Zion 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 | 1,040,528 | ||
| 1980 | 1,123,846 | +8.0% | |
| 1981 | 1,288,808 | +14.7% | |
| 1982 | 1,246,290 | -3.3% | |
| 1983 | 1,273,030 | +2.1% | |
| 1984 | 1,377,254 | +8.2% | |
| 1985 | 1,503,272 | +9.1% | |
| 1986 | 1,670,503 | +11.1% | |
| 1987 | 1,777,619 | +6.4% | |
| 1988 | 1,948,332 | +9.6% | |
| 1989 | 1,998,856 | +2.6% | |
| 1990 | 2,102,400 | +5.2% | |
| 1991 | 2,236,997 | +6.4% | |
| 1992 | 2,390,626 | +6.9% | |
| 1993 | 2,392,580 | +0.1% | |
| 1994 | 2,270,871 | -5.1% | |
| 1995 | 2,430,162 | +7.0% | |
| 1996 | 2,498,001 | +2.8% | |
| 1997 | 2,445,534 | -2.1% | |
| 1998 | 2,370,048 | -3.1% | |
| 1999 | 2,449,664 | +3.4% | |
| 2000 | 2,432,348 | -0.7% | |
| 2001 | 2,217,779 | -8.8% | |
| 2002 | 2,592,545 | +16.9% | |
| 2003 | 2,458,792 | -5.2% | |
| 2004 | 2,677,342 | +8.9% | |
| 2005 | 2,586,665 | -3.4% | |
| 2006 | 2,567,350 | -0.7% | |
| 2007 | 2,657,281 | +3.5% | |
| 2008 | 2,690,154 | +1.2% | |
| 2009 | 2,735,402 | +1.7% | |
| 2010 | 2,665,972 | -2.5% | |
| 2011 | 2,825,505 | +6.0% | |
| 2012 | 2,973,607 | +5.2% | |
| 2013 | 2,807,387 | -5.6% | |
| 2014 | 3,189,696 | +13.6% | |
| 2015 | 3,648,846 | +14.4% | |
| 2016 | 4,295,127 | +17.7% | |
| 2017 | 4,504,812 | +4.9% | |
| 2018 | 4,320,033 | -4.1% | |
| 2019 | 4,488,268 | +3.9% | |
| 2020 | 3,591,254 | -20.0% | Reduced ops · pandemic |
| 2021 | 5,039,835 | +40.3% | All-time record |
| 2022 | 4,692,417 | -6.9% | |
| 2023 | 4,623,238 | -1.5% | |
| 2024 | 4,946,592 | +7.0% | |
| 2025 | 4,984,525 | +0.8% | Second-highest on record |
What the trend says
Zion's annual recreation visits over the full 1979-2025 dataset trace one of the steepest growth arcs in the NPS system. The dataset begins in 1979 at roughly 1.04 million, also the lowest year in the full 47-year series. The 1980s ran in the 1.1-to-1.7 million range with a decade mean near 1.40 million. The 1990s pushed the park steadily upward: 2.00 million in 1989, 2.45 million by 1999, and crossing 2.5 million in 2000. The 2000s held in the 2.4-to-2.8 million range, helped by growing interest in slot-canyon hiking and a steady rise in Las Vegas connecting traffic.
The 2010s broke that pattern upward sharply. Visits crossed 3.0 million in 2012, 4.0 million by 2016, and reached 4.49 million in 2019: a near-quadrupling of the 1979 baseline. The 2010s decade mean was 3.43 million. The 2020 pandemic year dipped to 3.59 million, more shallow than the network average because Zion's drive-up-from-Vegas catchment proved unusually resilient. The all-time peak in the full 1979-2025 series is 5.04 million in 2021; the first full reopening summer when international travel was still restricted and Las Vegas-corridor demand surged to the park.
Since the 2021 record the park has stabilized in the 4.6-to-5.0 million range, with 2022 at 4.69 million, 2023 at 4.62 million, 2024 at 4.95 million, and 2025 at 4.98 million; the second-highest reading in the dataset and within 1.1% of the 2021 record. The 47-year mean is roughly 2.75 million; 2025 sits about 2.24 million visits above the long-term mean and the park is running at almost twice its 47-year average. Read across the full window, the structural story is the climb from a sub-1.1-million 1979 baseline to a sustained 4-to-5-million 2020s plateau in a single working lifetime. Unlike the bigger Yellowstone or Grand Canyon traces, Zion has shown almost no major single-event disruption, no flood year, no fire year, and the year-to-year movement on top of the new plateau is small. 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 Zion each year?
Zion recorded 4,984,525 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 2,750,000 visits a year.
What is Zion's busiest year on record?
The busiest year in the 1979-2025 record is 2021, with 5,039,835 recreation visits. The most recent year, 2025, came in at 4,984,525.
Is Zion visitation increasing?
Zion visitation moved +0.8% from 2024 to 2025. Over the longer run it is +36.6% versus 2015 (3,648,846 visits), so the recent trend sits well above mid-2010s levels.
What was Zion's least-visited year?
The lowest reading in the 1979-2025 record is 1979, with 1,040,528 recreation visits, about 3,943,997 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 (Total Recreation Visits) values for each year. The window displayed here is the full 1979-2025 history available in the NPS dataset. 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.