This Land, Your Land

A third of North Carolina's state parks and state recreation areas report visitation has been up at least 20 percent this year, the state Division of Parks and Recreation said Friday. The report includes 35 state parks and state recreation areas along with Weymouth Woods State Nature Preserve.

Through August, state parks recorded 10.6 million visitors, up 14 percent from a year ago and surpassing visitation during the same eight-month period of 2007, which was a record year for state parks visitation.

Officials say the parks benefited from the bad economy, mild weather and the completion of several construction projects, such as the new observation tower at Mount Mitchell State Park and new roads and infrastructure at Gorges State Park in Transylvania County.

Parks seeing significant increases in visits include: Crowders Mountain, up 78 percent; Jordan Lake State Recreation Area, up 52 percent; Raven Rock, up 50 percent; Cliffs of the Neuse, up 40 percent; Lake Waccamaw, up 35 percent; Pilot Mountain, up 31 percent; Fort Macon, up 25 percent; Falls Lake State Recreation Area, up 24 percent; and Stone Mountain, up 23 percent.