News Release

Outer Banks national park sites experience high and record visitor levels during first six months of 2021

Date: July 22, 2021
Contact: Michael Barber, 252-423-0195

MANTEO, N.C. — Over the first six months of 2021, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial experienced some of the highest levels of visitation ever recorded.

At Cape Hatteras National Seashore, visitation totals for January-June 2021 were 26% higher than the first six months of 2002, the year that currently has the distinction as being the busiest year on record.

Visitation totals through the first half of 2021 were the fourth highest ever at Wright Brothers National Memorial and the seventh highest at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.
 

Visitation Statistics (Jan.-June 2021)

Month	Cape Hatteras NS	Fort Raleigh NHS	Wright Brothers NMEM
January	86,991*	4,447	10,949*
February	78,269*	3,340	7,995
March	169,278	14,752*	27,307
April	254,366	24,388*	51,280
May	316,898	38,667	57,065
June	447,760*	56,080	67,723
------------	---------------------	---------------------	------------------------------
Total Visitation	1,353,562	141,674	222,319
% Increase Over 2019	19%	21%	22%
Visit Increase Over 2019	219,196	26,640	40,656

*Highest level of visitation for the month