Yosemite National Park
February 17, 2016 - WASHINGTON – President Theodore Roosevelt was reelected in 1904, the same year rangers started counting national park visitors. There were more than 120,000 visits to America’s 11 national parks in the first year of counting. This week, the National Park Service (NPS) certified 2015 national park visitation at more than 307 million. It also released its popular Top 10 list of the most visited national park sites.
“The popularity of national parks is well known, but last year’s numbers really are extraordinary,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th year, we’re preparing to welcome more visitors than ever including a new generation of park supporters and advocates who are discovering their own national park adventures.”
Today’s figures were an increase from the unofficial visitation total of 305 million reported by the NPS in January. The difference is attributed to the recently-completed NPS visitation audit.
2015 visitation highlights include:
- 307,247,252 recreation visits, a 4.9 percent increase over 2014 and the previous record of 292.8 million recreation visits.
- 371 of the 410 parks in the National Park System report visitation.
- 57 of the 371 reporting parks set a new record for annual recreation visits. Eleven parks had more than 5 million recreation visits in 2015.
- Joshua Tree National Park surpassed 2 million annual recreation visits for the first time.
- Rocky Mountain National Park surpassed 4 million annual recreation visits for the first time.
- Yellowstone National Park surpassed 4 million annual recreation visits for the first time.
- Grand Canyon National Park surpassed 5 million annual recreation visits for the first time.
- Glacier National Park surpassed 100 million total recreation visits (1910 to 2015)
- 2 parks are reporting visitation for the first time
- Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
- Waco Mammoth National Monument
Total overnight stays (sum of all categories) were up 6 percent over 2014.
Highlights:
- Concessioner campground overnights were up 12.5 percent.
- NPS campground tent overnights were up 13 percent.
- NPS campground RV overnights were up 10 percent.
- Backcountry overnights were up 7 percent.
All Parks of the National Park System
- Blue Ridge Parkway - 15,054,603
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area - 14,888,537
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park - 10,712,674
- Lincoln Memorial - 7,941,771
- Lake Mead National Recreation Area - 7,298,465
- George Washington Memorial Parkway - 7,286,463
- Gateway National Recreation Area - 6,392,565
- Natchez Trace Parkway - 5,785,812
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial - 5,597,077
- Grand Canyon National Park - 5,520,736
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park - 10,712,674
- Grand Canyon National Park - 5,520,736
- Rocky Mountain National Park - 4,155,916
- Yosemite National Park - 4,150,217
- Yellowstone National Park - 4,097,710
- Zion National Park - 3,648,846
- Olympic National Park - 3,263,761
- Grand Teton National Park - 3,149,921
- Acadia National Park - 2,811,184
- Glacier National Park - 2,366,056
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Year Recreation Visitors 1906 5,414 1907 7,102 1908 8,850 1909 13,182 1910 13,619 1911 12,530 1912 10,884 1913 13,735 1914 15,145 1915 33,452 1916 33,390 1917 34,510 1918 33,527 1919 58,362 1920 68,906 1921 91,513 1922 100,506 1923 130,046 1924 105,894 1925 209,166 1926 274,209 1927 490,430 1928 460,619 1929 461,257 1930 458,566 1931 461,855 1932 498,289 1933 296,088 1934 309,431 1935 372,317 1936 431,192 1937 481,492 1938 443,325 1939 466,552 1940 506,781 1941 597,863 1942 319,816 1943 116,682 1944 120,494 1945 290,569 1946 640,483 1947 777,622 1948 745,899 1949 808,372 1950 820,953 1951 858,405 1952 973,971 1953 969,225 1954 1,008,000 1955 984,200 1956 1,114,200 1957 1,138,700 1958 1,139,300 1959 1,061,500 1960 1,150,400 1961 1,227,100 1962 1,505,500 1963 1,473,400 1964 1,547,000 1965 1,635,400 1966 1,817,100 1967 2,238,300 1968 2,281,100 1969 2,291,300 1970 2,277,200 1971 2,342,200 1972 2,190,301 1973 2,254,300 1974 2,274,600 1975 2,537,400 1976 2,682,400 1977 2,392,600 1978 2,569,268 1979 2,350,782 1980 2,490,282 1981 2,516,893 1982 2,415,587 1983 2,457,464 1984 2,738,467 1985 2,831,952 1986 2,876,717 1987 3,152,275 1988 3,216,681 1989 3,308,159 1990 3,124,939 1991 3,423,101 1992 3,819,518 1993 3,839,645 1994 3,962,117 1995 3,958,406 1996 4,046,207 1997 3,669,970 1998 3,657,132 1999 3,493,607 2000 3,400,903 2001 3,368,731 2002 3,361,867 2003 3,378,664 2004 3,280,911 2005 3,304,144 2006 3,242,644 2007 3,503,428 2008 3,431,514 2009 3,737,472 2010 3,901,408 2011 3,951,393 2012 3,853,404 2013 3,691,191 2014 3,882,642 2015 4,150,217 Total 185,375,693
Source: NPS
