Visitation · National Recreation Area

Gauley River National Recreation Area visitation by month and year

September is the busiest month at Gauley River, when the average temperature nearby is 64 degrees. January is the quietest, and the average temperature then is 31 degrees. An average September draws 59,609 visits where an average January draws 3,166. The warmest month is July, a little off the peak. Annual visits rose 79.1 percent from 119,282 in 2019 to 213,596 in 2025.

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Visits by month, with temperature and precipitation

Bars are the average recreation visits in each month over 2021 to 2025. The line is the average temperature at Summersville Lake, 6 miles from the park's reference point at 1,768 feet, station USC00468614 in the NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals. The lower panel is monthly rain from the same station, which publishes no snowfall normal.

Annual visits, 1993 to 2025

Recreation visits per calendar year. A year with a missing month is left blank rather than estimated.

The last ten years

Year	Recreation visits	Change on prior year
2025	213,596	-21.7%
2024	272,898	+45.8%
2023	187,223	+14.5%
2022	163,510	-2.6%
2021	167,794	+53.4%
2020	109,378	-8.3%
2019	119,282	+22.0%
2018	97,778	-17.6%
2017	118,733	+2.5%
2016	115,888	+10.0%

Visitation at other parks

Appalachian National Scenic Trail Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park Golden Gate National Recreation Area Gateway National Recreation Area

Source: NPS Visitor Use Statistics, monthly recreation visits, as compiled for Publicopia Labs. A year is shown only when all twelve months were reported. Temperature, precipitation and snowfall normals are the 1991 to 2020 monthly averages published by NOAA NCEI for station USC00468614, 1,768 feet above sea level. Data refreshed October 14, 2026.