In 2023, the number of visitors to national parks and sites in the United States varied by type. There were approximately 92.39 million visitors to National Parks in the U.S. in 2023.

The number of recreational visits to U.S. National Park Service sites increased in 2023 over the previous year. This rise in visitation, the recorded figure of roughly *** million almost reached pre-pandemic levels.

National parks are key for conserving biodiversity and supporting people´s well-being. However, anthropogenic pressures challenge the existence of national parks and their conservation effectiveness. Therefore, it is crucial to assess how people perceive national parks in order to enhance socio-political support for conservation. User-generated data shared by visitors on social media provide opportunities to understand how people perceive (e.g. preferences, feelings, opinions) national parks during nature-based recreational experiences. In this study, we applied methods from automated natural language processing to assess visitors' sentiment when describing experiences in Instagram posts geolocated inside four national parks in South Africa. We found that visitors' sentiment was positive, and mostly included emotions such as joy, anticipation, trust and surprise, with only a small occurrence of posts with negative feelings. Appreciation of nature, in association with a diverse set of other aspects, such as activities, geographical features and tourist attractions, was used to describe experiences related to nature, wilderness, traveling, holidays and adventures. The type of nature-based experience described by visitors was park specific, revealing different profiles of parks providing wildlife or scenery experiences. Findings support and highlight the societal role of national parks in providing visitors with opportunities to develop positive connections with nature. Social media data may be used to understand visitors' perceptions, and how the image of national parks is constructed by users in the virtual social environment. This may help inform management for promoting a high quality tourism experience, as well as conservation marketing aimed at fostering socio-political support for national parks and their long-term conservation effectiveness.

Travel Trends collects and displays stats on popular tourists destinations and National Parks including Grand Canyon National Park.

Travel Trends collects and displays stats on popular tourists destinations and National Parks including Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Yellowstone National Park in the United States – the country’s oldest national park - attracted a total of approximately 4.5 million visitors in 2023. The park received over three million visitors annually since 2008 and reached its visitation peak in 2021.  U.S. National Park Service  Established in 1872 and located predominantly in Wyoming, Yellowstone remains one of the most popular national parks in the United States, ranking third in terms of visitor numbers in 2021. However, with over 14 million recreational park visits in 2021, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, straddling the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, was by far the most visited national park in the country. All national parks in the U.S. are managed, protected and presented by the National Park Service, an agency of the U.S. federal government. There were approximately 92 million visitors to national parks in the U.S. in 2021. National parks and the hospitality industry Visitors to national parks are a valuable source of income to the United States economy. In 2021, national park visitors spent roughly seven billion U.S. dollars on lodging and four billion on restaurants and bars.

Annual visitor records were downloaded for each NPS unit within the study area (Visitor Use Statistics, NPS 2015). NPS [National Park Service]. 2015. NPS Stats: National Park Service visitor use statistics. National Park Service, Department of Agriculture, Washington D.C., USA.

Travel Trends collects and displays stats on popular tourists destinations and National Parks including Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

Travel Trends collects and displays stats on popular tourists destinations and National Parks including White Sands National Park.

This point dataset was created to show the visitor center locations in Rocky Mountain National Park. The point locations were extracted from the NPS FMSS. Edits were made by Glenn Hoffman at ROMO in November 2016 to incorporate the NPS Core Data Standard dated 08/10/2016.

Travel Trends collects and displays stats on popular tourists destinations and National Parks including Olympic National Park.

The number of visitors to Zion National Park, located in Utah in the United States, fluctuated in recent years. In 2023, the park saw a decrease in the number of visitors with under 4.65 million visitors, compared to the 4.69 million visitors welcomed in 2022. Zion National Park Zion NP is a park in the desert of Utah that boasts a variety of plants and animals as well as archaeological sites. Many visitors to the park engage in hiking, climbing, and camping within the park. In 2021, Zion National Park was among the top 3 most visited parks in the United States. The U.S. national parks are hugely popular and there has been a general growth in attendance since 2008. Outdoor Recreation in the U.S. As of 2021, some of the most popular outdoor activities among U.S. residents include running, fishing, biking, hiking, and camping, to name a few. Among campers in North America, fishing was the second most popular recreational activity. Overall, approximately 52.4 million people participated in recreational fishing in the U.S. in 2021.

The concept is mainly based on the model of VERP - Visitor Experience and Resource Protection Framework the principles of which are currently being used in many US National Parks (MANNING 2007). Yet, it was adapted to the needs of the National Park Gesaeuse, considering the legal situation of the protected area as well as the resource and tourist background. In addition, the Natura 2000 standards had to be included. On this behalf, the risk analysis concept for Natura 2000 species and habitats according to PROEBSTL et al. (2007) was adapted. It takes into account the conservation status of habitats and species, the relevance and intensity of tourism use, as well as the efficiency of management actions. The concept includes the following steps: Creation of an interdisciplinary project team Definition of park purpose and significance Collection of basic data on resources and visitor use Description of visitor experience and resource conditions Impact assessment of visitor use on sensitive habitats and species (risk analysis) Designation of management zones and areas of conflicts Definition of indicators and standards for each zone Definition of management actions Monitoring of resource and social indicators

Taiwan Number of Tourist: NP: Shei-pa National Park data was reported at 82,522.000 Person in May 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 93,769.000 Person for Apr 2018. Taiwan Number of Tourist: NP: Shei-pa National Park data is updated monthly, averaging 73,780.000 Person from Jan 2007 (Median) to May 2018, with 137 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 219,275.000 Person in Feb 2012 and a record low of 23,714.000 Person in Sep 2008. Taiwan Number of Tourist: NP: Shei-pa National Park data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Taiwan – Table TW.Q007: Number of Tourists By Tourist Attractions.

National (natural) park recreation bases visitor numbers and vehicle numbers- classified by national park (data start time: January 2000)

In 2023, Yosemite National Park welcomed a total of 3.9 million visitors. This was an increase from the previous year when the park had 3.67 million visitors. However, the 2023 figure was still lower than the visitation rates experienced before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, when over four million visitors passed through Yosemite's gates between 2015 and 2019. Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park is a large national forest located in central California. It was founded in 1864 and boasts over 1,200 square miles of vast wilderness, glaciers and winter sports. The park is known for the famous El Capitan rock formation that is popular among climbers around the world. Yosemite is among the most visited national parks in the U.S. with other big names such as Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Zion National Park. Looking at attendance at park attractions and similar sites in the United States, national parks attracted the largest number of visitors in 2021. Climbing and Hiking in the U.S. Rock climbing and hiking is a popular past time at parks like Yosemite. Hiking and climbing have been increasing in popularity across the United States. In 2021, the number of people participating in hiking in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 57.81 million individuals. In 2021, running, jogging, and trail running was the only outdoor activity more popular than hiking in the U.S..

Visitor statistics................................

In 2023, the total number of visitors at prefectural nature parks in Japan amounted to approximately ****** million people. The Ministry of the Environment in Japan (MOE) distinguishes between three types of parks: national parks, quasi-national parks, and prefectural nature parks.

The past year has proved turbulent for the US national parks and nature institutions industry, marked by soaring visitor numbers but mounting operational distress. A visitation record was set in 2024; over 331.0 million people flocked to national parks, driven by both pent-up domestic demand and a notable surge in international tourists. Yet even as public interest in outdoor recreation hits never-before-seen highs, the institutions tasked with maintaining and protecting these resources have been thrown into turmoil. Widespread layoffs, a persistent hiring freeze and deepening budget cuts have severely disrupted core services, forcing closures, curtailment of programming and reduced emergency response capacity at many parks. Financial constraints, intensified by a February 2025 spending freeze, directly fuel everything from trail maintenance to the most basic facility upkeep, exposing the stark mismatch between record demand and shrinking resources. Revenue stagnated over the last few years, rising 2.1% in 2025 and reaching $1.0 billion that year. Parks have gradually eroded federal support, punctuated by sharp staff reductions and the rollback of climate and environmental policies. Extreme weather events, including wildfires, hurricanes and flooding, have only exacerbated these operational hurdles, forcing many parks into costly disaster recovery and further backlog in conservation projects. Although parks benefited from record tourism and mounting profit, the strain on aging and underfunded infrastructure has become unmistakable. The outlook for US national parks and nature institutions is fraught with uncertainty and sizable risk. If enacted, proposed federal budget cuts for 2026 would represent the most significant reduction in the National Park Service’s history. Accompanying policy shifts favor expanded resource extraction near or on parkland, raising a serious alarm among conservationists. Legal battles mounted by nonprofit groups and state governments will intensify as federal protections are challenged, signaling a future where the courts will increasingly determine the fate of these natural treasures. Without a reversal in funding and policy trends, experts warn of escalating ecosystem degradation, diminished visitor experiences and economic fallout for gateway communities. Shrinking staff and scaled-back conservation programs will threaten public access during peak seasons. Without significant legislative and administrative support, sustainability and resilience will become challenging. Revenue is forecast to climb at a CAGR of 1.8% over the years to 2030, reaching an estimated $1.1 billion.

The relationship between climate and visitation to managed natural areas has been analyzed at a variety of different spatial scales. We expand upon our existing knowledge on this topic by: (1) determining how a wide range of climate variables affect visitation across a regional tourism system; and (2) identifying which variables affect visitation system-wide and which variables only affect visitation at specific parks. Our analysis focuses on five national parks located in southern Utah (USA) commonly referred to as ‘the Mighty 5’. We found monthly average daily maximum temperatures were the best predictor of system-wide visitation, suggesting average daily maximum temperatures play a more direct role in tourists’ travel decisions relative to other climate variables, including other derivations of temperature. We also found declines in monthly park visitation for three parks (Arches, Canyonlands, and Capitol Reef) once average daily maximum temperatures exceed 25 C. For Bryce Canyon and Zion however, monthly visitation continued to increase well above this threshold. The geophysical characteristics of these parks appear to mediate the relationship between average daily maximum temperature and visitation. The commonly found ‘inverted U-shape’ relationship between temperature and visitation should not be seen as a universal maxim. We also found precipitation to be a poor predictor of system-wide visitation, but a significant factor shaping the travel decisions of visitors to Bryce Canyon, the only park to offer snow-based outdoor recreation opportunities. Future research should not disregard the possibility of precipitation being a significant factor shaping visitors’ travel decisions. By conducting our analyses at two distinct scales, we have found there is a difference between the individual climate variables that are regionally-significant drivers of visitation and those that are locally-significant drivers of visitation. Scale matters in analyses of the relationship between climate and visitation.