New York state parks once again broke an attendance record in 2022.
Visits to the state’s 250 parks, historic sites, and recreational trails topped 79.5 million last year, 1 million more than 2021.
Niagara Falls was by far the most popular, with 9.4 million visits.
State park attendance has risen nearly 43 percent since 2008, according to a news release from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office.
New York State Council of Parks Chair Bryan Erwin said the figures were impressive even compared to the federal system.
"To give a sense of the scale of these numbers, these attendance records rival and exceed the attendance for most National Parks," Erwin said in a statement.
The governor proposed $200 million in her budget for next fiscal year that would go toward enhancing the state parks system with infrastructure upgrades and a switch to renewable energy by 2023.
