Discover the Surprising National Parks That Are Driving Tourists to Spend Big Bucks—Can You Guess Which Made the Top?
Think national parks are just about fresh air, squirrel sightings, and the occasional selfie with a mountain goat? Think again! While many parks don’t charge an arm and a leg for admission—sometimes they’re even totally free—they’re secretly pulling off a hustle that boosts the local economy big time. How? By reeling in visitors who then spend money like it’s water in the neighboring towns. From gas stations to souvenir shops, these gateway communities thrive thanks to the foot traffic, turning nature lovers into economic lifelines. Intrigued where the real cash is flowing? Spoiler alert: it’s not just in the parks themselves. Dive deeper and see which parks are raking in the big bucks in 2023—because it pays to be where the action is, literally. LEARN MORE.
While many attractions within the National Park Service’s domain charge either no fee or a modest ticket price, they can generate a substantial amount of money beyond admission. How? By luring visitors who then bolster the local economy surrounding the park.
The data hub USAFacts used information sourced from the NPS in 2023 [PDF] to assess which parks give the biggest financial boost to the communities that contain or sit adjacent to them. The NPS calls these “gateway regions,” a nod to their proximity to the parks and the need for tourists to pass through them while visiting. These communities are typically within a 60-mile radius of the parks.
All told, roughly $26.4 billion was generated by national park guests in 2023. Here’s where they spent the most:
The Top 10 National Parks By Guest Spending
