Date: March 13, 2017
Contact: Sandra Snell-Dobert, 970-641-2337, ext. 227
Gunnison, CO: Both Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area increased in visitation during the Centennial year of the National Park Service.
Black Canyon received 238,018 visitors and Curecanti counted 982,498 visits. This represents an increase over 2015 of 14% at Black Canyon and 4% at Curecanti. Though neither of these are record numbers, they are the highest visitation since 1993 for Black Canyon and 2008 for Curecanti.
“We are honored that so many people visited to our two park areas in 2016 to join in the National Park Service Centennial celebration,” said Superintendent Bruce Noble. “It is such a pleasure for me to see visitors enjoying our great staff and vacationing in this beautiful area where we have the privilege of living.”
Nationwide our National Park Service sites, now 417 strong, counted nearly 331 million recreation visits. Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Rocky Mountain top the lists of National park visitation while Golden Gate, Blue Ridge Parkway and George Washington Memorial Parkway hold records for non-park sites in the system.
For more information about visitation figures throughout the National Park Service, please visit the NPS Social Science web site.
