ROANOKE — The number of annual visitors to the Blue Ridge Parkway dropped by more than a million last year as American motorists apparently decided to forgo scenery and save gas.
Total visitation in 2008 was 18.25 million, according to National Park Service statistics released Friday, down 5.4 percent from 2007. In 2007, 19.29 million people traveled the scenic ridgetop road that stretches 469 miles in Virginia and North Carolina.
Scott Bell, the Park Service official who tallies parkway visits, declined to speculate on why fewer people made the trip to the parkway last year. But the drop in visitation coincided with a precipitous jump in gas prices, which saw motorists paying $4 and up for a gallon of fuel.
Parkway visitation peaked at 23.5 million in 2002 but has generally declined since then, as leisurely recreational motoring has lost favor with the younger generation and gas prices have kept others away.
Visitation declined significantly in October last year — the height of the leaf-peeping season when tourists come from surrounding states to see the scarlet and amber leaves along the Blue Ridge.
A total of 2.1 million visitors were on the parkway in October last year, down 7.5 percent from October 2007. Visitation declined most dramatically in November 2008, falling to 1.5 million, a drop of 11.6 percent from the previous November.
Counting only recreational visitors, parkway visitation dropped to 16.25 million last year from 17.35 million in 2007.
The Blue Ridge Parkway remains the most visited national park in the country.
Rex Bowman is a staff writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
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