Visitation in Rocky Mountain National Park - 2017

The American Alpine Institute just received the following email from Rocky Mountain National Park:

Rocky Mountain National Park received 4,437,214 visitors in 2017. This was down slightly, 1.8 percent, from the park’s highest annual visitation in 2016, which was 4,517,584 visitors. This continues to represent a 40 percent increase in visitation since 2012. 

Determining visitation is a difficult and imprecise effort. Visitation statistics are reliably accurate estimates and help park managers see overall trends. Weather, especially during May and October, can change annual visitation significantly. The top ten busiest days in 2017 in order from first to tenth were: July 3, September 3, July 2, September 30, July 1, July 15, July 22, July 23, August 4 and September 2.

Rocky Mountain National Park celebrated its Centennial in 2015 followed by the National Park Service Centennial in 2016. Additional factors of the rise in visitation at Rocky include an increased population along the Front Range of Colorado.

Park managers will continue to address what effect this level of visitation is having on visitor and staff safety, resource protection, visitor experiences and operational capacity. This past summer and early fall, park staff continued to restrict vehicle access in three specific areas, the Bear Lake Road corridor, the Wild Basin area and the Alpine Visitor Center, when parking areas filled and heavy congestion warranted. This occurred from late June through September of 2017. These actions will again take place in 2018. Park staff are continuing to address day use for the long term and will be engaging stakeholders and the public on this planning effort later this year. 

For more information about Rocky Mountain National Park please visit www.nps.gov/romo or call the park’s Information Office at (970) 586-1206.

--NPS---