Campers like these at Sebago Lake State Park helped set attendance records in the state park system each of the past three years. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

For the third year in a row, Maine state park campgrounds set an attendance record with more than 319,000 visitor nights last year at the state’s 12 campgrounds – an increase of 1% over 2021.

In addition, Maine state parks saw the second-highest number of total visitations (day visitors plus campers) in 2022 with more than 3.28 million people spending time at Maine’s 48 state parks and historic sites, according to the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.

In 2021, Maine state parks welcomed more than 3.3 million visitors, including more than 315,000 campers staying at campgrounds from Sebago Lake to Cobscook Bay and Aroostook County. The total number of campers in 2021 was a 12% increase over 2020.

In 2020, even though campgrounds were shut down early in the season because of the pandemic, state park campgrounds saw an 8% increase in visitors over 2019 with 280,371 visitors.

“Many of us have been interested to see whether the pandemic spike in outdoor activity would be sustained. Our 2022 statistics show that Maine people and our visitors continue to love our state parks,” said Andy Cutko, the bureau’s director, .

Online camping reservations for Lily Bay State Park on Moosehead Lake and Sebago Lake State Park – two of the state’s most popular campgrounds – open at 9 a.m. on Feb. 1 at campwithme.com.

Reservations for the other 10 Maine state parks opens at 9 a.m. on Feb. 6.