PORT ANGELES — Olympic National Park visitors spent $279 million in neighboring towns last year, supporting 3,556 jobs in gateway communities like Port Angeles and Forks, the National Park Service said.
Park officials reported 3.4 million visits to Olympic in 2017. The park has seen growth in annual visitation in each of the last five years, according to statistics derived from traffic counters and mathematical formulas.
“Olympic National Park welcomes visitors from across the country and around the world,” park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum said in a statement.
“We are delighted to share the story of this place and the experiences it provides.”
A new visitor spending analysis conducted by federal economists showed that national park visitors spent $18.2 billion in communities within 60 miles of a national park. That spending supported 306,000 jobs nationally, NPS officials said.
The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $35.8 billion.
The cumulative benefit to the Olympic Peninsula economy was $385 million, according to a news release.
“National park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy, returning $10 for every $1 invested in the National Park Service, and it’s a big factor in our local economy as well,” Creachbaum said.
“We appreciate the partnership and support of our local communities and are glad to be able to give back.”
Visitation to 922,651-acre Olympic National Park has risen steadily since 2012, according to NPS statistics.
There were 2,824,908 recreation visits to Olympic in 2012. Visitation rose to 3,085,340 in 2013, 3,243,872 in 2014, 3,263,761 in 2015, 3,390,221 in 2016 and 3,401,996 in 2017.
The only years with higher visitation than last year were 1997 (3.85 million), 2002 (3.69 million), 1995 (3.69 million), 1998 (3.58 million) and 2001 (3.42 million).
Olympic National Park counts visits with traffic counters on all park entrance roads and door counters at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port Angeles, park spokeswoman Penny Wagner said.
Traffic statistics for Lake Crescent are weighted for seasons.
For example, 20 percent of the vehicles that round the lake on U.S. Highway 101 in the winter and early spring are counted in the visitation statistics.
Eighty percent of the vehicles that pass Lake Crescent in August are considered to be entering the park for recreational use.
Each vehicle counted in the park’s visitation statistics is multiplied by 2.6 to estimate the number of Olympic National Park guests. The formula has been in place since 1994.
Visitation numbers are entered into the National Park Service’s visitor use statistics website at https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/.
For information on Olympic National Park, click on www.nps.gov/olym.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
