Visitation at Colorado state parks continues to dip after record years
Visitation to Colorado’s state parks continues to dip after record years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife reports 17.8 million people went to the parks in 2023. According to data provided, that’s a 9% drop from the record year of 2020, when closer to 19.5 million visitors were counted across the parks. The data show about 19.3 million visited in 2021.
That surge came at a time when people flocked outdoors for fun and peace at a time of lockdowns, entertainment closures and changed work schedules. CPW noted a shift back to “normal” in 2022, when 18.1 million were tallied across the state parks.
Visitation remains up from pre-pandemic numbers, an agency statement pointed out. In 2019, CPW reported close to 15 million visitors to the parks.
“The funding from the Keep Colorado Wild Pass will allow CPW to keep up with the park maintenance and staff required for such heavy use,” read that statement.
The Keep Colorado Wild Pass debuted last year — an optional $29 add-on to vehicle registration that grants annual entry to the parks. CPW officials marked the roll-out a success exceeding conservative expectations: a 30% buy-in was reported, spelling about $41 million in revenue.
That $29 pass represents a big discount on a traditional annual pass, which CPW has sold closer to $80 in recent years. The agency expressed hope that the cheaper option would keep park visitation up.
The year-to-year dip of less than 2% suggests “visitation has mostly stayed steady since the pass became available,” said CPW’s statement. “This is a good thing. It means we’ve been able to increase funding without overburdening our state parks.”
The most popular remains Lake Pueblo, which recorded 2.9 million visitors last year, down from 3.5 million the year prior. The next-most visited state park was Chatfield, which logged 2.1 million in 2023, reportedly up about 9% from the year prior.
Visitation along the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (close to 1.2 million) was also slightly up year-to-year, while CPW’s other major hubs saw decreases: Cherry Creek State Park at 1.9 million (down 15%) and Golden Gate Canyon at 1.3 million (down about 3%).
In CPW’s northeast region including the Denver area, other decreases were noted at Roxborough State Park (about 177,286 last year, down 9%) and Castlewood Canyon (173,858, down 5%). Increases were logged at Staunton State Park (267,156, up about 7%) and Eldorado Canyon (461,203 last year, up about 9,000 people).
It was a mixed bag for the CPW region comprising the state’s second-biggest metro area. In Colorado Springs, Cheyenne Mountain State Park’s reported 188,102 visitors last year were down about 10,000 from 2022. Farther afield at Mueller State Park (126,056), close to extra 2,000 were counted year-to-year.
Down Interstate 25, Trinidad saw more park-goers at Trinidad Lake (218,086, up about 3,000 from 2022) and along the new trail system at Fishers Peak (9,977 compared to closer to 6,000 the year prior).
The southwest region’s state parks reported some significant increases year-to-year.
That included Crawford State Park, the Delta County reservoir that reported 72% more people in 2023 (249,947). With a recorded 614,358 visitors last year, visitation at another lake, Ridgway State Park, was up 48% from 2022.
“As with anything regarding park visitation, multiple factors are likely in play,” said a CPW spokesperson for the region, John Livingston.
Compared with the drought year prior, both Crawford and Ridgway benefited from a runoff “that led to a better and longer boating season,” he said. And he said both likely took on boaters who avoided Highline Lake with the discovery of zebra mussels there.
Crawford opened a renovated campground, Livingston added, while Ridgway installed new and improved counters to help with visitation reporting.
Counters contribute to visitation data that CPW calls an approximation across parks, also based on pass sales and vehicle tallies.
A hiker makes his way to the end of the trail at Arkansas Point for a view of Lake Pueblo below on July 22, 2021.
