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National
Parks Draw 273.6 Million Visitors in 2013
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Drop of 3
percent from previous year due to shutdown, Hurricane Sandy
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Washington,
DC – March 2014 / Newsmaker Alert / National
Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis has released the 2013 visitation
figures for America’s national parks. More than 273.6 million total visits
were recorded during the year at the 401 parks, historic sites and recreation
areas that make up the National Park System.
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“From
families creating once-in-a-lifetime vacation memories to school children
exploring a national park in their own backyard, the National Park Service
welcomed more than a quarter of a billion visitors last year,” said Jarvis.
“The national parks are the perfect place to be inspired by America’s majestic
beauty, retrace the steps of those who founded and formed our nation’s
history, or just relax and recharge with family and friends.”
The
2013 visitation figure is down 9.1 million visits from 2012. The decrease
was due in large part to the lapse in federal appropriations, which shuttered
national parks for the first 16 days of October.
“The
shutdown reduced our visitation for the year by 7.88 million visitors who
were turned away during those two weeks. These closures had a real impact
on local businesses and communities that rely on the national parks as
important drivers for their local economies,” said Jarvis.
Despite
the shutdown, some parks reported increases in visitation in 2013, including
Gettysburg National Military Park and Vicksburg National Military Park,
both of which were buoyed by large crowds and increased interest due to
Civil War sesquicentennial events. Other parks saw reduced numbers due
to extended weather-related closures, including Blue Ridge Parkway, which
saw visitation fall by 2.5 million due in large part to storm damage and
generally cold and wet conditions. In New York City, the lingering effects
of Hurricane Sandy forced the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Castle
Clinton to remain closed for part of the year.
The
official number of recreational visits to national parks in 2013 was 273,630,895
which was 9.1 million less than 2012 total visitation, which was 282,765,682.
Last
week, the National Park Service released a new report showing that visitors
to national parks generated $26.75 billion in economic activity and supported
243,000 jobs in 2012. National parks across the country continue to contribute
substantially to the nation’s economy and to be important economic engines
in their local communities.
Golden
Gate National Recreation Area replaced the Blue Ridge Parkway as the most
visited site in the National Park System.
Great
Smoky Mountains National Park retained its top spot among the 59 sites
formally designated as “national park,” with 9.35 million visits in 2013.
Grand Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park retained their number
two and three spots in the top 10. Glacier National Park in Montana moved
into the number 10 spot.
Here
are the top 10 most visited places in the National Park System:
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Golden
Gate National Recreation Area: 14,289,121
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Blue Ridge
Parkway: 12,877,368
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Great
Smoky Mountains National Park: 9,354,695
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George
Washington Memorial Parkway: 7,360,392
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Lincoln
Memorial: 6,546,518
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Lake Mead
National Recreation Area: 6,344,714
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Gateway
National Recreation Area: 6,191,246
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Natchez
Trace Parkway: 6,012,740
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Chesapeake
& Ohio Canal National Historical Park: 4,941,367
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Delaware
Water Gap National Recreation Area: 4,843,350
Here
are the top 10 most visited sites with the “national park” designation:
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Great
Smoky Mountains National Park: 9,354,695
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Grand
Canyon National Park: 4,564,840
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Yosemite
National Park: 3,691,191
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Yellowstone
National Park: 3,188,030
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Olympic
National Park: 3,085,340
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Rocky
Mountain National Park: 2,991,141
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Zion National
Park: 2,807,387
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Grand
Teton NP: 2,688,794
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Acadia
National Park: 2,254,922
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Glacier
National Park: 2,190,374
The complete
list of park visitation and other visitor-related statistics is available
on the National Park Service’s web site irma.nps.gov/Stats.
About
the National Park Service
More
than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 401 national
parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local
history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at
www.nps.gov,
on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice,
Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice,
and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.
Contacts:
National
Park Service
Hampton
Tucker / 202-354-2067
Mike
Litterst / 202-208-6843 |