Visitation Down 15.7% in 2011 for Glacier National Park

The number of visitors to Glacier National Park dropped 15.7% in 2011 when compared to the prior year. The biggest decline was recorded at the St. Mary Entrance where visitor counts plummeted by nearly 42% versus 2010.

These numbers, however, shouldn't cause much alarm. The 2010 figures were inflated due to the park celebrating its 100th anniversary. The park nearly set a record that year, only 3800 visitors shy of the record set in 1983 when 2,203,847 paid a visit to Glacier.

A closer look at 2011 shows that the 1,853,564 visitors is very much in-line with park visitation trends since the mid-1980s:



As a reflection of the 100th anniversary dynamic, tent overnight stay dropped 5.8%, and backcountry overnight stays dropped 16.2%


Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com