Grand Canyon National Park was the second most visited National Park in 2019 despite having more than 400,000 fewer visitors than the previous year, according to new data.
The park welcomed 5.97 million visitors last year, ranking behind only Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which welcomed 12.5 million, the National Park Service said. Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado ranked third with over 4.6 million visitors.
The number of visitors to Grand Canyon National Park in 2019 is down from 6,380,495 visitors in 2018 and 6,254,238 in 2017.
Nationally, however, visitation in 2019 was up 2.9 percent compared to 2018, with 9 million more visitors to the system. Total recreation-related visits throughout the park system was 327 million last year, NPS said.
“The 419 parks in the national park system provide a vast array of opportunities for recreation and inspiration for visitors of all ages,” NPS Deputy Director David Vela said. “With at least one located in every state, national parks offer nearby history, culture and adventure.”
Visitors to Grand Canyon National Park spent $947 million in regions surrounding the park in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available.
“These expenditures supported a total of 12.6 thousand jobs, $377 million in labor income, $673 million in value added, and $1.2 billion in economic output in local gateway economies surrounding Grand Canyon National Park,” according to data from the park’s economic contributions profile.
As of 2018, Grand Canyon National Park is facing $314 million in deferred maintenance costs, which are infrastructure maintenance costs that have been postponed because of budget constraints.
