Joshua Tree National Park continues to see a high number of visitors, a trend that Superintendent David Smith says is caused, in some part, by people escaping to the outdoors to avoid Covid. Smith was on the Z107.7 Up Close show with Gary Daigneault Friday morning (2/4) and announced that the official visitorship in the park for 2021 was 3, 070,000. The number for 2020, affected by a Covid closure, was 2. 4 million, down from just over 3 million in 2019 and 2018. 2015 was the first time park visitorship exceeded 2 million. Smith said the high volumes of visitors present challenges, including long lines to get into the park and lack of campground capacity and parking.
