Uptick in visitors to North Carolina's national and state parks is a 'mixed bag'

The National Park Service has released a new report showing visitors to national parks in North Carolina grew to nearly 21 million last year, contributing $4.1 billion to the state's economy. That’s a 5% bump from the previous year and good news for workers: Visitor spending at the Tar Heel state’s 10 national parks supports more than 38,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, state park visits were up in 2023 as well, and by similar margins. Piedmont Triad Visitor Center Manager Hosanna Pennell sees the positive economic impacts. But she says overall it’s a "mixed bag."

"I’ve been to a few national parks in recent years," says Pennell. "They are so crowded all the time. They’re just overrun, and it can actually be like a negative or a downside to all the tourism boom is that they’re just stressed out."

Pennell adds that in some cases the additional tourist traffic is not great for the environment.

She attributes the rising numbers to people rediscovering their love of nature in the wake of COVID-era lockdowns, and social media influencers who visit the parks, take spectacular staged selfies and share them with millions of followers in search of their own viral photographs.