State Parks Saw a Record Number of Visitors in 2018

New York's state parks, historic sites, campgrounds, and trails welcomed a record-breaking number of visitors in 2018.

An estimated 74 million people visited states parks and historic sites in 2018. This milestone marks seven years of steady visitor growth and represents an overall increase of 28 percent since 2011.

"State Parks are at the heart of New York's tourism economy, attracting visitors from all over the world to discover the history and explore the beauty of our great state," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. "Through the Parks 2020 initiative and other major investments to preserve and modernize our parks, campgrounds, and historic sites, we continue to re-energize our parks, campgrounds, and historic sites, we continue to re-energize local economies and families to experience the unparalleled recreation opportunities that are available in New York."

New York State parks saw a 4 percent increase in visitation from the prior year. Parks also attracted new visitors with the convenience of a family-sharing Empire Pass Card option.

Rather than the traditional window decal, the new wallet-sized card is not assigned to a specific vehicle and can be used by parents, grandparents, caregivers and others.

State Parks sold 102,000 Empire Pass Cards in 2018.

Listen to Smitty in the Afternoon weekdays from 2PM to 7PM on 101.5 WPDH. Stream us live through the website, Alexa-enabled device, Google Home or the WPDH mobile app.