What Are The Outdoor Activities – Throughout 2019, the Outdoor Foundation analyzed participation in different sports and activities for its most recent report to determine which were the most and least popular and to see if any emerging trends could be identified.
According to their latest findings, here are the top 10 most popular outdoor activities in the United States in 2019:
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The study looks at several factors, trends, and demographics that may be influencing why these numbers look the way they do. Here’s a quick breakdown of each:
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Running is by far the most popular outdoor activity in the United States. More than 61 million US citizens completed a recreational run in 2019. That is 20.2% of all US citizens aged 6 and over, up from 19.2% of all US citizens in the previous year.
Running is universally popular because (unlike many other outdoor activities) you don’t need a lot of specialized equipment, you can do it anywhere, and it’s not prohibitively expensive.
For these reasons and more, running has been the most popular outdoor sport in the United States since 2010, but 2019 was the most successful year. In 2019, it was the most popular outdoor activity among the following demographics:
Fishing remains a very popular pastime in the United States. It was actually more popular than any other outdoor activity in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
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In 2019, 50.1 million (16.6%) US citizens participated in some form of fishing. It was the second most popular outdoor activity for white Americans, with 17.9% participating.
While many outdoor activities are high-octane affairs, fishing is a gentler option for the elderly, those with disabilities, and anyone looking to enjoy a relaxing outdoor activity near rivers or lakes. For these reasons and more, fishing is a popular pastime around the world.
As part of the study, all non-participants were asked about activities they might like to participate in.
(a non-participant is defined as someone who has not participated in any external activity within the measured 12-month period)
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Interestingly, many non-participants were very interested in the prospect of fishing and many of them cited it as one of their favorite things to try. The following non-participating demographics named fishing as the #1 research they were most interested in:
It seems that fishing has the potential to become much more popular if those in the above demographics find a way to partake in the activity.
In 2019, 49.6 million (16.4%) of US citizens went on a hike, an outdoor adventure that has steadily and consistently grown in popularity since 2007, when the same number was only about 10.8%.
Hiking was the most popular outdoor activity among white Americans (with 19.4% participation) and the second most popular outdoor activity among Asian Americans (with 20% participation). It was also the second most popular outdoor activity among 18-24 year olds (with 22% participation).
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It’s hard to say why hiking has grown in popularity so quickly recently, but here are some of the most commonly attributed factors:
This category includes road bikes, mountain bikes and BMX bikes, which is part of the reason for such a large number of participants. In 2019, 48.8 million (16.1%) US citizens participated in some form of bicycling.
In 2019, bicycling was the most popular outdoor activity for US citizens aged 6 to 17, with 25.6% participating.
We can probably assume that these cycling numbers have increased significantly in 2020. During the coronavirus pandemic, many people bought and rode bicycles, which will likely result in higher attendance figures in 2020 numbers.
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This category includes auto camping, backyard camping, backpacking, and RV camping, meaning there are many attractions for different demographics. Since 2012, the number of campsites has remained fairly constant after a reasonably significant decrease compared to previous years.
As with fishing, many of the non-participants expressed interest in the camping potential. Most of the non-participating population groups who named fishing as the most interesting activity also named camping as the second most interesting activity. The top five demographics that listed camping as the second most popular outdoor activity are:
Again, it appears that this activity comes with barriers to accessibility. If camping and fishing could become more affordable and inclusive, people in these demographics might be tempted to engage in both activities.
20 million (6.6%) American citizens engaged in wildlife viewing in 2019. This is a sharp drop from the numbers camping in fifth place. It is quite clear that the first five entries on this list are far more popular than any of the other outside pursuits.
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Interest in wildlife viewing has been fairly stable since 2007, with very few (and only very small) ups and downs. It was a slightly more popular pastime in 2007 and 2008 than subsequent years, but not significantly.
In general, animal watching is more popular with older people. Perhaps marketing to young people can be fruitful research for animal observation industry associations.
15 million (5% of) US citizens engaged in some form of hunting in 2019. Here, too, the hunting figures were very stable, with no major increases or decreases. Of all the outdoor activities in the top 10, hunting was the most stable in popularity (between 2007 and 2019).
Rifle hunting is still the most popular type of hunting, while pistol shooting is still the least popular type of hunting. Archery and rifle hunting are sandwiched between the two.
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As environmental awareness increases, some experts predict that hunting’s popularity may soon decline, but the numbers don’t reflect that expectation.
14.8 million (4.9%) of US citizens skied in 2019, the same percentage as in 2018. This number includes downhill skiing, freeskiing, and telemark skiing, but excludes skiing background.
These ski stats across all age groups have only been tracked by the Outdoor Foundation since 2018, so it’s difficult to see long-term trends.
However, since 2007 cross-country numbers have been recorded in all age groups, although these numbers have increased slightly in the last 3-4 years. If this model shows an increasing popularity with all ski types, we can assume that all ski numbers will increase in the future.
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But even if we can observe and expect a general long-term ski trend, we can expect a sharp drop in ski numbers in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic has closed many ski resorts and ski facilities.
12.8 million (4.2%) US residents engaged in bird watching in 2019, an activity that has recently grown in popularity.
From 2007 to 2016, participation in birdwatching gradually decreased, but from 2016 participation slowly increased again. 2019 was the busiest year in birding of 2015.
Again, it’s possible that increasing environmental awareness (along with a massive boom in wildlife documentaries) may have sparked the recent resurgence in birding.
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2020 has likely been a very good year for birdwatching as people have started to pursue alternative pastimes during the coronavirus pandemic. Since you can see birds pretty much anywhere, it’s a good pastime if your movements are largely confined to your surroundings.
11.3 million (3.8%) US citizens participated in recreational kayaking in 2019, the most popular year.
Kayaking’s popularity has been growing steadily for a long time, with the number growing almost every year from just over 5.07 million people in 2007.
In less than 15 years, the number of American kayakers has more than doubled, making kayaking one of the most up and coming outdoor adventures in the United States.
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Here we are very interested in observing trends and patterns in outdoor activities and drawing attention to which activities are gaining or decreasing in popularity.
It’s an interesting insight into which activities are regaining popularity, which once-popular activities have declined, and what trendy new hobbies are on the rise. There are always surprising results, this year as always.
In 2019, snowboard attendance saw a massive 9.4% increase over the previous year, rising from 7.12 million to 7.79 million. Snowboarding was even more popular in its glory days in 2011 but has seen a relatively big resurgence of late.
Like skiing, snowboarding suffered in 2020 as many snowboard venues and resorts were temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s possible (and hoped) that this will lead to a massive surge in snowboarder numbers once the pandemic is largely over.
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Winter Fat Cycling saw an 8.8% increase from 2018 to 2019, with the number of participants increasing from 1.44 million to 1.56 million.
If you’ve never heard of the winter fat bike, it’s not as weird as it sounds. It’s basically just powder skiing – and because you’re skiing in powder, the tires have to be fat. But what it is is one of the hottest new kids on the practice block, and while attendance is still fairly small, it’s growing very quickly.
The Outdoor Foundation only started counting numbers for winter fat bikes in 2018, so we’ll have to wait a bit to see if this strong upward trend continues.
From 2018 to 2018, there was an 8.4% increase in kayak fishing in the United States
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