Rocky Mountain National Park Draws Record Number Of Visitors

<p>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)</p>
<p>An overlook crowded with visitors on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015.</p>
Photo: Crowded Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road (HV)
An overlook crowded with visitors on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015.

The Denver Post reports that the National Park Service says visitors spent a combined $450 million in communities around Colorado's park service land. Communities near Rocky Mountain National Park received $268 million of that total.

The Park Service's 2015 Economics of Visitor Spending Report says the money helped support 6,937 jobs in Colorado and had a $666.9 million impact on the state economy.

NPS Intermountain Region Director Sue Masica says the 12 national park site in Colorado draw more than 7 million visitors each year.

Rocky Mountain National Park is the third-most visited of the 59 parks in the National Park system.