Jensen, UT & Dinosaur, CO - Recreational visits for 2020 at Dinosaur National Monument tallied a total of 264,266 - an 11.3% decrease over the 2019 annual visitation. However, December visitation numbers showed a 27.7% increase for the month over 2019 statistics, a trend that had started in the middle of the year and picked up steam by year’s end.
While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted visitation in 2020, once mitigation measures for employee and visitor safety were in place, and facilities reopened, overall recreational visitation at the monument rebounded. The last four months of 2020 saw significant increases over 2019 numbers.
Month Recreational Visits 2020 Recreational Visits 2019 Change
January 4,703 1,137 + 313.6%
February 4,281 3,189 + 34.2%
March 8,305 5,603 + 48.2%
April 6,721 18,794 - 64.2%
May 12,635 36,588 - 65.5%
June 26,425 57,804 - 54.3%
July 64,076 62,538 + 2.5%
August 54,425 52,365 + 3.9%
Sept. 39,591 29,562 + 33.9%
Oct. 26,653 18,868 + 41.3%
Nov. 10,323 7,814 + 32.1%
December 6,088 4,703 +27.7%
Total for Year 264,266 298,965 -11.3%
2020 calendar year data are preliminary and subject to change. Data will be finalized by the end of the first quarter of the 2021 calendar year. Visitation statistics are calculated by using a combination of visitor center numbers, trail counters plus the actual number of wheeled vehicles entering the monument gates and using a person-per-vehicle multiplier to calculate the number of monthly recreational visitors. Detailed monument visitation information and additional information on how these statistics are calculated is available online at https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/Reports/Park/DINO.
For more information, call (435) 781-7700 or follow DinosaurNPS on social media.
Tags: dinosaur national monument colorado utah visitation recreation covid19
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
