ABSTRACT

  Since the last World War the number of visitors to the state parks
of Wisconsin has increased at an accelerating rate. These large num-
bers of visitors have served to emphasize the inadequacies in space,
facilities for serving the public and maintenance of the parks. Such
conditions led to this study.
  In the summer of 1958 some 20,262 motorists were interviewed be-
tween June 20 and September 2 in twenty-seven state parks and southern
state forests and four northern state forest areas to get facts on which
planning could be based. This number of interviews amounted to 2 per
cent of the total number of cars passing over the park traffic counters
during this period. Each car had a passenger load averaging 3.5
persons.
  More than one-third (34%) of the state park and forest visitors
stated that they had come to the area principally for sightseeing; 19
per cent reported they had come for picnicking, 17 per cent for camp-
ing and 14 per cent for swimming. Boating, nature study, fishing, cot-
tage and resort use attracted relatively small numbers. In the northern
forests the highest proportions came for cottage use and resort use
(23%) and for fishing (20%), and nearly the same proportions as in
the state parks (15%) for camping. Camping is the greatest attraction
to out-of-state visitors.
  Two-thirds of the state park visitors were Wisconsin residents and
one-third nonresidents drawn mostly from states adjoining Wisconsin.
The resident visitors were drawn about equally from rural counties and
from the cities of the state. About one-half visited parks within fifty
miles of home.
  The average reported income of state park visitors was $5,551, some
15 per cent above the median family income for the United States in
1958. Two thirds of all reported incomes were in the $3,000-$9,000
range. The average reported income of northern forest visitors was
nearly $1,000 higher ($6,516) than that of state park visitors.
  Two-thirds of all the motorists interviewed had come because of
knowing about the park from a previous visit; another 19 per cent had
come on the recommendation of another person; direct advertising
accounted for 8 per cent of the visitors. The "familiar place"
reason
was most popular among out-of-state visitors, those from the counties
in which the park was located and those with incomes under $3,000.
   Four out of five visitors came to the parks for one day only; 4 per
cent stayed a week or longer. Generally those who stayed the longest

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