Visitors to national parks: A test of the elitism argument

It frequently has been assumed that the poor and some minority groups largely lack the financial wherewithal to travel to America's national parks. Data showing an underrepresentation of the poor among visitors at some parks has spurred charges of “elitism” in national park use, and has been an often‐used argument to justify more development (especially the provision of low‐cost facilities) in the national parks. This study tested for relationships between several status characteristics and the national park visitation of residents of the Pacific Coastal Region. As hypothesized, income, education, occupation and a cumulative status measure were all positively related to the frequency of national park going. But the low magnitude of the relationships suggests that the charges of “elitism” in national park going are overdrawn, and that perhaps there has been a substantial democratization of social‐class access to a “national park experience” during this century.

Key Words:

• outdoors recreation
• leisure
• national parks
• parks
• socioeconomic status
• social class
• equity