Where to Find the National Park Experience, Without the Crowds

Aug 11, 2016

By Center for Western Priorities

Last year more than 300 million people visited our national parks; maybe you were one of them. That’s more than the number of people who went to every Disney park, NASCAR race, NBA, NFL, and MLB game combined.

There’s no way around it, our national parks are more popular than ever‚Ää—‚Ääand that’s great. In 2015, national park visitors spent $17 billion in local gateway communities, supported 295 thousand jobs, and generated $32 billion in economic output. In 2010, Americans spent $646 billion on outdoor recreation and the recreation economy is still growing.