Through the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences, economists apply rigorous research and data analysis to help Arizona understand the economic value of outdoor recreation. Their longstanding partnership with Arizona State Parks and Trails provides the state with objective expertise to measure visitor spending, economic contributions and the value of parks and trails — helping inform decisions about public resources and future investments.

Across Arizona in 2025, visitors to Arizona state parks contributed $555 million to the state economy, supporting $273 million in state gross domestic product and 2,948 jobs, according to a recent University of Arizona analysis. Much of this activity occurred in rural areas, supporting jobs and income in these communities. 

The counties where state park visitation supported the most economic activity were Mohave County, home to Lake Havasu State Park ($91 million); Coconino County, which has Slide Rock and Riordan Mansion ($71 million); and Yavapai County, which has the most state parks among counties with six ($62 million).

“Most of this economic activity is associated with big recreation parks like Lake Havasu, Slide Rock and Catalina State Park, but the more remote a park is, the more likely people are to stay overnight, whether they're camping or staying in a hotel, and this tends to support more local economic activity,” said Cooperative Extension Economist Dari Duval, who coauthored the analysis.

The recent report is the latest in a years-long U of A partnership with Arizona State Parks and Trails. Previous studies conducted by the U of A team for the state agency include a 2020 visitor spending contribution report, a 2020 study estimating the economic value of trails in Arizona and a 2025 State Parks Visitor Survey.

These studies have also demonstrated changing levels of participation in outdoor recreation during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, revealing important insights into the value that Arizonans place on parks and outdoor recreation. Visitation at Arizona state parks jumped during the pandemic and has slowly returned to pre-pandemic levels since.

“Even as inflation is pressuring budgets, people continue to engage in outdoor recreation, and part of that could be that it is a fairly affordable form of recreation that provides people and communities with a lot of value,” Duval said.

The relationship builds trust and allows U of A researchers to see deeper and deeper into the data over time, said George Frisvold, a co-author on the projects.

“Every time we do a particular study, be it state park tourism or some other economic activity, we learn something new. This allows us to improve our analysis in subsequent studies,” he said.

The relationship has helped State Parks improve data collection, and bringing graduate students onto the team broadens the contributions from the university, Frisvold said.

The university research helps the state plan park improvements the public would most like to see and maintain stewardship over environmental and cultural resources, said Dawn Collins, State Parks and Trails executive project manager and lead outdoor recreation planner.

Next year, the agency plans to publish a University of Arizona analysis of the economic impact of off-highway vehicles, Collins said.

“These studies allow our agency and partners to communicate, in clear metrics, the economic value of these outdoor recreation activities as well as examine costs and considerations from community members and land managers,” she said.

The partnership offers the state an objective, often peer-reviewed alternative to consultants, who often don’t include methodology in similar reports, Duval said.

“It has really become a nice partnership,” she said.