2020 saw a decrease in visitation to Dinosaur National Monument. According to a press release from the National Park Service, recreational visits for 2020 at Dinosaur National Monument tallied a total of 264,266 – an 11.3% decrease over the 2019 annual visitation. December visitation numbers showed a 27.7% increase for the month over 2019 statistics, a trend that had started in the middle of the year and picked up steam by year’s end. While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted visitation in 2020, once mitigation measures for employee and visitor safety were in place, and facilities reopened, overall recreational visitation at the monument rebounded. The last four months of 2020 saw significant increases over 2019 numbers. 2020 started strong with January, February and March each showing major increases in recreational visits from 2019 then in April visitation was down 64 percent. May and June followed in suit and then visitorship became comparable to 2019 numbers in July and August. September through December then finished strong with an average of a 33 percent increase in visits monthly over 2019.
