Tourists went to these Outer Banks national parks and landmarks more than ever in 2021
Three national park sites along or near North Carolina’s Outer Banks saw a boom in visitation during 2021 and broke historical records.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial combined saw close to 4 million visitors during 2021, a record for the group, according to data from the National Park Service.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore is a stretch of the sand dunes, marshes and woodlands of the Outer Banks and protects parts of Bodie Island, Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island. It broke a long-standing record for visitors in 2021 by welcoming over 3 million people for the first time, according to the NPS. The seashore hosted 3,206,056 visitors, a 20% spike from 2020.
More people also camped at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in 2021. The site saw a 58% increase in campground reservations compared to 2020.
The Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills broke a decade-long record, too, bringing in 482,192 visitors during 2021.
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is located in the town of Manteo on Roanoke Island, just a roughly 30 minute drive from Kill Devil Hills. The landmark protects and preserves known portions of England’s New World Settlements from 1584 to 1590, as well as cultural heritage from Native Americans, European Americans and African Americans who called the island home, according to the NPS.
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site saw 293,609 visitors in 2021, NPS reported.
The five years with the highest visitation numbers at the three sites also include 2003, 2002, 2000 and 1998, the NPS wrote in a report.
“While it has been challenging to accommodate 600,000 more visits than just two years ago, the staff at these three parks are committed to not only maintaining the same visitor experiences as before but improving upon them as much as possible,” David Hallac, superintendent of National Parks of Eastern North Carolina, said in a release.
National park visitors can learn more about visitation statistics for sites across the country on the NPS website.
