With travel restrictions still in place for many international destinations, along with a desire to avoid or escape dense populations in cities, outdoor itineraries within the U.S. are holding greater appeal as pandemic fears start to fade.

A recent study by ValuePenguin looked at national park and monument visitation to see which parks saw the most and least visitors, and which ones are on the road to recovery.

Key findings:

• National parks in 2021 reclaimed 91% of their 2019 pre-pandemic visitation. Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida was the big winner with a 154% increase in visits: nearly 2.6 million in 2021, versus roughly 1 million in 2019.
• As pandemic fears faded, national park visitors stayed longer. While visitorship in 2021 was down 9% from 2019, the number of hours spent at national parks was down only 5%.
• But not all parks fared the same during the early portion of the pandemic. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska saw a drop in visitors from more than 1.1 million in 2019 to only 297 — yes, 297 — in 2020.
• Urban parks, monuments and memorials typically have seen the slowest recoveries. Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Boston National Historic Park and the Statue of Liberty National Park in New York all ranked in the bottom five for percentage change in visitors between 2019 and 2021.

National parks quickly regained visitors

Sites managed by the NPS regained about 60 million visitors from 2020 to 2021, climbing to 91% of the pre-pandemic numbers seen in 2019.

By the number: Recreation visits to national parks
2019	327,516,619
2020	237,064,332
2021	297,115,406
Source: National Park Service

Among the 100 parks with the highest yearly visitation average over the past decade (2012 to 2021), the largest percentage gain in visitors in the period examined was in Florida.

Where visitorship rose the most

Rank	Park	2019 visitors	2021 visitors	% change, 2019 to 2021
1	Big Cypress National Preserve (FL)	1,007,471	2,563,810	154%
2	Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (MI)	858,715	1,313,179	53%
3	Indiana Dunes National Park	2,134,285	3,177,210	49%
4	Hot Springs National Park (AR)	1,467,153	2,162,884	47%
5	New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (WV)	1,195,721	1,682,720	41%
6	Cedar Breaks National Monument (UT)	579,861	772,886	33%
7	Mount Rushmore National Memorial (SD)	1,963,540	2,525,868	29%
8	Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (NJ/PA)	3,374,865	4,340,902	29%
9	Badlands National Park (SD)	970,998	1,224,226	26%
10	Curecanti National Recreation Area (CO)	836,034	1,043,725	25%

Source: ValuePenguin analysis of the National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics database. Note: Only parks in the top 100 for highest yearly visitation averages from 2012 to 2021 were considered.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan and Indiana Dunes National Park ranked second and third for pandemic recovery.

On the shore of Lake Superior, Pictured Rocks saw an increase of 53% — almost half a million visitors — taking advantage of its beaches, cliffs, waterfalls and forests. Not too far away on the shore of Lake Michigan, Indiana Dunes National Park had a 49% visitation increase — more than a million more visits allowed people to explore the park’s 15,000 acres.

People spending far more hours at national parks

While the national parks had around 30 million fewer visitors in 2021 than in 2019, the people who did tour the national scenery in 2021 stayed longer.

By the number: Recreation visitor hours
2019	1,429,971,904
2020	1,054,954,560
2021	1,356,659,770
Source: National Park Service

The total number of recreational hours spent at national parks in 2021 was only 5% less, despite visitorship being down 9%.

Parks with the largest increase in recreation visitor hours

Rank	Park	2019 visitors	2021 visitors	% change, 2019 to 2021
1	Hot Springs National Park (AR)	1,352,979	6,189,943	358%
2	Virgin Islands National Park	820,391	1,992,595	143%
3	New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (WV)	2,615,787	4,301,053	64%
4	Big Cypress National Preserve (FL)	3,393,687	5,364,417	58%
5	Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (MI)	4,226,365	6,425,573	52%

Source: ValuePenguin analysis of National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics database. Note: Only parks in the top 100 for highest yearly visitation averages from 2012 to 2021 were considered here.

Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas had a huge increase in recreational hours. From 2019 to 2021, hours spent at the park went up by 358%, or nearly 5 million hours. Perhaps due to its biggest attractions — two active geothermal hot spring facilities that allow visitors to soak in the warm water.

In that stream of thought, tropical waters also encouraged visitors to extend their visits at Virgin Islands National Park, which ranks second for the largest increase in visitor recreational hours. The park covers two-thirds of St. John island, offering white sand beaches and snorkeling above coral reefs.

Pandemic affected national parks differently

From 2019 to 2020 — the first year of the pandemic — visits to the 100 most popular sites managed by the NPS decreased by 26% overall, falling from nearly 279 million visits to about 206 million.

Nearly a quarter of those sites saw at least 50% decrease in the number of visitors. Most of the sites seeing the worst of this depression are urban monuments and memorials: Two in D.C. and two in New York City.

Pandemic decreased National Park System annual visits

Rank	Park	2019 visitors	2020 visitors	% change, 2019 to 2020
1	Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (AL)	1,116,161	297	-100%
2	Boston National Historical Park (MA)	3,201,834	277,170	-91%
3	Statue of Liberty National Monument (NY)	4,240,461	576,396	-86%
4	Castle Clinton National Monument (NY)	4,361,034	633,793	-85%
5	Independence National Historical Park (PA)	4,532,459	907,090	-80%
6	Gateway Arch National Park (MO)	2,055,309	486,021	-76%
7	Pearl Harbor National Memorial (Hawaii)	1,716,535	415,542	-76%
8	Thomas Jefferson Memorial (DC)	3,096,895	852,626	-72%
9	Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial (DC)	3,667,562	1,083,671	-70%
10	San Juan National Historic Site (PR)	1,197,345	357,100	-70%

Source: ValuePenguin analysis of National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics database. Note: Only parks in the top 100 for highest yearly visitation averages from 2012 to 2021 were considered here.

A notable exception to the trend is in Alaska. The worst-hit park was Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, which went from 1.1 million visits to less than 300.

The park — and the nearby town of Skagway — depend highly on visitors from cruise ships. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cruise lines suspended their U.S departures beginning in March 2020 and some cruise lines completely shut down operations.

The other two not-as-urban NPS sites on the list are on islands: Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Pearl Harbor National Memorial and San Juan National Historic Site had 70% decreases in visitation from 2019 to 2020. The longer flights that most visitors would need to board to reach these destinations likely made them less pandemic-safe options in the minds of travelers.

Visitors are slower to flock back to urban parks, monuments

Seven parks with the largest decrease in visits during the pandemic are also among the slowest to recover.

Visits to Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska are still down 97% between 2019 and 2021. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) predicts that the cruise industry will fully recover by the summer of 2022, which could benefit the park.

Where visitorship dropped the most

Rank	Park	2019 visitors	2021 visitors	% change, 2019 to 2021
1	Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (AK)	1,116,161	33,228	-97%
2	Independence National Historical Park (PA)	4,532,459	1,495,686	-67%
3	Boston National Historical Park (MA)	3,201,834	1,098,210	-66%
4	Statue of Liberty National Monument (NY)	4,240,461	1,556,482	-63%
5	National Capital Parks-Central (DC)	1,770,794	659,317	-63%
6	Castle Clinton National Monument (NY)	4,361,034	1,665,660	-62%
7	Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park (SC)	877,894	349,492	-60%
8	President's Park (DC)	715,911	395,915	-45%
9	Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial (DC)	3,667,562	2,032,470	-45%
10	Gateway Arch National Park (MO)	2,055,309	1,145,081	-44%

Source: ValuePenguin analysis of National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics database. Note: Only parks in the top 100 for highest yearly visitation averages from 2012 to 2021 were considered here.

Overall, national parks, monuments and memorials within cities have seen some of the worst recoveries. The Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia had more than 3 three million fewer visits — a 67% decrease — and features mainly indoor sights: The Liberty Bell Center, Independence Hall and the Benjamin Franklin Museum.

Boston National Historical Park and the Statue of Liberty National Monument in New York also had visitation decreases above 60%. Both locations require that visitors travel through their respective cities to reach them, and the Statue of Liberty National Park is an island — visitors pile aboard a boat ride to reach it.