News Release

325.5 million visits to national parks in 2023, 2.43 million visits at Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Visitors await the start of the evening program in the amphitheater.

NPS Photo

News Release Date: February 27, 2024

Contact: Earl Perez-Foust, [phone]

KEYSTONE, SD –– Today, the National Park Service announced that 400 national parks reported a total of 325.5 million visitors in 2023, an increase of over 13 million or 4% over 2022. 

At Mount Rushmore National Memorial, the park continues to see visitation in excess of pre-pandemic levels. Due to a scheduled bridge replacement project to improve highway safety, 2023 visitation decreased by approximately 9,000 visitors (0.37%). "Every year, the Memorial invites millions of visitors to enjoy the wonderful and memorable experiences that have drawn people to the Black Hills of South Dakota for generations," said Superintendent Wheatley, "we look forward to continuing to support tourism in partnership with the State of South Dakota and all of our gateway communities."

Highlights from Mount Rushmore National Memorial's visitation report:

• July was the busiest month with 624,615 visits;

• Over 63,000 visits occurred during Independence Day July 3rd and July 4th celebrations;

• May was the busiest recorded May in the park's history;

• Total visitation exceeds the combined population of South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wyoming. 

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 recreational visit statistics for every park in the US for 2023 and also for previous years, dating back to 1979 for some parks. There are 429 parks in the National Park System, and 400 parks counted visitors in 2023. For the first time, there are now parks reporting their visitation numbers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four US territories. Five national parks began reporting in 2023, and this is the first year a park from Delaware is included.

www.nps.gov

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 429 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.