L5: Park Visitation

Metrics

National and State Park Visitation

The National Park Service tracks visitor numbers for national parks, while the Utah Department of Natural Resources monitors visitation at state parks. These datasets provide annual visitor statistics, spanning from the start of reporting for each selected park up to the most recent calendar year. Each park also has an issued set of counting procedures to record the number of visitors in the park. These methods can range from traffic counters, door counters, or are done manually.

L.5.1 National park visitation

Year Arches Bryce Canyon Canyonlands Capitol Reef Zion
2003 757,781 903,760 386,986 535,441 2,458,792
2004 733,131 987,253 371,706 549,708 2,677,342
2005 781,670 1,017,681 393,381 550,255 2,586,665
2006 833,049 890,676 392,537 511,511 2,567,350
2007 860,181 1,012,563 417,560 554,907 2,657,281
2008 928,795 1,043,321 436,715 604,811 2,690,154
2009 996,312 1,216,377 436,241 617,208 2,735,402
2010 1,014,405 1,285,492 435,908 662,661 2,665,972
2011 1,040,758 1,296,000 473,773 668,834 2,825,505
2012 1,070,577 1,385,352 452,952 673,345 2,973,607
2013 1,082,866 1,311,875 462,242 663,670 2,807,387
2014 1,284,767 1,435,741 542,431 786,514 3,189,696
2015 1,399,247 1,745,804 634,607 941,029 3,648,846
2016 1,585,718 2,365,110 776,218 1,064,904 4,295,127
2017 1,539,028 2,571,684 742,271 1,150,165 4,504,812
2018 1,663,557 2,679,478 739,449 1,227,627 4,320,033
2019 1,659,702 2,594,904 733,996 1,226,519 4,488,268
2020 1,238,083 1,464,655 493,914 981,038 3,591,254
2021 1,806,865 2,104,600 911,594 1,405,353 5,039,835
2022 1,460,652 2,354,660 779,147 1,227,608 4,692,417
2023 1,482,045 2,461,269 800,322 1,268,861 4,623,238

L.5.2 State park visitation

Year Anasazi Indian
Village State Park		 Antelope Island
State Park		 Bear Lake
State Park		 Camp Floyd -
Stage Coach Inn
State Park		 Coral Pink Sand
Dunes State Park
2003 33,145 268,732 32,230 12,348 128,675
2004 34,076 255,155 45,228 12,293 122,832
2005 32,959 272,381 105,849 15,422 65,270
2006 27,614 250,886 232,825 15,850 66,468
2007 26,958 281,266 225,985 15,018 69,509
2008 24,309 256,901 198,141 16,331 62,741
2009 24,883 273,510 175,049 16,213 58,943
2010 21,850 285,390 229,669 16,656 56,939
2011 20,605 282,145 242,749 16,703 52,676
2012 20,119 292,662 234,095 16,609 58,734
2013 19,166 307,239 185,113 13,527 64,430
2014 19,836 328,139 213,346 13,472 73,156
2015 19,253 394,748 245,780 15,446 78,737
2016 21,221 409,246 281,717 13,657 92,010
2017 18,771 475,371 321,277 14,360 130,016
2018 19,751 499,469 364,199 13,774 117,922
2019 19,477 528,865 458,344 16,933 128,558
2020 14,236 815,445 638,798 6,278 177,655
2021 21,640 1,074,569 603,297 8,605 252,623
2022 17,301 885,078 539,173 18,303 229,527
2023 19,949 936,147 569,905 12,238 229,005

L.5.3 State park visitation continued

Year Dead Horse Point
State Park		 Deer Creek
State Park		 East Canyon
State Park		 Echo State Park Edge Of The
Cedars State Park
2003 161,774 176,975 71,101 - 19,309
2004 145,800 202,740 56,641 - 41,315
2005 137,265 209,149 55,904 - 10,446
2006 169,206 355,003 95,543 - 17,420
2007 172,176 326,038 98,010 - 17,555
2008 184,560 260,299 79,731 - 13,516
2009 179,157 295,993 99,663 - 11,981
2010 169,595 359,365 83,967 - 12,416
2011 182,419 305,748 100,250 - 14,286
2012 200,620 360,565 82,731 - 10,881
2013 266,263 225,873 64,410 - 9,656
2014 351,743 218,886 95,166 - 8,950
2015 398,094 255,946 92,571 - 10,858
2016 416,180 334,357 92,120 - 10,121
2017 704,841 400,383 120,307 5,777 12,489
2018 880,678 422,119 142,452 6,451 12,212
2019 978,380 433,855 159,881 55,488 12,735
2020 792,099 707,836 252,273 77,726 5,196
2021 1,265,223 688,619 190,084 44,512 12,402
2022 1,069,571 587,052 205,561 25,255 13,776
2023 1,080,536 702,506 232,674 133,437 13,616

L.5.4 State park visitation continued

Year Escalante Petrified
Forest State Park		 Fremont Indian
State Park		 Goblin Valley
State Park		 Goosenecks
State Park		 Great Salt Lake
Marina State Park
2003 36,105 71,465 67,913 57,098 139,254
2004 82,584 58,190 46,065 87,170 38,196
2005 37,455 66,235 56,597 58,910 57,966
2006 40,451 64,116 30,081 40,761 138,763
2007 39,554 72,184 39,529 50,340 250,478
2008 42,978 74,919 63,343 58,096 214,127
2009 39,599 82,486 52,771 66,722 213,289
2010 40,229 78,055 46,270 65,545 249,085
2011 57,934 101,993 61,435 63,778 254,317
2012 51,774 113,892 80,628 69,670 272,842
2013 53,315 70,960 94,222 28,891 136,530
2014 46,521 13,092 108,914 - 177,380
2015 48,678 16,621 158,404 45,351 423,012
2016 53,512 19,488 220,738 61,941 110,845
2017 61,477 25,000 251,004 66,523 112,154
2018 63,471 25,037 279,555 63,445 77,390
2019 66,730 32,490 305,325 66,313 94,687
2020 57,669 45,317 309,039 25,256 118,119
2021 86,049 52,423 453,937 49,385 149,194
2022 73,969 48,540 408,343 55,660 136,170
2023 90,821 51,605 398,962 56,367 169,377

L.5.5 State park visitation continued

Year Green River State Park Gunlock State Park Huntington State Park Hyrum State Park Frontier State Park
2003 83,951 82,665 41,270 74,411 16,549
2004 - 37,835 61,947 17,139 166,457
2005 20,937 - 54,833 62,712 13,176
2006 22,857 60,891 47,848 67,980 18,498
2007 20,217 45,222 19,043 82,480 15,853
2008 21,142 51,915 37,197 70,705 16,904
2009 25,190 41,225 59,459 62,961 16,881
2010 23,282 60,189 60,035 131,973 16,272
2011 23,571 55,912 67,418 89,885 17,617
2012 23,740 55,574 71,757 124,958 20,127
2013 35,482 36,474 38,048 83,526 12,826
2014 47,326 13,684 32,276 50,827 18,546
2015 52,189 14,621 29,660 73,225 8,435
2016 56,988 14,142 31,435 76,239 10,126
2017 68,039 24,022 35,911 90,280 11,778
2018 74,498 40,126 38,157 89,305 12,302
2019 82,335 71,052 36,803 109,971 12,385
2020 84,413 114,923 63,789 146,846 8,277
2021 120,653 73,335 55,579 139,555 14,669
2022 106,154 61,021 43,233 146,212 15,039
2023 90,002 269,603 42,124 152,788 15,287

L.5.6 State park visitation continued

Year Jordanelle State Park Jordan River OHV State Park Kodachrome Basin State Park Lost Creek State Park Millsite State Park
2003 112,169 - 57,689 - 17,130
2004 59,463 - 21,856 - -
2005 182,895 - 49,700 - 28,044
2006 198,592 - 49,804 - 20,353
2007 310,348 - 52,523 - 34,923
2008 296,781 - 52,712 - 32,383
2009 290,326 17,477 50,939 - 34,266
2010 265,208 15,364 52,654 - 34,782
2011 257,675 11,921 49,806 - 40,487
2012 323,689 18,347 48,407 - 40,959
2013 261,528 13,968 66,858 - 20,615
2014 275,225 91,710 73,002 - 19,960
2015 380,995 10,015 102,840 - 13,030
2016 485,292 13,046 110,517 - 30,902
2017 576,536 19,366 118,790 - 14,078
2018 624,103 59,796 130,860 - 11,065
2019 652,705 55,123 132,202 - 13,348
2020 977,252 69,293 150,144 10,520 62,708
2021 821,719 86,873 199,555 11,599 44,914
2022 712,633 101,398 160,956 93 18,558
2023 829,944 113,729 152,777 13,381 23,828

L.5.7 State park visitation continued

Year Otter Creek State Park Palisade State Park Piute State Park Point of the Mountain Sky Park Quail Creek State Park
2003 47,346 125,624 9,647 - 514,718
2004 151,111 8,502 164,945 - 27,550
2005 43,689 125,017 21,990 - 165,702
2006 65,267 211,646 29,609 - 108,482
2007 70,973 233,739 47,918 - 112,534
2008 83,042 290,682 26,230 - 95,239
2009 72,722 313,501 29,249 - 97,110
2010 57,786 141,458 18,294 - 101,967
2011 57,942 167,869 17,531 - 72,366
2012 51,875 195,596 16,739 - 64,980
2013 36,654 135,271 7,983 - 58,555
2014 25,838 100,059 2,143 - 72,110
2015 29,903 110,946 1,636 - 78,854
2016 36,708 123,063 1,184 - 88,054
2017 37,363 140,950 1,084 - 107,622
2018 31,257 151,383 793 - 141,879
2019 38,222 173,421 1,408 - 169,137
2020 137,867 105,477 4,481 159,376 168,067
2021 112,705 96,229 9,167 186,592 206,807
2022 43,833 184,404 535 5,234 283,321
2023 47,820 257,874 1,322 3,827 336,676

L.5.8 State park visitation continued

Year Red Fleet State Park Rockport State Park Sand Hollow State Park Scofield State Park Snow Canyon State Park
2003 33,162 159,570 135,749 106,942 277,285
2004 184,504 352,949 103,336 287,132 106,366
2005 23,959 172,783 172,179 78,276 206,606
2006 30,818 117,683 186,685 102,276 255,643
2007 38,274 127,832 203,753 126,895 385,963
2008 39,210 135,937 175,587 108,975 299,233
2009 37,222 137,697 185,141 79,862 308,126
2010 28,617 132,415 193,633 75,584 321,752
2011 31,822 146,314 183,691 45,160 344,915
2012 45,142 157,575 217,367 39,779 353,870
2013 28,647 105,717 225,849 36,561 292,332
2014 24,979 104,683 320,150 24,889 220,643
2015 28,096 110,458 386,340 19,789 261,043
2016 27,632 130,282 498,644 20,968 291,573
2017 37,032 146,928 575,184 22,952 318,294
2018 49,580 130,020 763,564 22,167 391,444
2019 56,331 153,244 864,751 28,249 509,348
2020 186,888 864,853 580,051 298,635 418,421
2021 122,726 759,199 870,299 532,605 381,620
2022 36,344 190,419 1,089,087 35,482 735,329
2023 14,008 206,574 1,415,554 45,497 954,572

L.5.9 State park visitation continued

Year Fred Hayes State Park at Starvation Steinaker State Park Territorial Statehouse State Park Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Utah Lake State Park
2003 110,301 35,400 30,091 52,150 83,076
2004 27,612 38,109 78,133 166,211 843,772
2005 51,957 35,136 34,894 60,179 252,565
2006 54,398 45,615 46,794 52,027 265,271
2007 61,351 57,621 50,169 47,070 270,836
2008 56,294 70,312 53,493 42,409 284,740
2009 64,609 73,378 20,562 36,464 336,952
2010 61,539 81,517 8,817 40,356 278,664
2011 70,044 91,434 22,564 44,290 285,359
2012 89,697 43,522 29,079 44,786 280,422
2013 79,967 27,732 14,785 48,680 234,032
2014 83,729 25,024 5,264 45,206 150,899
2015 96,972 36,893 7,751 60,324 140,546
2016 109,588 40,684 7,776 54,821 117,029
2017 119,830 39,365 9,023 53,700 143,802
2018 116,148 26,577 5,697 56,448 89,622
2019 112,753 16,686 10,117 57,381 150,475
2020 90,482 24,517 31,307 155,516 410,395
2021 109,355 22,280 45,365 183,179 255,170
2022 139,477 52,933 6,615 61,657 215,687
2023 153,538 79,299 9,520 60,704 342,885

L.5.10 State park visitation continued

Year UtahRaptor State Park Wasatch Mountain State Park Willard Bay State Park Yuba State Park
2003 - 799,617 206,968 66,660
2004 - 138,868 92,149 -
2005 - 915,963 297,038 138,233
2006 - 412,283 325,933 122,964
2007 - 279,176 192,224 180,045
2008 - 298,195 171,589 180,059
2009 - 341,881 304,441 194,947
2010 - 359,871 340,645 225,213
2011 - 357,696 337,072 140,965
2012 - 256,887 348,534 237,708
2013 - 358,095 144,008 112,217
2014 - 280,030 227,315 99,237
2015 - 284,865 260,798 102,902
2016 - 340,697 366,251 100,514
2017 - 353,400 482,391 109,231
2018 - 353,727 503,808 92,830
2019 - 360,274 645,381 124,471
2020 508,761 271,566 372,526 77,218
2021 370,997 440,934 352,145 58,710
2022 2,486 574,185 540,910 120,829
2023 17,571 678,082 880,331 152,987

Visitation by Region

L.5.9 State park visitation history by region

A bar chart of Utah state park visitation by region over the years 2003 to 2023. Number of visitors is measured in the millions, ranging from 0M to 12M. The three regions shown are Central, Northern, and Southern, and each region's contribution is indicated in the bar of total visitation for each year. Total visitation across all regions starts at about 4.5M in 2003 and slowly climbs to about 5M in 2012, before dropping to 4M in 2013 and 2014, and then steadily climbing again to just over 12M in 2023 (with the exception of 2022, in which visitation dropped by almost 2M compared to 2021). The northern region received the least visitation in 2003, but quickly became the highest or second-highest visited region consistently. The southern region received about the same visitation as the central region in 2003, but then became the least-visited region in 2005 and remained there until 2014, when it started to climb in visitation until it became the most-visited region by 2023. The central region was the most-visited region until 2012, and then quickly became the least-visited region for the remainder of the years.

This chart was made using the state park visitation data from the Utah Department of Natural Resources, covering the years 2003 to 2024. It displays the total number of park visits each year, with the data categorized and color-coded by region: northern, central, and southern Utah

References

  1. National Park Service. (2024). National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics – Park Reports. [Data set]. U.S. Department of the Interior. https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/Reports/Park
  2. Utah Division of State Parks. (2024). Park Visitation Data. [Data set]. Utah Department of Natural Resources. https://stateparks.utah.gov/resources/park-visitation-data/

A hiker stands at White Rim Overlook in Canyonlands National park

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK WHITE RIM OVERLOOK | AARON FORTIN

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