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EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — National parks are attracting fewer visitors in many places around the country, but not Oregon.
Lewis and Clark National Historic Park just outside Astoria saw attendance jump more than 26 percent from 1995 to 2005.
Nationally, by comparison, park attendance has declined by about 20 percent in the past decade, officials say.
The increase at the park in Astoria coincided with a flurry of films, books and interest in the bicentennial of the Corps of Discovery expedition by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, said Jill Harding, chief of visitor services at the park.
At Crater Lake National Park, attendance figures have held steady in the past decade, hovering around 450,000 total annual visits.
“It’s a very traditional spot that people come back to on a regular basis,” said Michael Justin, Crater Lake spokesman, noting that the park is a popular destination for Oregon residents.
At John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, visitor numbers are down 2.4 percent over the past decade but up 26 percent since 2001.
Those who track the statistics blame the national downturn on some long-term trends.
People’s travel habits are different than they were 20 years ago, said Jim Gramann, chief social scientist for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C.
People are taking shorter vacations and traveling shorter distances by car, he said.
“The older two-week vacation by car, stopping at national parks along the way, isn’t as common as it once was,” Gramann said. A three-day, closer-to-home outing is typical.
And there are more leisure options for people than there were 20 years ago, more theme parks, more casinos and more cruise ships. “We have a lot more choices of things to do,” Gramann said.
Those trends hurt some parks, but help others. The increase in cruise ship visits to Alaska is driving up attendance at Denali and Klondike national parks, he said.
Las Vegas, the fastest-growing metropolitan area of the country, is responsible for an increase in visits to nearby Zion National Park, he said.
In Oregon, gas prices and weather have a big impact, said Chris Havel, spokesman for the state Parks and Recreation Department.
Besides the national parks, 233 state parks are getting plenty of use. Attendance at the state parks has increased by 17 percent in the past decade, Havel said.
Part of that increase is a result of population growth. But some comes from improvements to the parks, thanks to lottery funds that have added enhancements such as more electrical outlets, running water and dump stations for recreational vehicles, Havel said.
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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
Lewis and Clark National Historic Park just outside Astoria saw attendance jump more than 26 percent from 1995 to 2005.
Nationally, by comparison, park attendance has declined by about 20 percent in the past decade, officials say.
The increase at the park in Astoria coincided with a flurry of films, books and interest in the bicentennial of the Corps of Discovery expedition by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, said Jill Harding, chief of visitor services at the park.
At Crater Lake National Park, attendance figures have held steady in the past decade, hovering around 450,000 total annual visits.
“It’s a very traditional spot that people come back to on a regular basis,” said Michael Justin, Crater Lake spokesman, noting that the park is a popular destination for Oregon residents.
At John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, visitor numbers are down 2.4 percent over the past decade but up 26 percent since 2001.
Those who track the statistics blame the national downturn on some long-term trends.
People’s travel habits are different than they were 20 years ago, said Jim Gramann, chief social scientist for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C.
People are taking shorter vacations and traveling shorter distances by car, he said.
“The older two-week vacation by car, stopping at national parks along the way, isn’t as common as it once was,” Gramann said. A three-day, closer-to-home outing is typical.
And there are more leisure options for people than there were 20 years ago, more theme parks, more casinos and more cruise ships. “We have a lot more choices of things to do,” Gramann said.
Those trends hurt some parks, but help others. The increase in cruise ship visits to Alaska is driving up attendance at Denali and Klondike national parks, he said.
Las Vegas, the fastest-growing metropolitan area of the country, is responsible for an increase in visits to nearby Zion National Park, he said.
In Oregon, gas prices and weather have a big impact, said Chris Havel, spokesman for the state Parks and Recreation Department.
Besides the national parks, 233 state parks are getting plenty of use. Attendance at the state parks has increased by 17 percent in the past decade, Havel said.
Part of that increase is a result of population growth. But some comes from improvements to the parks, thanks to lottery funds that have added enhancements such as more electrical outlets, running water and dump stations for recreational vehicles, Havel said.
———
Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com
