Husband and wife, Dave Ferraro and Veronica Santee, of Franklin, took an afternoon walk through the prairie at Jennings Environmental Education Center in July.

Attendance at parks and outdoor spaces greatly increased last summer, when many indoor spaces and other activities were canceled because of COVID-19.

With social distancing guidelines eased this summer, parks departments were able to conduct more scheduled activities than last year.

However, the wider availability of other activities had at least a slight effect on overall park attendance.

“Our attendance was lower than it was last year, but not by much,” said Wil Taylor, park manager of Jennings Environmental Education Center. “Some months, we had 2% more attendance, some we had 5% less. It was right around stable overall.”

According to Taylor, Jennings shifted its focus in 2020 to continue being accessible while also following COVID-19 mitigation guidelines. Self-guided tours of the prairie will likely be a permanent fixture because of their popularity in 2020, Taylor said.“We did a lot of self-exploration days, and we published self-guided tour books people could use that were very well received,” he said. “Those were new last year, and we expanded on them this year.”Similarly, the increase in visits to Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks from 2020 declined slightly this summer, and resembled statistics collected in 2019. However, that slight decline was actually somewhat of a perk for the parks.“At times, the crowds in 2020 were kind of overwhelming,” said Dustin Drew, manager of Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks. “Trails that got a lot of use last year had a chance to dry out and the park was less compacted. Our staff could restore themselves a little more.”Like Jennings, Moraine and McConnells Mill resumed hosting events and offering guided tours this summer, which Drew said had similar visitation numbers to 2019. The annual Lake Arthur Regatta saw good attendance, and the new pontoon tour boat purchased by the Moraine Preservation Fund also drew visitors.

Drew said many people who came to the parks in 2020 were new visitors, and many of them returned this summer.“In 2020, a lot of people said they never came to the parks before,” Drew said. “That's nice to hear, that a lot of those people are coming back and building that conservation mindset.”Mary Messer, director of Slippery Rock Area Parks and Recreation, said the park facilities had constant use over the summer.“Our summer this year just exploded,” Messer said. “We have a walking trail here, so a lot of people utilized that; our three baseball fields and softball fields were used every day. The parks were packed every single night.”Messer said Slippery Rock Area resumed programming this summer, including flag football and soccer, which were popular with youths. Messer said, overall, youths were a large part of attendance this summer.“I think parents were anxious to get them outside and just to get them fresh air,” Messer said. “They were isolated in their homes for a while, so they really enjoyed being outside this year.”

Although school is back in session, the outdoor offerings of state parks and municipal parks and recreation departments continue into the fall.Taylor said Public Lands Day on Sept. 25 is a big volunteer day at Jennings, and many people continue to visit the park each day.Drew said the fall is potentially an even more popular season for hiking than summer because the trails — McConnells Mill, especially — at both parks are complimented by the colorful fall foliage.“There is a lot to do in the parks in the fall,” he said. “There is less swimming and picnicking, but still a lot of boating and hiking.”