St. Louis' Gateway Arch Saw 2.4 Million Visitors in 2023

The Gateway Arch National Park saw its highest number of visitors since 2012 — a total of 2.4 million people. That's according to a new set of numbers released last week.

The numbers are due in part to a significant revision in methodology that the park made last year. Previously, counts were based on a visitors' study dating back to the 1990s, which suggested that for every four people who went to the visitors' center, one additional person stopped by the park.

But as any St. Louisan can tell you, plenty of people go to the park grounds without actually going to the visitors' center. Whether they're there for yoga, fireworks or just a picnic, the Arch grounds are generally full of people who don't see a need for an underground history lesson during a particular visit. Smartphone data backs up that fact: A two-year study completed earlier this year shows that for every one visitor to the visitors' center, another is on the grounds.

So, it's likely visitors were undercounted for the last few decades. But still, we'll take what we can get — and 2.4 million visitors is something to be proud of. (And did we mention it's also remarkably safe?)

“We are pleased to see such strong visitation in 2023,” Jeremy Sweat, superintendent of Gateway Arch National Park, said in a statement. “The National Park Service is looking forward to continued collaboration with our park partners to create high quality visitor experiences in 2024 and as we prepare for the reopening of the Old Courthouse in 2025, which will further expand opportunities for park visitors.”

Below, official year-end visitor tallies from 2007 to the present:

2007: 2,385,387
2008: 1,954,810
2009: 2,360,109
2010: 2,436,110
2011: 2,259,020
2012: 2,496,726
2013: 2,377,258
2014: 1,817,091
2015: 1,698,656
2016: 1,271,855
2017: 1,398,188
2018: 2,016,180
2019: 2,055,309
2020: 486,021
2021: 1,145,081
2022: 1,618,774
2023: 2,422,836



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