STATISTICS / 2026
Outdoor recreation statistics 2026
Federal land agencies now publish one fiscal-year visit table. Keep each agency on its own line. They do not count visits the same way.
Updated .
From np.guide
np.guide maps food, water, toilets, fuel, and phone signal at 95 places in 10 parks. 90 of those 95 places have weak, limited, or no signal. Sample: 95 mapped places.
Visits by agency, fiscal 2024
A visit is one entry by one person onto federal land or water for recreation. Source: Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation, FY 2024 report (June 2026).
- National Park Service, 332,635,237 visits
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 260,477,042
- U.S. Forest Service, 164,169,098
- Bureau of Land Management, 80,760,858
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 70,697,349
- Bureau of Reclamation, 38,771,919
NOAA did not report a total. It only counts some visitor-center use.
The NPS fiscal-year total (332,635,237) is not the same as the NPS calendar-year 2024 total (331,863,358). Quote the period with the number. Calendar-year source: NPS Statistical Abstract 2024.
The June 2026 report says fiscal 2025 was still being checked and fiscal 2026 was still being collected.
National recreation areas
National Park Service recreation areas had 48,964,586 recreation visits in calendar 2025. Source: IRMA Annual Visitation Summary 2025.
The three busiest recreation areas in 2025 were Golden Gate (15,748,676), Gateway (7,696,939), and Lake Mead (6,135,586). Source: National Park Service, 13 March 2026.
In 2024, national recreation areas had 53,038,506 visits, 16% of the National Park System. Source: NPS Statistical Abstract 2024.
Who goes outside
183.2 million Americans ages 6 and older did outdoor recreation in 2025. That is 59% of that age group, up 1.1% from the year before. Source: Outdoor Foundation, 2026 Participation Trends Report.
The average participant took five fewer outings in a year than in 2019. Source: same report.
People 65 and older added 800,000 participants in one year. Children ages 6 to 12 reached 22.6 million, up 5%. Source: same report.
Outdoor economy
Outdoor recreation supported $1.2 trillion in economic output and 5 million jobs in 2023. That was 2.3% of U.S. GDP. Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account 2023, cited in the FY 2024 interagency report.
Park-specific spending is on the national park statistics page. Those dollars are visitor spending near NPS sites, not the whole outdoor economy.