Outdoor Recreation Impact

State Parks Visitation

Published April 7th, 2025

Developed by the Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative (ESRGC) in collaboration with the Mid-Shore Regional Council and the Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, this interactive dashboard provides an in-depth look at visitation trends across Maryland’s state parks.

Using data from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the dashboard offers dynamic insights into annual, monthly, and daily visitation patterns, as well as trends in camping and cabin use. It features an interactive map visualizing visitation hotspots, charts tracking multi-year visitation fluctuations, and capacity closure metrics to highlight peak usage periods.

Users can explore key statistics, such as:

Total park visitation by year, month, and day of the week
Breakdown of visitation types, including day use, camping, and cabin stays
Historical trends in park closures due to capacity limits
Comparison of visitation across multiple years

This dashboard is a valuable resource for policymakers, tourism professionals, and outdoor recreation enthusiasts seeking to understand and plan for the economic and social impact of Maryland’s state parks.

Data

Source: Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Geography: State, county and park level views
Industry: Tourism
Data Freshness: Data is refreshed annually to reflect the most current information from the source.

Partners
This dashboard, developed by the developed by the ESRGC in partnership with the Mid-Shore Regional Council and the Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, provides a powerful way to explore the impact of outdoor recreation and tourism in the state.