North Cascades 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 | 742,997 | |
| 1980 | 796,079 | +7.1% |
| 1981 | 829,026 | +4.1% |
| 1982 | 857,016 | +3.4% |
| 1983 | 858,041 | +0.1% |
| 1984 | 637,836 | -25.7% |
| 1985 | 629,234 | -1.3% |
| 1986 | 683,056 | +8.6% |
| 1987 | 651,606 | -4.6% |
| 1988 | 605,967 | -7.0% |
| 1989 | 391,433 | -35.4% |
| 1990 | 456,444 | +16.6% |
| 1991 | 22,796 | -95.0% |
| 1992 | 20,295 | -11.0% |
| 1993 | 21,378 | +5.3% |
| 1994 | 19,323 | -9.6% |
| 1995 | 65,984 | +241.5% |
| 1996 | 27,910 | -57.7% |
| 1997 | 27,203 | -2.5% |
| 1998 | 32,753 | +20.4% |
| 1999 | 21,488 | -34.4% |
| 2000 | 25,704 | +19.6% |
| 2001 | 27,739 | +7.9% |
| 2002 | 20,691 | -25.4% |
| 2003 | 20,724 | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 16,912 | -18.4% |
| 2005 | 18,686 | +10.5% |
| 2006 | 19,167 | +2.6% |
| 2007 | 19,534 | +1.9% |
| 2008 | 18,725 | -4.1% |
| 2009 | 26,972 | +44.0% |
| 2010 | 24,659 | -8.6% |
| 2011 | 19,208 | -22.1% |
| 2012 | 26,935 | +40.2% |
| 2013 | 21,623 | -19.7% |
| 2014 | 23,865 | +10.4% |
| 2015 | 20,677 | -13.4% |
| 2016 | 28,646 | +38.5% |
| 2017 | 30,326 | +5.9% |
| 2018 | 30,085 | -0.8% |
| 2019 | 38,208 | +27.0% |
| 2020 | 30,885 | -19.2% |
| 2021 | 17,855 | -42.2% |
| 2022 | 30,154 | +68.9% |
| 2023 | 40,351 | +33.8% |
| 2024 | 16,485 | -59.1% |
| 2025 | 46,925 | +184.7% |
What the trend says
Compare the latest increase with more than one year. 2025's 46,925 visits are up 184.7% from 2024, and 16.3% above 2023's 40,351. The large one-year percentage partly reflects the smaller comparison total.
Check the ten-year comparison too. The latest total is 126.9% above 2015's 20,677. These are changes in recorded national-park visits, not a measure of growth in all traffic through the complex.
The historical maximum needs context. 1983's 858,041 is the largest number in the displayed series. It precedes the sharp 1991 discontinuity. We have not verified the cause of that break, so the record is not a clean comparison of visitor demand across eras.
Common questions
How many visits did North Cascades record in 2025?
46,925 recreation visits, up 184.7% from 16,485 in 2024. This is the national park reporting unit, not the whole North Cascades complex.
What was North Cascades National Park's busiest recorded year?
1983 has the highest total in this 1979–2025 series, with 858,041 recreation visits. That predates a sharp 1991 discontinuity whose cause we have not verified. Treat it as a recorded maximum, not proof of greater comparable demand.
Why do these totals seem small compared with busy highway stops?
National-park counts do not include the separate Ross Lake and Lake Chelan recreation areas. They do not measure all Highway 20 traffic or Diablo Lake parking pressure, so those busy places cannot be judged from this total.
How the annual totals are calculated
Each year sums twelve monthly TRV (recreation visit) values for reporting unit NOCA in the NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025. The series covers 1979–2025. The original values are preserved, including the 1991 discontinuity.
Visits are not unique people, highway traffic or visitor spending. The source totals alone do not explain annual changes. Ross Lake and Lake Chelan recreation areas have separate reporting units; no complex-wide total is calculated here. 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.