Who, Who,What, What,Where Where&&hoW hoWaround aroundthe theParks Parks BY TH E n U M B E RS " Go outside and Play " T The facts on outdoor recreation HE 2010 OUTDOOR RECREATION PARTICIPATION REPORT is the only detailed study of its kind tracking American participation trends in outdoor recreation. The study is based on an online survey capturing responses from over 40,000 Americans ages 6 and older and covers 114 different activities. Below are some facts from that report that might just surprise you: 137.8 million: The number of Americans who participated regularly in some form of outdoor recreation in 2009. That number represents nearly 50 percent of Americans ages 6 and older. 40: The percentage of outdoor recreation participants who reported that the economy is requiring them to cut back on their expenditures for all non-essentials (including outdoor activities). 75: The percentage of children ages 6 to 12 whose participation in outdoor activities was infl uenced by an adult. 87: The average number of annual outings reported by those who have walking trails or paths accessible from their homes. (Contrast this number with the 72 average annual outings reported by those who do not have accessible walking routes.) 67: The percentage of Caucasian children ages 14,652,000: The number of children 6-12 who participated in some form of outdoor recreation in 2009. Contrastingly, only 50 percent of Hispanic kids and 39 percent of African-American kids in the same age group participated. ages 6 to 17 participating in biking-related outings (i.e., both road and mountain biking). This number makes biking the most popular outdoor activity among children. 6.4: The level at which outdoor recreation 18.4: The percentage increase in the number of adventure-racing participants in 2009 (making adventure racing the outdoor activity fastest growing in popularity). 43.5: The percentage of 2009 triathlon participants who reported being fi rst-time racers that year (making triathlons the activity with the highest number of fi rst-timers). 16 Parks & Recreation M A R C H 2 0 1 1 w w w . N R P A . O R G ISTocK participants rated their own fi tness level (on a scale of 1 to 10). Those respondents who did not participate in outdoor recreation rated their fi tness level at 4.9.