Courtesy of RVBusiness.com
Yosemite National Park recorded more than 4 million visitors in 2010, marking the highest number in the past 14 years and building on a steady increase of visitors over the past four years, according to a news release.
Yosemite received 4,047,880 visitors in 2010, up from 3,866,970 visitors in 2009 and 3,561,656 in 2008. The park achieved the highest level of visitation in 1996 with 4,190,557 visitors. Visitation to Yosemite National Park first hit the 1 million mark in 1954, 2 million visitors for the first time in 1967 and 3 million visitors in 1987.
Among the trends, an estimated 23% of visitors to Mariposa County were international, an increase from 19% in the previous year.
“We’re elated of the news that after many years Yosemite National Park has exceeded 4 million visitors in 2010,” said Jeffrey Hentz, executive director of the Yosemite/Mariposa County Tourism Bureau. “This milestone is a direct reflection of the incredible cooperation between the Yosemite/Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, the National Park Service, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, Inc., a concessioner for Yosemite and our regional Tourism Bureau marketing partners including Tuolumne County Tourism Bureau, Mono County Tourism and the Yosemite Sierra Oakhurst Tourism Bureau.
“Together the communication of the brand message to consumers worldwide of what a special and diverse vacation experience Yosemite and surrounding Gateways provide has proved successful,” added Hentz. “While the tourism inbound market remains sluggish and will into 2011, I am bullish that with continued cooperation and target messaging our region will provide the opportunity for increased visitation to Yosemite National Park in the years to come.”
“We’re pleased to see the increase of visitors to Yosemite National Park, a place like no other in the United States or the world,” said Scott Gediman, assistant superintendent for public and legislative affairs. “We’re also pleased to see people visiting and enjoying Yosemite National Park year round. People are discovering that the park is spectacular during all four seasons and there are activities for everybody during the entire year.”
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Rob
@Carl-
Yosemite is a VERY crowded area, and great for all kinds of camping. However, like most high traffic areas, to get the good camping, you need to reserve far in advance. If you are looking for a spot to park the RV a few weeks before when you want to be there, you’re going to be in trouble. For a nice spot, be looking 6 months – 1 year in advance.
I don’t really think its the park services fault that so many people want to camp there. I’m honestly glad they don’t make a bunch of new campground there, it is crowded enough during the summers already.
So to Rick and Carol- I would highly recommend a trip to Yosemite, last time I was there (4 years ago) it was amazing, something you don’t want to miss. There are a couple nice campgrounds that (at least in 2007) had some nice accommodations considering they are state run parks. Just be sure to get your reservations 6 months to a year in advance!
-Rob
Rick & Carol Thomas
This comment was most interesting.
We have a 36′ Class A Motorhome plus toad and were actually considering a visit to this beatiful park.
However with the comments made by Carl, it’s obvious we would be wasting our time.
Shame on the National Parks System for excluding a very large selection of would be visitors (along with the dollars they would bring) to your area.
Carl
This is interesting, as I am not sure where the park is putting everyone.
I have not been to the valley in over a decade as getting a camping spot is nearly impossible since the park has chosen to not rebuild a couple of campgrounds after the floods in the late 1990s.
We did manage to get a spot in Tuolumne Meadows in 2008, but this campground is so run down, we could hardly get our SMALL Class C motor home into it with damage to the undercarriage and more.
I love Yosemite (with many family memories as a child), but it seems to be a park either for the elite who can afford expensive housing or those who can rough it (which with my autistic son is out of the question), not for the masses in the middle such as my family.
To me Yosemite is a clear example of how the National Park System has lost its mission of both protecting AND allow visitation by ALL.