TN State Parks camping records being set rapidly amid COVID-19

COVID-19 has pushed people to explore the outdoors and because of that, camping records are falling throughout state parks across TN.

In the last two months, state park officials report nearly 100,000 overnight stays, including a record 62,124 overnight stays in Oct., the current record, that ironically eclipsed the previous record set in June. In November, over 36,000 overnight stays were tallied, also a record for the month and 15,000 overnight stays higher than last November.

Four of the top 10 camping months have occurred in 2020, and recent statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis say the outdoor recreation economy is steadily growing, accounting for over 2% of the country’s GDP last year.

Photo Courtesy: TN State Parks Logo