Alabama's Little River Canyon National Preserve, Tennessee State Parks set high marks for visitation

Staff file photo by Tracey Trumbull / Scenic views of the Little Falls section of Little River Canyon National Preserve near Fort Payne, Ala., are shown here in August 2011. The preserve atop Lookout Mountain was created by Congressional Act in 1992 and contains almost 14,000 acres of protected wilderness.
Staff file photo by Tracey Trumbull / Scenic views of the Little Falls section of Little River Canyon National Preserve near Fort Payne, Ala., are shown here in August 2011. The preserve atop Lookout Mountain was created by Congressional Act in 1992 and contains almost 14,000 acres of protected wilderness.

Cabin fever and the coronavirus combined to drive people outdoors and into public parks as the number of visitors and campers across the region hit record highs in 2020.

Little River Canyon Natural Preserve near Fort Payne, Alabama, notched a record-high number of visitors in 2020 with more than 800,000 people taking in the sights there last year, park spokesperson Matthew Switzer said. There were 649,986 visitors to the park in 2019, compared with 802,375 in 2020 - a 23.4% increase.

Switzer said that trend has continued into 2021 with a 44% jump in visitation in January, and visitation in February is on track to exceed 2020 figures, too.

"We absolutely attribute the jump in visitation, especially in March and May through September, to COVID. As the pandemic began to hit and schools and businesses were closed, one of the only things remaining open was outdoor recreation," Switzer said Friday.

(READ MORE: Easter Sunday flash flood shifted Alabama's Little River channel, damaged facilities, data shows)

"As the pandemic began to hit and schools and businesses were closed, one of the only things remaining open to the public was outdoor recreation," he said. "Summer was busier than average, but I'd attribute that to a lot of businesses still being closed during the pandemic and while school was out."

Fall is usually the busiest time around the Little River "especially in a good fall color year like we had last year," Switzer said. "A lot of the visitors in 2020 were first-time visitors, but we were also seeing a lot of repeat customers at the popular swimming holes, especially on the busy summer weekends."

Since 2015 the national preserve has increased from 248,135 visitors to 802,375 in 2020, he said. That's more than a 223% increase over the five years. Switzer said some of the rise in numbers comes from more efficient visitor counting methods, but not all.

"'The secret of the Little River Canyon National Preserve seems to have gotten out in 2015-2016," he said.

Tennessee visitation up, too

Tennessee's state parks folks are a bit proud of their 2020 numbers, too.

"2020 visitation confirmed what Tennesseans already know: Tennessee State Parks is the best state parks system in the nation," system spokesperson Kim Schofinski said Friday.

"We continue to see record-setting campground sales – December 2020 was the highest December on record for campground sales. Harrison Bay and Fall Creek Falls state parks were the top two parks for camping nights sold in December," Schofinski said.

Like the Little River, 2021 appears to be on the same track as last year, she said.

"In January 2021, Harrison Bay was the top park for camping and Fall Creek Falls was third based on nights sold," she said. "February 2021 exceeded past Februaries by a small margin due to the winter storms that hit the state."

She said the state parks at Harrison Bay and Fall Creek Falls held the top two spots for camping nights sold that month, as well.

(READ MORE: Fall Creek Falls State Park's new $2.7 million visitor center opens)

Officials said four of the state's top 10 camping months ever happened in 2020. There are more than 3,000 campsites in Tennessee's parks.

In October 2020, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Harrison Bay State Park and Tims Ford State Park were in the top four for campsite nights sold, and the same parks reached the top five in November when Fall Creek Falls and Harrison Bay had the highest occupancy in the state, officials said.

In January, Fall Creek Falls park manager Jacob Young said, visitor numbers that often swell in spring and taper off instead kept pace through summer 2020 and through fall. Occupancy stayed at or near 100% through the end of the year.

Notices are posted on park web pages notifying visitors where the heaviest visitor traffic is occurring.

Now, that's at the Short Springs State Natural Area near Tullahoma; South Cumberland State Park (including Foster Falls, Greeter Falls, Sycamore Falls and Grundy Forest) in Grundy and Marion counties; Burgess Falls State Park on the White-DeKalb county line; and Radnor Lake State Park, Long Hunter State Park and Harpeth River State Park near Nashville.

Nationwide visitation drops

But the same isn't true across the country where restrictions and closures due to the coronavirus kept people out of federal parks, likely lending to soaring numbers in some smaller parks.

A maximum 66 of the 423 parks in the National Park System were fully closed for two months or more, officials said, although the majority of parks – particularly those with outdoor spaces – remained accessible to the public.

According to the National Park Service, there were 237 million visitors to America's parks in 2020, a 28% decrease over the previous year. Recreational visitors declined 26%, representing a drop from 1.4 billion in 2019 to 1.05 billion in 2020.

Although overall visitation dropped, a number of parks experienced record crowds - including the one in the Little River Canyon - and welcomed new visitors, federal officials said in a Feb. 26 statement on visitation.

Despite the national dip, the Blue Ridge Parkway in Northeast Georgia claimed the title of "most-visited site" in the National Park System with 14.1 million visitors and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee-North Carolina line maintained its run as the most-visited national park in 2020 – a position it has held since 1944 - with 12.1 million visitors.

Be careful out there

Back at Northeast Alabama's very popular Little River Canyon, Switzer said people coming to the park - particularly new and inexperienced visitors - should be aware of the canyon's dangers.

"We see a lot of foot and ankle injuries due to visitors going into the canyon and being around the river without appropriate footwear," he said. "We also see a lot of visitors bypass railings at many of the overlooks along the Little River Canyon Rim Parkway."

It's easy to misjudge the Little River's rugged terrain and strong currents.

"Undertows and hydraulics can suck even the strongest swimmer underwater and disorient or pin them down," he said.

In a period of about two months - April 3 to June 12, 2020 - four people drowned in the Little River's waterfalls and strong currents. Record-setting rainfall created high water levels in the canyon in most of 2020, even shifting the river channel.

Switzer recommends visitors take a look online at the preserve's safety page that has 12 separate discussion topics.

While the Little River Canyon presents unique dangers created by its steep walls and fast-flowing river, there are plenty of other dangers in parks to keep in mind when visiting the region's mountainous, rocky terrain.

(READ MORE: Tennessee is full of animals that can kill you. Here's a guide to staying alive)

Take a trail map and water, wear sturdy shoes or boots and watch the trail for obstacles and potentially dangerous wildlife, parks officials said. Keep rainwear handy and be mindful of the potential for flash flooding, especially in steep terrain.

And, of course, all state and federal parks recommend adhering to the CDC's recommendations when it comes to coronavirus guidelines urging social distancing, hand-washing and mask wearing, according to state guidelines.

Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.

10 MOST-VISITED NATIONAL PARKS 2020

Although visitation was down overall in the U.S. National Park System in 2020, 237 million people still headed for the outdoors despite the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the top 10 most-visited national parks in the U.S: #1 Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 12.1 million visitors #2 Yellowstone National Park, 3.8 million visitors #3 Zion National Park, 3.6 million visitors #4 Rocky Mountain National Park, 3.3 million visitors #5 Grand Teton National Park, 3.3 million visitors #6 Grand Canyon National Park, 2.9 million visitors #7 Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 2.8 million visitors #8 Acadia National Park, 2.7 million visitors #9 Olympic National Park, 2.5 million visitors #10 Joshua Tree National Park, 2.4 million visitors Source: National Park Service

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