© 2024 Maine Public

Bangor Studio/Membership Department
63 Texas Ave.
Bangor, ME 04401

Lewiston Studio
1450 Lisbon St.
Lewiston, ME 04240

Portland Studio
323 Marginal Way
Portland, ME 04101

Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.
The Rural Maine Reporting Project is made possible through the generous support of the Betterment Fund.

A record number of people stayed at Maine's campgrounds last year

A campsite at Lily Bay State Park on Moosehead Lake in May 2022.
Esta Pratt-Kielley
/
Maine Public
A campsite at Lily Bay State Park on Moosehead Lake in May 2022.

Visitors spent more than 319,000 nights at Maine's state parks last year — a new record.

Andy Cutko, the director of the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, says nearly 3.3 million people visited Maine's parks in 2022. He says the figures show that interest in the outdoors remains strong.

Cutko says the park added more seasonal staff last year to handle the increased visitors. And he says the legislature also approved $50 million of federal relief money for park infrastructure.

"So we're investing that money in campgrounds, and roads, and bathrooms, and playgrounds, and other facilities. And visitors to our state parks ought to be expecting to see some of those improvements in the next year or two, rolling out," Cutko says.

Reservations for Lily Bay and Sebago Lake State Parks will begin on Feb. 1.