The state Environmental Protection Department says visits have tripled since 1980, to a record 18.8 million people in fiscal 2010.
DEP spokesman Lawrence Hajna told The Record newspaper people are staying closer to home and taking shorter vacations.
State parks charge $5 a car on weekdays and $10 a car on weekends.
The DEP says officials have tried to maintain the same opening hours even though the number of park employees has declined 26 percent over the past decade.
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Information from: The Record, http://www.northjersey.com
