WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (WENY) -- According to the New York State Parks Office, Watkins Glen State Park has shattered its yearly attendance record, beating the previous record by nearly 200,000 attendees.

Across the state it was the eleventh straight year of parks seeing a jump in attendance, the total increased by six percent to reach 84.1 million.

In the Finger Lakes, parks with photogenic features like waterfalls saw large increases in attendance. Watkins Glen State Park saw a total attendance of 1.2 million in 2023.

The Finger Lakes Regional Park system stated that the jump in attendance came from social media interactions and a boost in tourism to the Finger Lakes as a whole. Bus tours frequented parks like Watkins Glen on route to destinations like Niagara Falls and New York City.

Boosts in attendance could also be seen at Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls State Parks.