NEW YORK — What is the most popular national park in Kentucky? It’s Cumberland National Historical Park which had 762,959 visitors in 2016 who spent $52,528 at the park, reports 24/7 Wall St. in an article titled, “The Most Popular National Park in Every State.”

Interest in the national parks of the United States is growing. The number of visitors who came to national parks in 2016 was 331 million, exceeding the total population of the United States. Just 10 years ago, the number of visitors was closer to 275 million.

The Cumberland Gap, which became a national historical park in 1940, is one of the three natural breaks in the Appalachian Mountains. It served as a gateway for Native Americans who used it as a footpath. The Cumberland Gap was also a passage west for American settlers, including Abraham Lincoln’s parents and grandparents.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed National Park Service visitor data at all national parks, historical parks, recreational areas, national preserves, national memorials, and national monuments in the country to determine how many tourists they had in 2016. While some states have many national parks, others have just one.

A variety of reasons could explain this significant increase of tourism to national parks. An improving economy has put more money in people’s pockets and allowed them to travel to parks. Sharing pictures and videos on social platforms could be motivating people to visit the great outdoors. The trend of healthy living and environmentalism may be influencing tourists to explore.

24/7 Wall St., LLC is a Delaware corporation which runs a financial news and opinion company with content delivered over the Internet. The company’s articles are republished by many of the largest news sites and portals, including MSN Money, Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch, Time.com, USAToday and The Huffington Post. The company publishes over 30 articles per day and has readers throughout North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.