Visitor statistics
How many people visit Mammoth Cave?
Last verified NPS Visitor Use Statistics1979–2025
660,734 recreation visits in 2025, #34 of 63 national parks. The record is 1993 (2,396,234). Every year since 1979, straight from the National Park Service’s own counts.
- 2025 visits
- 660,734
- −11.6% vs 2024
- Rank, 2025
- #34
- of 63 national parks
- Record year
- 1993
- 2,396,234 visits
- vs 2015
- +16.6%
- ten-year change
- vs 1979
- −52.3%
- since the first full year
- Busiest month ever
- Jul 1993
- 385,616 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 | 660,734 | −11.6% | #34 |
| 2024 | 747,042 | +14.1% | #28 |
| 2023 | 654,450 | −1.3% | #33 |
| 2022 | 663,147 | +28.6% | #33 |
| 2021 | 515,774 | +77.6% | #40 |
| 2020 | 290,392 | −47.4% | #41 |
| 2019 | 551,590 | +3.4% | #40 |
| 2018 | 533,206 | −9.3% | #39 |
| 2017 | 587,853 | +0.2% | #38 |
| 2016 | 586,514 | +3.5% | #36 |
| 2015 | 566,895 | +8.5% | #34 |
| 2014 | 522,628 | +5.7% | #36 |
| 2013 | 494,541 | −2.7% | #36 |
| 2012 | 508,054 | +5.1% | #33 |
| 2011 | 483,319 | −2.8% | #34 |
| 2010 | 497,225 | −1.3% | #34 |
| 2009 | 503,856 | +12.9% | #34 |
| 2008 | 446,174 | −8.4% | #36 |
| 2007 | 487,305 | −18.5% | #35 |
| 2006 | 597,934 | −68.2% | #30 |
| 2005 | 1,878,006 | −0.5% | #14 |
| 2004 | 1,888,267 | +1.0% | #13 |
| 2003 | 1,869,137 | −1.2% | #13 |
| 2002 | 1,891,307 | +0.4% | #14 |
| 2001 | 1,883,580 | +7.7% | #12 |
| 2000 | 1,749,268 | +2.2% | #13 |
| 1999 | 1,710,983 | −19.1% | #14 |
| 1998 | 2,113,992 | +5.8% | #12 |
| 1997 | 1,997,658 | +5.3% | #12 |
| 1996 | 1,896,829 | −2.0% | #12 |
| 1995 | 1,935,709 | −3.7% | #12 |
| 1994 | 2,009,935 | −16.1% | #13 |
| 1993 | 2,396,234 | +0.1% | #10 |
| 1992 | 2,392,858 | +10.9% | #8 |
| 1991 | 2,158,195 | +12.1% | #10 |
| 1990 | 1,924,538 | +15.0% | #11 |
| 1989 | 1,672,840 | −3.6% | #13 |
| 1988 | 1,735,610 | +6.1% | #13 |
| 1987 | 1,636,340 | −0.6% | #12 |
| 1986 | 1,646,673 | +9.2% | #12 |
| 1985 | 1,507,939 | +0.4% | #12 |
| 1984 | 1,501,450 | +0.2% | #13 |
| 1983 | 1,498,503 | −1.8% | #14 |
| 1982 | 1,526,676 | +8.7% | #13 |
| 1981 | 1,404,317 | −6.1% | #13 |
| 1980 | 1,495,787 | +8.0% | #12 |
| 1979 | 1,384,910 | — | #15 |
By decade
The long view
- 1970s
- 1.38 million
- avg · 1 yr
- 1980s
- 1.56 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 1990s
- 2.05 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2000s
- 1.32 million
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2010s
- 533,183
- avg · 10 yrs
- 2020s
- 588,590
- avg · 6 yrs
Seasonality: in 1979–1983 the three busiest months carried 46% of the year’s visits; in 2021–2025 they carried 40% — 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
Mammoth Cave visitor questions
- How many people visit Mammoth Cave National Park each year?
- 660,734 recreation visits in 2025, ranking #34 of the 63 national parks. The 2010s averaged 533,183 a year.
- What was Mammoth Cave's busiest year?
- 1993, with 2,396,234 recreation visits — +262.7% more than 2025. The single busiest month on record was July 1993 (385,616 visits).
- Is Mammoth Cave getting more crowded?
- 2025 visits were +16.6% compared with 2015 and −64.8% compared with 2005. The low point of recent years was 2020 (290,392).
- 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.
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