Visitation continues to steadily increase at Colorado’s state parks.

In 2024, visits to the 43 parks totaled more than 18.9 million — about a 2% increase from the previous year, when closer to 18.6 million visits were logged. In 2022, visitation was closer to 18.4 million, according to data from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Numbers remain well below visitation tracked during the COVID-19 pandemic, when outdoor activity surged everywhere as indoor entertainment closed. CPW reported a record 20 million visits to the state parks in 2021.

In 2023, CPW launched the Keep Colorado Wild Pass, which offered an annual pass to the parks at a greatly reduced rate for drivers opting to add $29 to vehicle registration. An annual pass is otherwise $80.

CPW reported 1.5 million drivers opted for the Keep Colorado Wild Pass in the first fiscal year, which spelled $39.7 million in revenue that was beyond stated expectations.

For 2024, Keep Colorado Wild Pass data had yet to be finalized, said Bridget O’Rourke, CPW public information officer. Recent months have seen nearly 30% opt-in rates among vehicle registrations, similar to the reported trend from the pass’s first year.

State park visitation “has mostly stayed steady since the pass became available,” O’Rourke said. “This is a good thing. It means we’ve been able to increase funding without overburdening our state parks.”

Still, recent years of steadily increasing visitation show something of a new baseline compared with pre-pandemic years.

In 2019, about 15 million visits were recorded. Last year’s visitation represents a 26% increase from then.

Last year’s 18.9 million visits were 2.7% up from 2022, the year before the Keep Colorado Wild Pass’s debut.

But “it’s hard to compare KCW Pass sales with visitation,” O’Rourke said, emphasizing various reasons why drivers might opt-in upon registering vehicles. It might not be for the parks pass, she said.

The pass has also been marketed as a benefit to wildlife conservation, search and rescue and avalanche information. Of the $39.7 million generated from 2023 sales, the vast majority stayed with CPW, with $2.5 million reportedly spread across search and rescue teams and another $1 million going to Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

“Do some people buy the pass and have no intention of going into a state park?” O’Rourke asked.

It was one question among officials curious about Keep Colorado Wild Pass data in the years to come, O’Rourke said. “We just don’t have that longterm data yet,” she said.

She added: “We do have a data analyst who’s closely monitoring it, just because we can’t love our natural resources to death. We need to make sure we’re balancing conservation.”

Lake Pueblo remains the most popular state park, with 2.9 million visits reported in 2024. That was slightly down year-to-year, similar to the second-most visited state park: 2.2 million at Chatfield State Park.

Visitation at Cherry Creek State Park, 1.8 million, was up 11% year-to-year. Golden Gate Canyon State Park also saw an increase: 1.7 million compared with 1.5 million in 2023.

CPW has referred to a couple of state parks in the Pikes Peak region as “hidden gems.” In Colorado Springs, Cheyenne Mountain State Park tallied 192,616 visits last year, down from 193,312 in 2023. At Mueller State Park in Teller County, visitation was up year-to-year at 156,999 — about 25,600 visits more than 2023.

O’Rourke said visitation fluctuates across state parks for a variety of reasons, including weather, flooding, reservoir levels and financial limitations.