In 2011, outdoor recreation among Americans reached the highest participation level in the last five years. Nearly 50 percent of all Americans ages six and older, or 141.1 million individuals, participated in at least one outdoor activity in 2011, making 11.6 billion outings. In fact, last year, Americans enjoyed 1.5 billion more outings than the previous year. Compared to 2010, participation in outdoor activities increased slightly among all age groups from 6 to 44, while participation among those ages 44 and up remained relatively flat.

Outdoor participation among youth and young adults continued the promising but modest trend - with one percentage increases in every age bracket, 6 to 12, 13 to 17 and 18 to 24 respectively. This accounted for more than 4 billion outdoor outings for the younger generation with an annual average of nearly 90 outdoor outings. While encouraging, these rates are significantly lower than those recorded in 2006. For example, 63 percent of youth ages 6 to 12 participated in outdoor recreation in 2011, compared to 78 percent in 2006.