News Release

325.5 million visits to national parks in 2023, 250,114 visits to Congaree National Park

Date: February 26, 2024
Contact: Jon Manchester, 803-647-3964

HOPKINS, SC – The National Park Service announced last week that 400 parks reported a total of 325.5 million visits in 2023, an increase of 13 million or 4% over 2022.

Congaree National Park was one of 20 National Park Service units to break annual visitation records in 2023, welcoming 250,114 visitors. This is an increase of almost 35,000 more visits than that of the park’s previous record, set in 2021.

One of 429 units managed by the National Park Service, Congaree National Park is located in the heart of South Carolina. The park preserves the diverse natural and cultural history of the largest remaining section of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the nation. Visitors to the park today can experience a wilderness landscape of towering trees and diverse plant and animal life, witness unique phenomenon like synchronous fireflies, and learn about the people who have used this landscape for over 10,000 years.

“I am thrilled that more people are coming to experience what makes Congaree National Park a special and unique place,” said Superintendent Greg Hauburger. “As we approach the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the park in 2026, the sustained upward trend we are seeing in park visitation shows that people continue to seek out and build deep connections to this incredible landscape, learning and experiencing what led advocates fifty years ago to support its preservation as a part of our National Park System.”

Park visitation data shows that more people are visiting the park year-round, rather than seasonally. Over the course of 2023, nine new monthly visitation records were set, with the month of May becoming the most visited month ever for Congaree National Park. The summer months of July through September, which have historically seen some of the lowest visitation, saw a substantial increase in 2023. Driving this increase is the continued interest in annual park events such as the viewing of the synchronized fireflies and the celebration of Juneteenth, along with the availability of engaging interpretive programs led by park rangers and volunteers throughout the year.

Visitation figures and trends guide how the National Park Service manages parks to ensure the best experience possible for park visitors. The Visitation Statistics Dashboard provides statistics on recreational visits for every park in the US for 2023 and previous years. Of the 429 parks in the National Park System, 400 parks counted visitors in 2023.