They are still outpacing pre-pandemic numbers, but you still would have seen fewer people at some of Door County’s state parks this year. Eric Hyde, the superintendent for Peninsula, Newport, and Rock Island state parks, says attendance was down slightly for the second year in a row, coming off the extreme highs in 2021. It still meant that Peninsula State Park welcomed 1.2 million guests this summer, making it one of the most popular in the system. Hyde adds that camping numbers have remained consistent during the stretch, suggesting that the lack of snow at the beginning and the end of the year might have played a role.
By contrast, Rock Island State Park’s attendance numbers continue to grow after high water levels, and the pandemic closed it entirely in 2020. Hyde believes the recently received National Park Service designation will help it grow even more.
Earlier this month, Gov. Tony Evers, together with Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Anne Sayers and Wisconsin Office of Outdoor Recreation Director Mary Monroe Brown, announced that Wisconsin’s outdoor recreation industry contributed a record-breaking $9.8 billion to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, growing 6.8 percent over the previous record set in 2021.
