Story highlights
National park sites saw fewer visitors last year, mostly because of the shutdown
Hundreds of millions of visitors still explored the national parks, seashores and other sites
A California park site took the "most visited" title away from the Blue Ridge Parkway
America’s national parks welcomed a record-breaking 292.8 million visits in 2014, shattering the previous record of 287.1 million visits set in 1999.
It’s no surprise that the number of visitors to National Park Service sites took a 3% hit in 2013 because of the weeks-long U.S. government shutdown; it started October 1, at the height of fall leaf-peeping season.
The most popular national park sites
National park sites saw 20.2 million more visits in 2014 than in the previous year, according to National Park Service visitation data. In 2013, the national park sites counted just 273 million visits, due to the 16-day U.S. government shutdown which forced many national sites to close.
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area had more than 15 million visits last year, while second-place Blue Ridge Parkway hosted 13.9 million visits. Great Smoky Mountains National Park came in third place in the list of most visited park sites with 10 million visits.
Of the 59 specially designated national parks, Great Smoky Mountains was the most visited, while Grand Canyon National Park came in second place, with 4.8 million visitors. Yosemite came in third place with 3.9 million visitors.
Impact of the government shutdown
Nearly 8 million of the 9 million visitor decrease came from the 16-day shutdown, according to park service analysis.
Bad weather throughout the year also caused some park sites to close. They included Superstorm Sandy-related closures at the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Castle Clinton and parts of Gateway National Recreation Area. Weather also caused shutdowns at the Blue Ridge Parkway.
With vacations, weddings and other celebrations canceled in and around the parks because of the shutdown, local economies also felt the economic pinch last year. The year before, national parks across the country generated nearly $27 billion in economic activity and supported 243,000 jobs, according to a park service analysis of 2012 visitor data published March 3.
States help reopen some parks
That’s probably why states such as Arizona, Colorado, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah spent their money to pay to keep some of their national parks open during the shutdown, National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said.
“For every dollar spent at the national parks, there’s a $10 return to the local economy,” Jarvis said, including spending at local hotels, restaurants and outfitters.
The park service cannot pay the states back unless Congress appropriates the money through legislation, Jarvis said.
Visitors certainly love their national park sites, and here are their favorites for 2014.
Top 10 most-visited National Park Service sites
1. Golden Gate National Recreation Area (15 million)
2. Blue Ridge Parkway (13.9 million)
3. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (10 million)
4. George Washington Memorial Parkway (7.5 million)
5. Lincoln Memorial (7.1 million)
6. Lake Mead National Recreation Area (6.9 million)
7. Gateway National Recreation Area (6 million)
8. Natchez Trace Parkway (5.8 million)
9. Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park (5 million)
10. Grand Canyon National Park (4.8 million)
Top 10 most-visited national parks
1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (10 million)
2. Grand Canyon National Park (4.8 million)
3. Yosemite National Park (3.9 million)
4. Yellowstone National Park (3.5 million)
5. Rocky Mountain National Park (3.4 million)
6. Rocky Mountain National Park (2.99 million)
7. Zion National Park (3.2 million)
8. Grand Teton National Park (2.8 million)
9. Acadia National Park (2.6 million)
10. Glacier National Park (2.3 million)