Montgomery, Ala – More than 849,000 people visited the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville last year, ranking it first among state attractions that charge admission, state tourism officials said. The Birmingham Zoo ranked second with 543,090 and the Huntsville Botanical Garden was third with 353,841.
Barber Vintage Motorsports Park in Birmingham placed fourth with 352,000 and the McWane Science Center in Birmingham was fifth with 347,508. USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile was sixth with 343,034 and Point Mallard Park in Decatur was seventh with 274,448.
Adventureland Theme Park in Dothan was eighth with 250,000 and the Montgomery Zoo was ninth with 245,620. Alabama Splash Adventure was 10th with 190,134.
The Alabama Tourism Department also released attendance figures for other categories. The beaches of the Alabama Gulf Coast were the most visited natural destination in the state, attracting 6.7 million tourists last year. The Birmingham Botanical Gardens attracted 352,000 visitors to make it the most attended free attraction. More than 890,000 people celebrated Mobile’s Mardi Gras making it the most attended event. University of Alabama home football games played at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa had the highest attendance for sports destinations with 785,663, followed by 637,567 at Auburn University.
Attendance figures were collected by the Alabama Tourism Department from local tourism organizations.
(note: Attendance figures for the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the Legacy Museum and The Park at OWA were not available.)
Top 10 – Admission Charged Attractions 2018
#1 U.S. Space & Rocket Center
Huntsville
256-837-3400
2018 attendance: 849,981
2017 attendance: 786,820
#2 Birmingham Zoo
Birmingham
205-879-0409
2018 attendance: 543,090
2017 attendance: 593,322
#3 Huntsville Botanical Garden
Huntsville
256-830-4447
2018 attendance: 353,841
2017 attendance: 367,953
#4 Barber Vintage Motorsports Park
Birmingham
205-702-8709
2018 attendance: 352,000
2017 attendance: 350,000
#5 McWane Science Center
Birmingham
205-714-8300
2018 attendance: 347,508
2017 attendance: 354,642
#6 USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park
Mobile
251-433-2703
2018 attendance: 343,034
2017 attendance: 335,717
#7 Point Mallard Park
Decatur
256-341-4902
2018 attendance: 274,448
2017 attendance: 274,170
#8 Adventureland Theme Park
Dothan
334-793-9100
2018 attendance: 250,000
2017 attendance: 250,000
#9 Montgomery Zoo
Montgomery
334-240-4900
2018 attendance: 245,620
2017 attendance: 246,339
#10 Alabama Splash Adventure
Bessemer
205-481-4750
2018 attendance: 190,134
2017 attendance: 143,240
Top 10 – Free Attractions 2018
#1 Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Birmingham
205-414-3950
2018 attendance: 352,000
2017 attendance: 350,000
#2 Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment
Huntsville
256-533-0399
2018 attendance: 285,000
2017 attendance: 275,000
#3 Alabama State Capitol
Montgomery
334-242-3188
2018 attendance: 151,156
2017 attendance: 152,847
#4 Birmingham Museum of Art
Birmingham
205-254-2565
2018 attendance: 127,693
2017 attendance: 123,000
#5 Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Hanceville
205-795-5722
2018 attendance: 110,000
2017 attendance: 100,000
#6 Army Aviation Museum
Fort Rucker
334-598-2508
2018 attendance: 100,000
2017 attendance: 100,000
#7 Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
Montgomery
334-240-4333
2018 attendance: 94,249
2017 attendance: 98,341
#8 Aldridge Gardens
Hoover
205-682-8019
2018 attendance: 87,372
2017 attendance: 86,000
#9 Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Cemetery
Tuscumbia
256-412-5970
2018 attendance: 75,000
2017 attendance: 70,000
#10 Jesse Owens Museum
Danville
256-974-3636
2018 attendance: 59,000
2017 attendance: 49,000
Top 10 – Events 2018
#1 Mobile Mardi Gras
Mobile
251-208-2000
2018 attendance: 892,811
2017 attendance: 1,050,000
#2 W.C. Handy Music Festival
Florence
256-766-7642
2018 attendance: 300,000
2017 attendance: 300,000
#3 National Shrimp Festival
Gulf Shores
251-968-6904
2018 attendance: 250,000
2017 attendance: 250,000
#4 National Peanut Festival
Dothan
334-793-4323
2018 attendance: 200,000
2017 attendance: 206,000
#5 Gulf Coast Balloon Festival
Foley
251-943-5550
2018 attendance: 165,000
2017 attendance: 100,000
#6 Barber Vintage Festival
Birmingham
205-967-4745
2018 attendance: 79,336
2017 attendance: 77,500
#7 Christmas at the Falls
Gadsden
256-549-4500
2018 attendance: 77,333
2017 attendance: 86,416
#8 Magic City Classic
Birmingham
205-947-4745
2018 attendance: 65,906
2017 attendance: 61,221
#9 Ballyhoo Festival
Gulf Shores
205-665-6090
2018 attendance: 20,000
2017 attendance: 15,000
#9 Winfield Mule Day
Winfield
205-487-3002
2018 attendance: 20,000
2017 attendance: 19,000
Top 10 – Parks and Natural Destinations 2018
#1 Alabama Gulf Coast Beaches
Gulf Shores/Orange Beach/Fort Morgan/Dauphin Island
251-968-7511
2018 attendance: 6,700,000
2017 attendance: 6,630,000
#2 Gulf State Park
Gulf Shores
251-948-7275
2018 attendance: 2,320,000
2017 attendance: 2,229,901
#3 Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
Decatur
256-350-6639
2018 attendance: 670,000
2017 attendance: 670,000
#4 Oak Mountain State Park
Pelham
205-620-2520
2018 attendance: 501,100
2017 attendance: 500,000
#5 Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park
McCalla
205-477-5711
2017 attendance: 500,000
2016 attendance: 500,000
#6 Railroad Park
Birmingham
205-521-9933
2018 attendance: 395,186
2017 attendance: 425,388
#7 Lake Guntersville State Park
Guntersville
256-505-6632
2018 attendance: 295,200
2017 attendance: 287,200
#8 Wind Creek State Park
Alexander City
256-329-0845
2018 attendance: 248,500
2017 attendance: 281,200
#9 Joe Wheeler State Park
Rogersville
256-247-5466
2018 attendance: 248,458
2017 attendance: 242,224
#10 J.D. & Annie S. Hays Nature Preserve
Owens Cross Roads
256-564-8077
2018 attendance: 200,000
2017 attendance: 175,000
Top 10 – Sports Destinations 2018
#1 Bryant-Denny Stadium – University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa
205-348-7166
2018 attendance: 785,663
2017 attendance: 786,379
#2 Jordan-Hare Stadium – Auburn University
Auburn
334-844-4750
2018 attendance: 637,567
2017 attendance: 651,451
#3 Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
Birmingham
1-800-949-4444
2018 attendance: 522,813
2017 attendance: 582,738 (numbers reflect the Barbasol Championship held in Opelika)
#4 Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega
877-Go2-DEGA
2018 attendance: 420,000
2017 attendance: 430,250
#5 Birmingham Barons Baseball
Birmingham
205-988-3200
2018 attendance: 391,061
2017 attendance: 391,725
#6 Montgomery Biscuits Baseball
Montgomery
334-323-2255
2018 attendance: 238,538
2017 attendance: 228,376
#7 Veterans Memorial Stadium- Troy University
Troy
334-670-3832
2018 attendance: 147,160
2017 attendance: 146,736
#8 Legion Field Stadium – University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham
205-322-1233
2018 attendance: 145,747
2017 attendance: n/a
#9 Burges-Snow Field – Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville
256-782-5781
2018 attendance: 101,421
2017 attendance: 94,636
#10 Ladd-Peebles Stadium – University of South Alabama
Mobile
251-460-6101
2018 attendance: 96,383
2017 attendance: 104,070