2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects in Oregon
May 23, 2025The National Park System is a collection over 400 areas and 84 million acres in U.S. states, district and territories, including parks, sites and monuments. That system is managed by the National Park Service, a federal bureau within the U.S. Department of the Interior. According to the National Park Service, the purpose of these national parks is “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
These national parks attract many tourists both local and non-local. The National Park Service tracks this data and recently published a report called the “2023 National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects Report.” According to the report, there were 325 million park visitors who spent around $26.4 billion while visiting National Park Services lands across the U.S. in 2023.
Oregon has five national parks lands within state boundaries, four of which have measured direct employment effects in Oregon in the report (Nez Perce National Historical Park is not included in analysis for Oregon; only three of the 38 sites that make up Nez Perce National Historic Park are in Oregon; most of the sites are in Idaho).
According to the National Park Service, there were about 1.0 million park visitors who spent an estimated $86.8 million while visiting national parks in Oregon. Total visitor spending nominally increased 1.5% from 2022, corresponding with a small increase in visits to Oregon national parks. This is below a peak of $97.5 million of total visitor spending in Oregon in 2016.
A plurality of visitor spending in Oregon parks was on lodging, which accounted for $28.3 million (or 33%) of total spending. Restaurant and gas accounted for the second and third largest chunks of visiting spending. Visitors spent $17.9 million (21% of total spending) at restaurants, and $12.1 million on gas (14%).
The National Park Service lists five national parks, three national trails, 2,103 National Register of Historic Places Listings, 17 National Historic Landmarks and 11 National Natural Landmarks in Oregon. Of that bunch, four national parks in Oregon were included in the report of visitor spending effects for having economic impact in Oregon.
Crater Lake National Park (NP) was the most popular attraction of the bunch seeing 559,976 recreational visits in 2023. Located in Klamath County less than 100 miles north of Klamath Falls, Crater Lake NP is Oregon’s only national park, and is the fifth-oldest national park, established in 1902. Being the most visited National Park unit in Oregon, it in kind produced the most consumer spending with a little over $55 million. Compared to 2022, Crater Lake NP saw a 6% increase in recreation visits and an 8% increase in visitor spending.
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (NHP) was the second most popular national park unit in Oregon in 2023, with 284,739 park visits. Lewis and Clark NHP was formed in 1958 as the Fort Clatsop National Memorial, and then was expanded in 2004 to its current state. The Lewis and Clark NHP consists of seven sites spanning from Cannon Beach, Oregon to Long Beach, Washington. From 2022 to 2023, recreation visits increased 2% and consumer spending increased 3%.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (NM) was the third most visited national park unit in Oregon in 2023 with 169,016 recreation visits. The national monument, established in 1975, contains three sites of 14,000 acres in the John Day River valley within Grant and Wheeler counties. Over the year from 2022 to 2023, recreation visits increased 2% and consumer spending increased 3%.
The last major national park unit covered in the report is the Oregon Caves National Monument (NM), which saw 32,041 recreation visits in 2023. Oregon Caves NM was initially designated as a national monument in 1909 and further expanded over a hundred years later in 2014. The system of marble caves and surrounding watershed and forest is located in Josephine County around 50 miles southwest of Grants Pass. Oregon Caves NM saw both recreation visits and visitor spending starkly drop -56% from 2022 to 2023.
Visitation to national park units and the resulting spending has broader effects on local regions. The spending directly affects sales, income, and jobs to regions around the national park units. The additional jobs and income generate further indirect economic activity in the region, which can be measured through jobs, labor income, value added and economic output. Jobs measures the number of full and part time jobs supported by visitor spending. Labor income measure wages of employees and proprietors supported by visitor spending. Value added measures the contribution of visitor spending to the regional gross domestic product (GDP). Economic output measures the total value of the goods and services supported by local spending.
The 2023 National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects Report estimated that a total of 1,199 jobs were supported by National Park Service visitor spending in Oregon. Additionally, the report estimated that the visitor spending resulted in $48 million in labor income, $76 million in value added (contribution to the gross domestic product) and $131 million in economic output (value of the production of goods and services).
National parks protect and preserve places of natural and historical importance across the U.S. and within Oregon, as well as generate economic activity for the local economies. Read more about the economic contributions of national park visitor spending on the National Park Service website.