Tourist Movement To National Parks: Being Visited by Unprecedented Number of Sightseers, Some of Them Traveling From Coast to Coast
Lincoln State Journal
July 11, 1924
Washington, July 1 (AP)
The national parks throughout the country are being visited by unprecedented numbers of sightseers, some of whom travel from coast to coast by automobile to get a glimpse of the natural scenic wonders of the great open spaces of the west
Reports to the national park service of the interior department say there were 4,611 visitors to Yellowstone for the month ended June 15, a 125 per cent increase for the same period last year when a record of 138,252 for the season was established.
A big increase in the automobile travel to Yosemite in California is shown, 8,550 of the 11,745 persons visiting the park during May traveling in 2,600 cars, an increase of 50 per cent over May of last year, and a total increase of 20 per cent, considering all means of travel. To June 7 the total had reached 23,109, more than half of whom went in 4,200 automobiles. The 1923 season mark was 130,046 for Yosemite.
The reports state that Crater Lake, Oregon, has experienced a banker preseason period, due principally to the attractions afforded campers of the west. On June 16 a total of 1,443 automobiles carrying 4,226 visitors from 32 states, including Maine, Vermont, New York, Washington, D. C., and Texas, had toured the park. At this time last year, due to a later opening, not a single visitor had entered the park. The 1923 season mark was $52,017.
The spectacle of a native Marquesan from the South Sea Isles, rhapsodizing while floundering about in the snow, the first he had ever seen, is mentioned in the Crater Lake reports.
