Year-Round Recreation Drives Record Breaking Visitation at State Parks

HELENA – Montana State Parks (stateparks.mt.gov) continues to see record-breaking visitation in 2016 due to increasing year-round recreation.

 According to the latest visitation estimates, Montana State Parks has set a record for visitation during June 2016. More than 422,000 people visited Montana’s state parks last month, which was 28,000 more than 2015 and the highest all-time for the month of June.

Montana State Parks has also seen record year-to-date park attendance. Overall, visitation is up 23 percent for the year with nearly 1.3 million visits from January to June, compared to just over 1 million visits at this point in 2015; an increase of 238,000 visits.

“We are excited to have increases in visitation at our parks for the fifth year in row” said Melissa Baker, Assistant Administrator and Chief of Operations for Montana State Parks. “It’s clear that Montanans value public lands and outdoor recreation and we are proud to be an integral part of Montana’s outdoor lifestyle and recreation economy.  The continued increase in visitation is evidence that Montana State Parks staff and volunteers consistently go the extra mile to provide great recreational experiences and high quality customer service to our visitors.” 

Montana’s state parks have become a destination for year-round recreation across the state, especially at parks that are close to major population centers. As sites grow busier earlier in the year, months that have historically seen lower visitation are experiencing large increases. In 2016, visitation surpassed 100,000 monthly visits in February, a milestone reached in April in previous years.