Jones Beach Annual Visitation Up 5% in 2022
Nearly a half million more beachgoers visited Jones Beach State Park last year as attendance at Long Island’s most popular oceanfront park jumped 5%, according to New York State data released Thursday.
While the state recorded 8.4 million annual visitors to Jones Beach in 2022, up from 8 million the year prior, it fell short of the most recent high of 8.5 million in 2018 — just over half of its peak of 14 million visits in the 1960s, the data showed.
“New York’s State Parks offer residents and visitors the opportunity to reconnect with the environment, breathe in the fresh air, and find solace in their natural surroundings,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
Jones Beach was the second-most visited state park statewide, trailing Niagara Falls, which had 9.4 million visits in 2022.
Robert Moses State Park ranked third with 3.8 million visits and Sunken Meadow State Park came in fifth with 3.1 million, according to the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
“State Parks is grateful to those who have returned and to those who are discovering what all the State Parks and Historic Sites have to offer,” said State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid.
Jones Beach has seen between 3-6 million annual visitors for much of the past two decades before spiking to over 8 million for each of the past five years. State park visitation is also up 43% since 2008, officials said.
The Jones Beach uptick comes after the park recently underwent $65 million in renovations and the 2021 debut of a pedestrian trail spanning the full length of Ocean Parkway. The park is approaching the centennial of its 1929 debut.
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