More than 327 million visited the National Park System in 2019, a number that demonstrated the parks' popularity but overshadowed the threats the parks face/NPS file

Editor's note: This updates with reaction from National Parks and Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno.

More than 327 million visitors descended on the National Park System in 2019, a number that is seen as the third-highest single year tally dating to 1904, yet the head count comes at a time when some parks are overcrowded, National Park Service ranks are depleted, and Congress continues to fail to both adequately address year-to-year funding for the parks and attack the roughly $12 billion maintenance backlog.

While Interior Secretary David Bernhardt heralded the head count of 327.5 million as a tribute to the Trump administration's leadership, the cheering belies the troubles facing both the park system and the Park Service.

* According to Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility, the Park Service has lost 3,500 positions, or 16 percent of its workforce, since 2011;

* The maintenance backlog across the park system continues to be a drag on employee and visitor safety, facilities, and natural resources;

* President Trump's proposed FY21 budget calls for a 17 percent cut in funding for the Park Service, as well as a workforce reduction of nearly 1,000.

Crowding continues to be an issue in some parks. Zion National Park staff in Utah continue a years-long effort to come up with a management plan that protects park resources, improves the visitor experience, and keeps gateway businesses happy. Across the state at Arches National Park, staff went back to the crowd control drawing board after Bernhardt reportedly shot down a reservation plan for the park. In Maine, Acadia National Park will introduce visitors this year to a timed reservation system that gives visitors a specific window to enter the most popular areas of the park. Trying to find a parking space on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park during peak season can be a frustrating challenge.

Shuttle buses have helped ease some of the overcrowding in Rocky Mountain, but the popular Bear Lake Road occasionally is temporarily closed at times during the peak seasons because there are not enough parking spaces for visitors. With steady flows of visitors from Seattle and Tacoma whenever the sky is blue and "the mountain is out" all heading to the Nisqually Entrance on the park's southwestern corner, the growing crowds are turning what might have been an hour or so drive into a multi-hour slog on summer weekends and holidays. While Seattle is two or more hours' drive from Rainier's Nisqually Entrance on good days, getting through the entrance and up to Paradise at times can turn into four-hour treks. 

Climate change also is challenging park staffs to cope with myriad issues, from rising sea levels and more potent storms to unseasonable temperatures and invasive species.

None of those issues were mentioned in Thursday's release from the National Park Service.

“The numbers once again affirm that Americans and visitors from around the world love the natural, cultural and historic experience provided by our nation’s national parks,” said Bernhardt.

“The 419 parks in the national park system provide a vast array of opportunities for recreation and inspiration for visitors of all ages,” added National Park Service Deputy Director David Vela. “With at least one located in every state, national parks offer nearby history, culture and adventure.”

While the release praised Bernhardt's directive last summer that parks expand access to e-bike riders, that policy change has been challenged in court. PEER claims the secretary's directive ignored a number of laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as the National Park Service Organic Act.

The National Parks Conservation Association said Congress must provide the resources to maintain the park system in the face of such visitation.

“Year after year, we are reminded how popular our national parks are and how critical they are to local economies across the country. But while parks are experiencing more visitors than ever before, they are also dealing with a 14 percent loss of staff, a $12 billion maintenance backlog, and the threat of even more funding cuts by the administration’s insulting budget proposal," said Theresa Pierno, NPCA's president and CEO. "It’s unfathomable that we’ve let some of our most iconic national parks, from Acadia to Everglades to Yellowstone, reach this point. This situation is unsustainable and must be addressed before these treasured places suffer from damage they can’t recover from.

“Visitors from around the world come to our national parks expecting a once-in-a-lifetime experience, filled with epic hikes, iconic landscapes and the stories that have shaped our nation’s history," she added in an email to the Traveler. "But more and more, visitors are met with road and trail closure signs, locked buildings and broken bathrooms, and fewer rangers to provide help. These are not the memories we want people to take away from their experience at our parks. This is not how we treat our most treasured places that protect America’s legacy. There are solutions on the table right now with ample bipartisan support that would help fix our parks. Now is the time for Congress to act on these solutions and make substantial investments in our parks’ resources and staff so they can continue to welcome visitors for generations to come.”

Currently pending in Congress is legislation that would provide upwards of $6.5 billion over five years to address the parks' maintenance backlog.

Additional highlights from the Park Service's 2019 visitation report include:

• Visitation in 2019 surpassed 2018 by more than 9 million recreation visits, a 2.9 percent increase. 

• Recreation visitor hours have remained above 1.4 billion over the past four years.

• In the past five years there have been nearly two billion recreation visits to national parks.

• Thirty-three parks set a recreation visitation record in 2019. 

• Fourteen parks broke a record they set in 2018. 

• There were two longstanding records broken in 2019: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, with 432,818 recreation visits, broke a record set in 1976 and Capulin Volcano National Monument broke a 1968 record with 81,617 recreation visits in 2019.

• Golden Gate National Recreation Area remained the most-visited site in the National Park System, ahead of the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

• The third through seventh most-visited sites in 2019 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gateway National Recreation Area, the Lincoln Memorial, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway – retained their 2018 order.

• Visitation to the Natchez Trace Parkway finished just ahead of visitation to Grand Canyon National Park for the eighth most-visited site.

• Gulf Islands National Seashore was number 10.

• Great Smoky Mountains National Park (12.5 million) and Grand Canyon National Park (5.97 million) continue to hold the first and second most-visited national parks in the United States.

• Rocky Mountain National Park held on to third place and set a visitation record at 4.67 million.

•  Zion National Park stayed in fourth place with 4.49 million visits in 2019. 

• Yosemite National Park recovered from a drop in 2018 visitation attributed to wildland fires and moved past Yellowstone National Park for fifth place.

• The remaining spots in the top 15 are Yellowstone, Acadia National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Olympic National Park, Glacier National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Indiana Dunes National Park, and Gateway Arch National Park.

For an in-depth look at 2019 visitation statistics, including individual park figures, please visit the National Park Service Social Science website.

2019 by the numbers

* 327,516,619 recreation visits
* 1,429,969,885 recreation visitor hours
* 13,860,047 overnight stays (recreation + non-recreation)
* Three parks had more than 10 million recreation visits – Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park
* 11 parks had more than five million recreation visits
* 80 parks had more than one million recreation visits (21 percent of reporting parks)
* 25 national parks had more than 1 million recreation visits (40 percent of National Parks)
* 50 percent of total recreation visits occurred in 27 parks (7 percent of all parks in the National Park System)

Top Ten Most Visited National Park Service Sites   

* Golden Gate National Recreation Area 15 million                                  
* Blue Ridge Parkway 14.9 million
* Great Smoky Mountains National Park 12.5 million
* Gateway National Recreation Area 9.4 million    
* Lincoln Memorial 7.8 million  
* George Washington Memorial Parkway 7.5 million  
* Lake Mead National Recreation Area 7.5 million  
* Natchez Trace Parkway 6.3 million
* Grand Canyon National Park 5.97 million 
* Gulf Islands National Seashore 5.6 million  

Top Ten Most Visited National Parks

* Great Smoky Mountains National Park 12.5 million
* Grand Canyon National Park 5.97 million
* Rocky Mountain National Park 4.7 million
* Zion National Park 4.5 million
* Yosemite National Park 4.4 million
* Yellowstone National Park 4 million
* Acadia National Park 3.4 million
* Grand Teton National Park 3.4 million
* Olympic National Park 3.2 million
* Glacier National Park 3 million