Visitor statistics
How many people visit Indiana Dunes?
Last verified NPS Visitor Use Statistics1979–2025
2,629,497 recreation visits in 2025, #13 of 63 national parks. The record is 2021 (3,177,210). Every year since 1979, straight from the National Park Service’s own counts, including the years before it became a national park in 2019.
- 2025 visits
- 2,629,497
- −2.8% vs 2024
- Rank, 2025
- #13
- of 63 national parks
- Record year
- 2021
- 3,177,210 visits
- vs 2015
- +60.3%
- ten-year change
- vs 1979
- +63.7%
- since the first full year
- Busiest month ever
- Jul 2021
- 594,272 visits
1979–2025
Every year since the counts began
Recreation visits per calendar year, as reported to the NPS Visitor Use Statistics office. The 2025 bar is highlighted; a missing bar means the park did not report all twelve months that year.
Show the full table (47 years) ↓
| Year | Recreation visits | Change | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,629,497 | −2.8% | #13 |
| 2024 | 2,705,209 | −2.2% | #13 |
| 2023 | 2,765,892 | −2.4% | #13 |
| 2022 | 2,834,180 | −10.8% | #11 |
| 2021 | 3,177,210 | +38.6% | #9 |
| 2020 | 2,293,106 | +7.4% | #11 |
| 2019 | 2,134,285 | +21.5% | #14 |
| 2018 | 1,756,079 | −18.6% | #15 |
| 2017 | 2,158,471 | +27.1% | #14 |
| 2016 | 1,698,223 | +3.5% | #15 |
| 2015 | 1,640,195 | +5.6% | #16 |
| 2014 | 1,553,372 | −7.6% | #15 |
| 2013 | 1,681,695 | −11.0% | #13 |
| 2012 | 1,889,381 | +2.7% | #13 |
| 2011 | 1,840,513 | −14.4% | #13 |
| 2010 | 2,150,345 | +10.6% | #13 |
| 2009 | 1,944,568 | +6.1% | #13 |
| 2008 | 1,833,596 | −7.0% | #12 |
| 2007 | 1,972,344 | +1.8% | #13 |
| 2006 | 1,938,132 | −8.9% | #13 |
| 2005 | 2,127,336 | +17.5% | #11 |
| 2004 | 1,810,330 | −7.3% | #14 |
| 2003 | 1,953,449 | −1.8% | #12 |
| 2002 | 1,989,941 | +14.7% | #12 |
| 2001 | 1,735,404 | −4.7% | #13 |
| 2000 | 1,820,228 | +4.1% | #12 |
| 1999 | 1,748,047 | −17.1% | #13 |
| 1998 | 2,108,789 | +42.1% | #13 |
| 1997 | 1,483,782 | −2.8% | #18 |
| 1996 | 1,526,166 | −10.0% | #17 |
| 1995 | 1,696,488 | −0.2% | #15 |
| 1994 | 1,699,958 | −3.6% | #15 |
| 1993 | 1,763,094 | −10.6% | #15 |
| 1992 | 1,973,098 | −4.2% | #12 |
| 1991 | 2,058,801 | +7.2% | #12 |
| 1990 | 1,919,901 | +7.1% | #12 |
| 1989 | 1,791,902 | −5.0% | #12 |
| 1988 | 1,885,376 | +19.6% | #11 |
| 1987 | 1,576,238 | −6.0% | #13 |
| 1986 | 1,676,583 | −6.9% | #10 |
| 1985 | 1,800,326 | +15.4% | #10 |
| 1984 | 1,560,428 | +3.3% | #12 |
| 1983 | 1,510,630 | +41.6% | #13 |
| 1982 | 1,066,573 | +4.2% | #15 |
| 1981 | 1,023,436 | −16.3% | #19 |
| 1980 | 1,222,874 | −23.9% | #15 |
| 1979 | 1,606,166 | — | #11 |
By decade
The long view
- 1970s
- 1.61 million
- avg · 1 yr
- 1980s
- 1.51 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 1990s
- 1.8 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2000s
- 1.91 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2010s
- 1.85 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2020s
- 2.73 million
- avg · 6 yrs
Seasonality: in 1979–1983 the three busiest months carried 64% of the year’s visits; in 2021–2025 they carried 49% — visits have spread out across the year.
Average visits by month
2021–2025 · NPS IRMAJFMAMJJASOND
Quietest: JanuaryBusiest: July
The weather page puts these crowd levels beside each month’s temperatures.
About these numbers
Figures are the National Park Service’s monthly recreation-visit counts, retrieved from its public statistics service and summed by calendar year. A year is shown only when all twelve months were reported. The NPS revises recent months occasionally, so small differences from a later nps.gov table are normal. Rankings compare the 63 national parks for the same year. See every park ranked for 2025.
Sources · 2
- 1.NPS Visitor Use Statistics — monthly recreation visits by park, 1979–2025 · National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior)
- 2.NPS Visitor Use Statistics Definitions · National Park Service
FAQ
Indiana Dunes visitor questions
- How many people visit Indiana Dunes National Park each year?
- 2,629,497 recreation visits in 2025, ranking #13 of the 63 national parks. The 2010s averaged 1,850,256 a year.
- What was Indiana Dunes's busiest year?
- 2021, with 3,177,210 recreation visits — +20.8% more than 2025. The single busiest month on record was July 2021 (594,272 visits).
- Is Indiana Dunes getting more crowded?
- 2025 visits were +60.3% compared with 2015 and +23.6% compared with 2005.
- What counts as a recreation visit?
- The NPS counts a recreation visit as one person entering the park for recreation; someone who leaves and re-enters is counted again, and commuters, through-traffic and staff are excluded. Counts come from gate and traffic counters with park-specific multipliers, so they are estimates.
- Why does the record start before Indiana Dunes became a national park?
- The NPS counts visits by park unit, and the unit kept the same statistics code when it was redesignated a national park in 2019. Earlier years are visits to the same place under its previous designation.
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