A new report from the National Park Service and the US Geological Survey shows the Great Smoky Mountains National Park keeps its place as the most visited national park in the US, with more than 9,350,000 visitors last year.
Last year, visitors to the GSMNP spent more than $734 million. That’s down slightly from 2012 and the report cited October’s 16-day government shutdown for that decline.
Visitors to the state’s other national parks spent more than $530 million last year. Those parks are Shiloh National Military Park, Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Fort Donelson National Battlefield, Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, and Stones River National Battlefield.
Nationwide, there were more than 273 million national park visitors, with more than $14 billion in direct spending in communities within 60 miles of a national park. Overall, park visitor spending supported more than 197,000 jobs in neighboring park communities and added $26.5 billion to the U.S. economy.
