse on August 20, 2017. Homestead set an all-time visitation record for the day, the month and the year. NPS Photo by Alison Tagert-Barone.
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees who care for America’s 417 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at http://www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.