CNMF Awarded $13,400 National Park Foundation Innovation Grant to Expand Visitor Monitoring at Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument Foundation is proud to announce we have been selected to receive a $13,400 grant from the National Park Foundation as part of its inaugural Innovation Grant cohort. This funding will bring new Eco-Counters to Cabrillo National Monument, giving park staff better information to plan, protect, and care for the park.
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo Statue with surrounding visitors gazing away from the camera at the ocean
Cabrillo National Monument welcomes nearly one million visitors annually, all within a compact, 166 acre area that includes sensitive coastal sage scrub habitat, a rocky intertidal ecosystem, and historic cultural resources. With so much happening in a relatively small space, understanding when visitors arrive and where they go is an important part of caring for the park.
This grant will support the purchase and installation of three new Eco-Counter Pyro Nano infrared sensors to monitor visitor activity at high-priority sites: the Visitor Center, auditorium, and the Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo statue. The automated sensors will count visitors entering and exiting these areas, providing park staff more complete visitation data.
With a clearer picture of how people move through the park, staff will be better equipped to anticipate busy periods, place employees and volunteers where they are needed most, schedule maintenance during quieter times, manage congestion, and identify areas experiencing heavy use.
The National Park Foundation’s inaugural innovation cohort includes 18 grants totaling more than $10 million and benefiting 21 national parks. The funded projects will test new approaches to connectivity, visitor information, data-informed decision-making, park operations, and resource protection.
We are grateful to the National Park Foundation for investing in this work and our park. We will continue to share updates on this project as the Eco-Counter sensors are installed and data is collected. Sign-up to receive our e-news here to follow along as this project unfolds.
This project was made possible with a grant from the National Park Foundation.