American Parks Statistics (2024)

1. In 2023, state parks across the U.S. welcomed a record-breaking 350 million visitors, according to the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).
2. The National Park Service (NPS) manages 419 national parks, but state parks make up the majority of the nation’s protected lands, with over 10,000 state parks and historic sites.
3. The NPS reported that just 23% of visitors to national parks were people of color in their most recent 10-year survey, with 77% being white.
4. The NPS aims to increase the number of visitors from underrepresented communities by 2030, as part of their efforts to boost diversity in the wilderness and access to natural spaces.
5. In 2016 and 2017, national parks saw an unprecedented 330.9 million visitors, the highest ever recorded.
6. Overcrowding is a growing issue in national parks, with two-mile-long “bison jams” in Yellowstone and fist-fights in parking lots at Glacier National Park.
7. State parks are exploring reservation-only systems to manage overcrowding, with parks like Zion, Arches, and Acadia considering this option.
8. The economic value of America’s national parks is estimated to be $35.5 billion annually, according to a study by the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
9. State parks contribute $18.4 billion to the U.S. economy annually, according to the NRPA.
10. State parks provide 295,000 jobs and generate $15.7 billion in wages, according to the NRPA.
11. The average state park visitor spends $41 per person per visit, according to the NRPA.
12. State parks offer a wide range of recreational activities, including hiking, camping, fishing, and wildlife watching.
13. State parks are home to 41,000 miles of trails, according to the NRPA.
14. State parks protect 15,000 miles of rivers and streams, according to the NRPA.
15. State parks protect 3.5 million acres of wetlands, according to the NRPA.
16. State parks protect 10 million acres of forests, according to the NRPA.
17. State parks protect 1,000 endangered species, according to the NRPA.

Sources:
[1] https://muckrack.com/media-outlet/nationalparkstraveler-1
[2] https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/publications.htm
[3] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/americas-national-parks-face-existential-crisis-race/story?id=71528972
[4] https://journalistsresource.org/environment/national-parks-service-lands-value/
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/20/national-parks-america-overcrowding-crisis-tourism-visitation-solutions

Historical Facts about the American Parks Systems

1. The first director of the National Parks System, Stephen Mather, supported the formation of the state parks systems and played an important role in their development.
2. By World War II, most of the states had developed state park systems, and by the early twenty-first century, all fifty states had established a state parks system.
3. Most state parks were originally acquired as gifts, tax-delinquent lands, original state land holdings, purchased from private individuals or corporations, or federal lands turned over to the states.
4. The title of the oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York, established in 1885.
5. The story of California’s state parks began in the mid-1800s, before any organized environmental or cultural preservation movement.
6. The first state park was conceived in California in 1862, and the newly established State Park Commission began gathering support for the first state park bond.
7. In 1928, Californians voted nearly three-to-one in favor of a $6 million state park bond.
8. The National Park Service was not established until 1916, although Yellowstone became the first national park in 1872.
9. The concept of a “national park” grew out of the conservation movement that began in the nineteenth century.
10. When Yellowstone was designated a national park in 1872, it became the first such park in the world.
11. The burgeoning of American national parks reflected contemporary intellectual, social, and economic changes that led to a growing appreciation for wilderness and wildlife.
12. The National Park System of the United States now comprises more than 400 areas covering more than 84 million acres in every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands.
13. The National Park Service was created on August 25, 1916, by President Woodrow Wilson, as a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department.
14. The “Organic Act” of the National Park Service, signed in 1916, states that “the Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations…by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations”.
15. An Executive Order in 1933 transferred 56 national monuments and military sites from the Forest Service and the War Department to the National Park Service, a major step in the development of today’s truly national system of parks.
16. The National Park Service (NPS) is facing a $22 billion maintenance backlog, with many parks in dire need of repairs and upgrades

Sources:
[1] https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/state-parks
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_park
[3] https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=940
[4] https://www.loc.gov/collections/national-parks-maps/articles-and-essays/brief-history-of-the-national-parks/
[5] https://www.nps.gov/articles/quick-nps-history.htm

Be sure to also check out our articles on National Parks Statistics and Camping Statistics