Cuyahoga Valley 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 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 543,025 | ||
| 1980 | 563,300 | +3.7% | |
| 1981 | 596,300 | +5.9% | |
| 1982 | 717,815 | +20.4% | |
| 1983 | 939,562 | +30.9% | |
| 1984 | 1,018,828 | +8.4% | |
| 1985 | 1,004,858 | -1.4% | |
| 1986 | 1,042,148 | +3.7% | |
| 1987 | 1,113,405 | +6.8% | |
| 1988 | 1,229,717 | +10.4% | |
| 1989 | 1,159,648 | -5.7% | |
| 1990 | 1,200,622 | +3.5% | |
| 1991 | 1,358,984 | +13.2% | |
| 1992 | 1,430,382 | +5.3% | |
| 1993 | 2,266,139 | +58.4% | |
| 1994 | 3,266,401 | +44.1% | |
| 1995 | 3,195,207 | -2.2% | |
| 1996 | 3,455,878 | +8.2% | |
| 1997 | 3,527,837 | +2.1% | |
| 1998 | 3,467,107 | -1.7% | |
| 1999 | 3,324,284 | -4.1% | |
| 2000 | 3,324,918 | +0.0% | |
| 2001 | 3,123,353 | -6.1% | |
| 2002 | 3,217,935 | +3.0% | |
| 2003 | 2,879,591 | -10.5% | |
| 2004 | 3,306,175 | +14.8% | |
| 2005 | 2,533,827 | -23.4% | |
| 2006 | 2,468,816 | -2.6% | |
| 2007 | 2,486,656 | +0.7% | |
| 2008 | 2,828,233 | +13.7% | |
| 2009 | 2,589,288 | -8.4% | |
| 2010 | 2,492,670 | -3.7% | |
| 2011 | 2,161,185 | -13.3% | |
| 2012 | 2,299,722 | +6.4% | |
| 2013 | 2,103,010 | -8.6% | |
| 2014 | 2,189,849 | +4.1% | |
| 2015 | 2,284,612 | +4.3% | |
| 2016 | 2,423,390 | +6.1% | |
| 2017 | 2,226,879 | -8.1% | |
| 2018 | 2,096,053 | -5.9% | |
| 2019 | 2,237,997 | +6.8% | |
| 2020 | 2,755,628 | +23.1% | Pandemic surge to nearby open-air park |
| 2021 | 2,575,275 | -6.5% | |
| 2022 | 2,913,312 | +13.1% | |
| 2023 | 2,860,059 | -1.8% | |
| 2024 | 2,912,454 | +1.8% | |
| 2025 | 3,025,325 | +3.9% | All-time record |
What the trend says
Cuyahoga Valley's annual visits rose sharply across the 1980s and 1990s. Visits jumped from 1.36 million in 1991 to 3.27 million in 1994 while sections of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail were opening, but the annual series cannot assign causation.
The late 1990s held near 3.3-to-3.5 million, with the record at 3.53 million in 1997. The 2000s and 2010s were lower. The October 2000 redesignation falls within the series, but these totals do not identify its independent effect.
The pandemic year 2020 actually grew to 2.76 million as nearby outdoor demand surged. Since then the park has stabilized in a 2.6-to-3.0 million band: 2.58 million in 2021, 2.91 million in 2022, 2.86 million in 2023, 2.91 million in 2024, and 3.03 million in 2025; the first reading above 3 million since 2003 and the highest since 2001. The 47-year mean is roughly 2.23 million; 2025 sits about 800,000 visits above that long-term mean. Read across the full window, the structural story is the 1990s breakout from National Recreation Area to a 3-million plateau, a 2000s-2010s settling-back into the regional day-tripper steady state, and a post-2020 recovery toward and beyond the 3-million line. Year-to-year movement is small, the park's local repeat-day-tripper visitor base makes it more weekday-vs-weekend than season-driven. For seasonal shape (when within the year these visits actually land) see the per-park month-by-month curve on the best-time-to-visit page.
Common questions
How many people visit Cuyahoga Valley each year?
Cuyahoga Valley recorded 3,025,325 recreation visits in 2025, the most recent full year in the official NPS record. Across the full 1979-2025 history the park has averaged about 2,230,000 visits a year.
What is Cuyahoga Valley's busiest year on record?
The busiest year in the 1979-2025 record is 1997, with 3,527,837 recreation visits. The most recent year, 2025, came in at 3,025,325.
Is Cuyahoga Valley visitation increasing?
Cuyahoga Valley visitation moved +3.9% from 2024 to 2025. Over the longer run it is +32.4% versus 2015 (2,284,612 visits), so the recent trend sits well above mid-2010s levels.
What was Cuyahoga Valley's least-visited year?
The lowest reading in the 1979-2025 record is 1979, with 543,025 recreation visits, about 2,482,300 below the 2025 figure.
Methodology
Annual recreation visits come from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025 on NPS IRMA Stats. The statistic shown is Recreation Visits, the NPS visitor-count category that excludes Tent Campers, Backcountry Campers, and Recreation Visit Hours. Annual totals are computed by summing the twelve monthly TRV values for each year. The window displayed here is the full 1979-2025 history available in the dataset. NPS says a 43-day partial federal shutdown affected 2025 visitation statistics; closures, reduced operations, and counting disruption can distort park-level comparisons, especially October. Annual totals describe recorded visits and do not by themselves prove why visitation changed. Independent site, not affiliated with 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.