A record 332 million people visited U.S. national parks in 2024, followed by roughly 323 million in 2025.
That’s a lot of love for national parks and lands. You might think that such big numbers of visitors automatically create windfalls for the towns and businesses that serve them. The National Park Service calls towns or counties within roughly 60 miles (about 100 kilometers) of a park boundary “gateway” communities. Gateway businesses operate in those jurisdictions.
