Last week, the National Park Service announced that 400 national parks reported a total of 325.5 million visits in 2023, an increase of 13 million or 4% over 2022. At White[...]

Date:
February 26, 2024
Contact:Brian Powers, 575-479-6124 ext 230

ALAMOGORDO - Last week, the National Park Service announced that 400 national parks reported a total of 325.5 million visits in 2023, an increase of 13 million or 4% over 2022.

At White Sands National Park, visitation numbers increased nearly 23,000 or 3% over 2022. The 729,096 visits in 2023 mark the park's second highest visitation on record. The park's highest visitation on record was in 2021, with 782,469 visits.

"I'm proud that White Sands National Park continues to be New Mexico's most visited national park," said Superintendent Marie Frias Sauter, "as we strive to appeal to a variety of visitors with a variety of backgrounds, interests, and abilities. We appreciate that our neighboring communities provide needed services, such as overnight accommodations, meals, fuel, and offer recreational and educational opportunities to our visitors."

One of 429 units managed by the National Park Service, White Sands preserves a major portion of the world's largest gypsum dunefield along with the plants and animals that call the park home. Visitors to the park can experience this awe-inspiring landscape which offers distinctive opportunities to hike barefoot on moist and cool sands, sand sled year-round, and learn about the park's vast natural and cultural history.

The park saw over 60,000 visitors per month from March through July with March being the busiest month with 101,402 visitors. If you prefer smaller crowds, but generally pleasant weather, White Sands recommends visiting in September, October, and early November. Whenever you choose to visit White Sands the key to an incredible experience is always planning ahead and being prepared.

Visitation figures and trends guide how the National Park Service manages parks to ensure the best experience possible for park visitors. The Visitation Statistics Dashboard provides recreational visit statistics for every park in the US for 2023 and also for previous years, dating back to 1979 for some parks. There are 429 parks in the National Park System, and 400 parks counted visitors in 2023. For the first time, there are now parks reporting their visitation numbers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four US territories. Five national parks began reporting in 2023, and this is the first year a park from Delaware is included.

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