I wonder how accurate the official visitor numbers for DEVA are. Does that number only include the people who actually paid or showed a pass at FC or SW, or paid at a kiosk? Or does it include an estimated number of the people who visit without doing so?
IIRC, the kiosks at the entrances were inoperative the last time I checked. And only two of the entrances even have those. Safe to say a lot of people blow by them, and don't stop by the visitor center or the SW station.
I could count on one hand the number of times I actually stopped in the visitor center, showed my pass, and got one of the colorful tags to tape in my window. (I think they stopped giving those out?) Often I entered and exited from remote roads, or at any rate did not pass through FC or SW during banker's hours, so would never have been counted. Even if I stopped at a kiosk, they had no capability of reading my pass card (how dumb was that!)
Oh, and nowadays, an increasing number of people can enter NPS units free, at least on certain days if not every day.
IIRC, the kiosks at the entrances were inoperative the last time I checked. And only two of the entrances even have those. Safe to say a lot of people blow by them, and don't stop by the visitor center or the SW station.
I could count on one hand the number of times I actually stopped in the visitor center, showed my pass, and got one of the colorful tags to tape in my window. (I think they stopped giving those out?) Often I entered and exited from remote roads, or at any rate did not pass through FC or SW during banker's hours, so would never have been counted. Even if I stopped at a kiosk, they had no capability of reading my pass card (how dumb was that!)
Oh, and nowadays, an increasing number of people can enter NPS units free, at least on certain days if not every day.