A word of warning to any Starved Rock and Matthiessen state park visitors: If the parking lot is full, don’t park on the shoulder of Route 178. You’ll be ticketed.

That’s because officials in Utica are having flashbacks to COVID-19. The pandemic ushered in massive crowds – mainly Chicagoans looking for fresh air while social distancing – and egregious parking violations. This summer could be similar.

“It’s been creeping up lately,” Utica Police Chief James Mandujano said of park attendance, linking it to the arrival of gasoline hovering at $4 a gallon.

Monty Bernardoni, the site superintendent for Starved Rock and Matthiessen, predicted that high gas prices would inspire shorter day trips for Chicago-area families, which in turn would mean spiraling totals for the parks. He was right: Matthiessen had a May record 65,522 visitors while Starved Rock’s total stood 11% above average.

Parks have received no indication that summer visits are going to let up. With the U.S. mired in conflict with Iran since Feb. 28, fuel costs have soared and Americans reportedly are reevaluating long-distance summer travel plans based on pain at the pump.

Are all Illinois parks getting such a boost? Department of Natural Resources Director of Communications Jayette Bolinski said “this is not something the department tracks.”

Conservation Police said the trend appears limited to Starved Rock and Matthiessen, at least in northern Illinois. Capt. Mike Filipiak said his region mostly includes campsites with limited foot traffic, although the volume of visitors to Starved Rock and Matthiessen “has increased for sure.”

That’s some good-news and bad-news for Utica and for park staff.

In 2025, the village opened outdoor retail plaza Market on Mill and the business community welcomed any new influx of visitors to make the cash registers ring. The village raked in a record $665,000 share of all sales last year and would like to approach that figure again. A crush of tourists might achieve that goal.

On the other hand, a surge presents safety concerns for Conservation police and EMS.

Conservation Police Sgt. Phil Wire encouraged visitors to abide by all park rules, warning of significant risks. That’s after an incident that nearly claimed the lives of two boys after a “roughhousing” swimming incident at Cascade Falls Lower Dells. One of the youths received CPR and was saved from drowning.

While safety looms largest among the concerns over crowding, park supporters fret over the wear-and-tear on park facilities when the park is overrun with visitors.

“I believe the increased attendance is a good thing overall,” said Matthew Klein, president of the Starved Rock Foundation. “It shows how much people value Starved Rock and Matthiessen, and how important these parks are to our region.

“That said, more visitors means more pressure on the trails, parking, facilities and natural areas. So I don’t think it’s something to ignore. The parks can handle a lot of visitors, but only if there is continued investment, education and respect from the people using them.”

Park attendance actually had been ticking up before gas prices began soaring, thanks in part to federal cutbacks. During winter 2025, budget squabbles on Capitol Hill threatened closures at the national parks. State parks appear to have benefited from Americans making backup plans.

Matthiessen’s first-quarter totals were robust thanks to warmer-than-average days and rains that kept the waterfalls flowing. Through March 31, Matthiessen had more first-quarter visitors (nearly 71,000) than in any year except 2024, when Matthiessen set its all-time attendance mark with 545,525 visitors.