Wyoming State Parks & Historic Sites Hosts Another Year of Record Visitation
Wyoming State Parks and Historic Sites’ annual visitation numbers for 2022 indicate high visitor use is here to stay with nearly 5.2 million visitors across all parks and historic sites.
In recent years, Wyoming’s outdoors have seen unprecedented visitation throughout the state and those high numbers have continued through 2022.
Individually, state parks hosted nearly 4.9 million visitors, 3% above the five-year average, and historic sites hosted nearly 334,000 visitors, 6% above the five-year average. 2020 saw over 5.8 million visitors, with 2021 over 5.7 million visitors.
Wyoming State Parks and Historic Sites’ current numbers remain well above pre-pandemic visitation which can be attributed to the retention of many first-time guests during this extreme visitation period.
“Many outdoor recreation destinations continue to see significant growth throughout the state and need new ways to continue to engage first-time and returning visitors,” said Dave Glenn, Deputy Director of Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails. “Our agency continues to enhance the visitor experience by investing in the development and expansion of new and existing infrastructure, campgrounds, trail systems, and interpretive programming amongst other exciting outdoor recreation opportunities across our sites.”
State parks and historic sites also saw a continued increase in fall visitation during 2022. September visitation was 14% above the five-year average, and October’s was 21% above the five-year average.
These numbers provide continued encouragement to Wyoming State Parks and Historic Sites’ officials, who attribute the growth to the hard work and dedication of park staff and their efforts to extend and enhance shoulder season visitation.
“Wyoming’s outdoor recreation and tourism economies continue to play a critical role in our state’s economic vitality,” said Patrick Harrington, Manager of Wyoming’s Office of Outdoor Recreation. “With steadily increasing visitation over the past several years, strategic planning and development of outdoor recreation opportunities will play a major role in maintaining and improving the visitor experience on Wyoming’s public lands for years to come.”
To learn more about Wyoming State Parks & Historic Sites and/or to view Visitation Statistics, please visit wyoparks.org.
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