Big Bend by the year.
Each point is the park's total recreation visits for that calendar year, drawn from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025 (Statistic = TRV, summed from monthly to annual). The full 1979-2025 history is shown: 47 years. The line traces the long-run shape; the orange dot marks the peak year and the teal dot marks the lowest. The table below carries every year's exact count and its year-over-year change.
| Year | Recreation visits | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 282,941 | |
| 1980 | 174,008 | -38.5% |
| 1981 | 167,332 | -3.8% |
| 1982 | 180,144 | +7.7% |
| 1983 | 164,926 | -8.4% |
| 1984 | 167,665 | +1.7% |
| 1985 | 188,045 | +12.2% |
| 1986 | 200,622 | +6.7% |
| 1987 | 227,921 | +13.6% |
| 1988 | 239,595 | +5.1% |
| 1989 | 281,728 | +17.6% |
| 1990 | 257,378 | -8.6% |
| 1991 | 296,470 | +15.2% |
| 1992 | 294,535 | -0.7% |
| 1993 | 327,907 | +11.3% |
| 1994 | 330,417 | +0.8% |
| 1995 | 295,460 | -10.6% |
| 1996 | 279,454 | -5.4% |
| 1997 | 305,882 | +9.5% |
| 1998 | 338,442 | +10.6% |
| 1999 | 327,649 | -3.2% |
| 2000 | 262,320 | -19.9% |
| 2001 | 328,927 | +25.4% |
| 2002 | 327,747 | -0.4% |
| 2003 | 312,384 | -4.7% |
| 2004 | 357,723 | +14.5% |
| 2005 | 398,583 | +11.4% |
| 2006 | 298,717 | -25.1% |
| 2007 | 364,856 | +22.1% |
| 2008 | 362,512 | -0.6% |
| 2009 | 363,905 | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 372,330 | +2.3% |
| 2011 | 361,862 | -2.8% |
| 2012 | 292,055 | -19.3% |
| 2013 | 316,953 | +8.5% |
| 2014 | 314,102 | -0.9% |
| 2015 | 381,747 | +21.5% |
| 2016 | 388,290 | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 440,276 | +13.4% |
| 2018 | 440,091 | -0.0% |
| 2019 | 463,832 | +5.4% |
| 2020 | 393,907 | -15.1% |
| 2021 | 581,220 | +47.6% |
| 2022 | 514,107 | -11.5% |
| 2023 | 509,129 | -1.0% |
| 2024 | 561,458 | +10.3% |
| 2025 | 568,104 | +1.2% |
What the trend says
2025 sits close to the series high. Its 568,104 visits are 2.3% below the 2021 maximum of 581,220. The latest year is up 1.2% from 2024.
The longer comparison is larger than the latest annual change. Big Bend recorded 381,747 visits in 2015. The 2025 total is 48.8% higher. This compares two endpoints; it does not imply that every intervening year moved in the same direction.
Check individual years before describing a trend. Counts were 514,107 in 2022, 509,129 in 2023 and 561,458 in 2024. The table preserves those changes instead of reducing the history to a single growth rate.
Common questions
How many visits did Big Bend record in 2025?
568,104 recreation visits, compared with 561,458 in 2024. A person who visits more than once is not counted as one unique visitor.
Was 2021 Big Bend's record visitation year?
Yes, in the 1979–2025 dataset. It recorded 581,220 recreation visits, the highest total in this series.
Can annual visitation show when to visit Big Bend?
It cannot identify the quietest month or a suitable hiking season. See the crowd calendar for monthly counts and the best-time guide for seasonal choices.
How the annual totals are calculated
Each total sums twelve monthly TRV (recreation visit) values for reporting unit BIBE in the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025. The table covers 1979–2025; these are visits, not unique visitors or visitor spending.
The NPS park statistics webpage reports different totals for some years. This table consistently uses the 2025 Visitor Use Statistics Data Package.
Historical reporting practices and boundaries may differ. The numbers show recorded changes but do not isolate their causes, and the dataset maximum makes no claim about years before this series. We are independent of the National Park Service.
Independent site. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Data comes from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025; editorial analysis is ours. The NPS Arrowhead and other NPS marks are not used.