Trends in National Park Overnight Stays
National park overnight stay totals have not fully recovered to pre-pandemic highs
Sources: Dunhill Travel Deals analysis of National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics data
Overnight stays at U.S. national parks have not yet returned to their pre-pandemic high. Across the nation's 63 national parks, visitors logged about 9.7 million overnight stays in 2025, down 1.8% from 9.9 million in 2019 and 10.6% below the recent peak of 10.8 million in 2016. The sharpest disruption came in 2020, when overnight stays fell to less than 5.3 million as the COVID-19 pandemic prompted widespread travel restrictions, temporary park closures and reduced lodging capacity. Since then, overnight visitation has steadily recovered, climbing to 8.8 million stays in 2021 and reaching 9.7 million in 2025. With overnight demand remaining below pre-pandemic levels, travelers may find it easier to secure accommodations at some parks than during the record-setting visitation years of the late 2010s.
Not all overnight accommodations followed the same trajectory. While overall visitation declined sharply during the pandemic, park-run RV camping remained a relatively resilient option, maintaining a consistent share of overnight stays throughout the period. That stability mirrors broader travel trends during the pandemic, when many travelers turned to RVs as a way to vacation while limiting close contact with others and avoiding traditional hotels or air travel. Self-contained RVs allowed visitors to maintain physical distance and enjoy relative comfort while still accessing public lands, helping sustain demand for RV camping even as other forms of travel faced greater disruption.
As featured on
