The Illinois Department of Natural Resources closed all facilities pretty quickly after the virus first hit. 60 sites opened back up May 1st, with the remaining coming on line at the end of May. Chief of staff Kristin Dicenso says attendance figures show cooped up Illinoisans were ready to enjoy the outdoors.
“Illinois state parks, fish and wildlife areas, recreational areas, and historic sites saw 26.7 million visitors from June through December in 2019. For the same time period in 2020, sites saw 28.4 million visitors. So we actually increased our visitors last year.”
Dicenso says they also saw an increase in camping and expect these trends to continue this year.
***Report Courtesy of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services***
