RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — With more than 7.5 million visitors in 2009, Virginia's state parks set an attendance record last year.
The 2009 mark tops the 7.2 million who visited the state's park system in 2008 by 4 percent.
The numbers are part of a three-year trend that saw more people camp, hike and bike at Virginia parks than at any other time in its 74-year history.
The state estimates that the economic impact generated by park visitors was $175 million in 2009. Much of those dollars come from overnight guests at 26 of Virginia's 35 parks.
