Park Statistics

 

Important Dates

• June 27, 1958 – Senator Ralph W. Yarborough of Texas introduced a bill providing for the establishment of Padre Island National Park (later changed to "National Seashore").

• September 28, 1962 – Padre Island National Seashore is established.

• April 6, 1968 – First Lady Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson dedicates the park.

• January 1970 – Park facilities officially open.

• December 31, 1970 – Cattle grazing in the park ends.

• Summer 1978 – Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Restoration and Enhancement Program is created.

• April 2007 – The park becomes part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network Laguna Madre Wetland Complex.

Geographic Figures

• Total Area: 130,434.3 acres (52.784.9 hectares) or 203.8 square miles (527.8 square kilometers).
• Lowest Elevation: 0 feet (0 meters) Gulf of Mexico.
• Highest Elevation: ~25 feet (~7.6 meters) Green Hill.

 

Visitation Statistics

Visitation to Padre Island National Seashore has changed over the years. The National Park Service records monthly visitor use statistics and publishes them online. View the interactive NPS Visitor Use Statistics page to explore numbers and information from 1966 to present.

Economic Impact

In 2022, 532 thousand park visitors spent an estimated $26.2 million in local gateway regions while visiting Padre Island National Seashore. These expenditures supported a total of 356 jobs, $10.4 million in labor income, $16.3 million in value added, and $31.6 million in economic output in local gateway economies surrounding Padre Island National Seashore.

Use the interactive Visitor Spending Effects tool to explore the economic contributions of National Park Service visitor spending at the national, state, and local levels.

Budget

The National Park Service budget is developed each February for the next fiscal year, which starts October 1. The budget defines the NPS’ goals and objectives and the funding necessary to accomplish them. The NPS budget is rolled up into the budget for the Department of the Interior and then with the rest of the Executive Branch and submitted to Congress for its review and approval.