Cape Hatteras National Seashore recorded its highest July visitation number since 2003 with 451,849 recreational visits last month.
It’s also the fourth-highest level of July visitation since the establishment of the seashore in 1953. Last month’s visitation is an increase of almost 3% over last July, seashore officials said.
The news follows the seashore’s highest June visitation rate in 18 years.
Visitation estimates are collected by counting southbound vehicles just north of the Marc Basnight Bridge and using a multiplier to estimate the total number of passengers heading south. Those estimates are added to the number of passengers going to Ocracoke Island from Cedar Island and Swan Quarter.
