National park visitation in the U.S. 2021

The number of recreational visits to U.S. National Park Service sites increased by 25.33 percent in 2021 over the previous year. Despite the rise in guests, the recorded figure of 297.12 million guests in 2021 did not reach levels reported in the year before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Visitor trends at National Park Service sites

Recent studies have unearthed various trends in recreational visitors traveling to National Park Service sites. For instance, as of 2021, the most popular national park in the United States was the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which reported roughly 14.16 million visits in that year. Based on the average number of visitors per day to National Parks, monuments, and sites, July is the most common month for people to visit one of the park sites. Trends on national park visitor spending in the U.S. show that in 2021, park visitors spent the largest amount of their money on lodging and the least amount on camping fees.

Visitors to the Grand Canyon and Yosemite

The number of recreational visitors to the Grand Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park in the United States increased in 2021 over the previous year, when attendance was impacted by the global health crisis. Specifically, the number of visits at the Grand Canyon National Park rose from 2.9 million in 2020 to just over 4.5 million in 2021. Similarly, the number of visits at Yosemite National Park climbed from 2.27 million in 2020 to 3.29 million in 2021.