Whitefish Lake state parks visitation continues upward trend, while Flathead parks show dip

As many state parks around the Flathead saw a dip in visitation last year, Whitefish Lake parks still rose in popularity.

Whitefish Lake State Park’s visitation jumped up about 22% compared to 2020 with 105,648 total visits in 2021 according to visitation data recently released by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. This was the first time the state park on the west side of Whitefish Lake has recorded over 100,000 visits.

Meanwhile on the east side of Whitefish Lake, Les Mason State Park was also up by about 2% from the previous year with 51,396 visits.

“This is a first for Whitefish, which attracts visitors to the shores of Whitefish Lake, as does Les Mason,” the state report notes. “The important public access these parks provide is underscored by their continued visitation growth year after year, especially as the Whitefish community grows in population.”

From 2019 to 2021, the visitation at Whitefish Lake State Park grew around 45% in the two-year span — from 72,573 visitors in 2019 to the over 100,000 mark in 2021.

Although the two parks on Whitefish Lake had increased visitation, the rest of Region 1, which centers around the Flathead Valley including all of Flathead Lake as well as areas to the west such as Thompson Falls, actually saw about a 15% decrease from visitation in 2020 to 2021. However 2020 was a year of significant growth for the region as it hosted nearly 1 million visitors for the first time. So despite a dip from year to year, the growth from 2019 to 2021 was still a near 10% overall increase according to the report.

The state parks around Flathead Lake also remained popular last year, but not up to the record-setting levels that were seen from 2019 to 2020.

All of the lake’s park units combined accounted for 339,631 visits in 2021, the second most among Montana state parks overall. Yet, the total is a decrease of 28% compared to 2020, and about 4% lower than 2019 totals.

Statewide, Montana’s state parks recorded more than 3.4 million visitors in 2021, falling just 1.3% short of matching its all-time high set in 2020.

State officials note that visitation in 2021 grew at a record-setting pace through July, but then slowed due to wildfire smoke and drought conditions, and then colder temperatures. Still, visitation was nearly 28 percent higher than in 2019.

“The number of visitors coming to Montana’s state parks is a testament to their importance in the everyday lives of our communities both for users’ health and as a critical component of our outdoor recreation economy,” said Parks and Outdoor Recreation Division Administrator Hope Stockwell in the release. “We continued to see first-time visitors and those who know our parks well, and we are encouraged by their efforts to recreate responsibly.”

According to the report, Northwest Montana parks served approximately 844,620 visitors in 2021, an estimated 15.3% decrease compared with last year. However, 2020 was a year of significant growth as the region played host to nearly 1 million visitors for the first time.

“While the pace of growth softened in 2021, compared with 2019, the region's visitation was still 9.7% higher,” the report notes.

A driver of 2021’s overall decline in Northwest Montana was lower visitation at Wayfarer’s Unit of Flathead Lake, which was likely due in part to the Boulder Fire in late summer near Finley Point. Wayfarer’s had 153,155 visitors in 2021, down 41% compared to 2020 and down 22% compared to 2019.

Thompson Chain of Lakes also saw declines compared to 2020, with 140,659 visitors last year. That’s a 17% drop for the region’s second-most popular state park.

Visitation at Lake Mary Ronan was down 10% with 31,055 people counted, while Logan was down 15% with 30,355 visits. Lone Pine State Park in Kalispell was about flat with 128,640 people counted.

In 2021, visitation exceeded 100,000 at 11 state parks throughout Montana compared to eight in 2020 and seven in 2019. For the first time ever, Whitefish Lake State Park was among the destinations that recorded over 100,000 visits.

The top five most visited state parks in 2021 were:

Giant Springs (Great Falls) 414,889

Flathead Lake-all units (Kalispell) 339,631

Cooney Reservoir (Roberts) 263,691

Spring Meadow Lake (Helena) 254,141

Lake Elmo (Billings) 212,91