State parks and recreation areas welcomed 19.8 million visitors in 2020 which is 400,000 more than any other year on record and 1.2 million more visitors than in 2019. The previous record for visitation was set in 2017 when the parks welcomed 19.4 million visitors.

“As we came together to face the pandemic, our state parks became a comfort in a time of isolation,” Gov. Roy Cooper said. “The records set in park visitation show that our outdoor spaces hold even greater value than we could have imagined before the challenges of the last year.”