This study was conducted to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the capitalist economic system, with a particular focus on recreation. In the study, economic parameters related to outdoor recreation in the United States (real gross output, gross domestic product, employment rate, and sectoral interaction) were compared across the pre-pandemic period, the pandemic period, and the post-pandemic period. The comparison results indicate that, in the context of recreation, the decrease in economic magnitude ($) during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period is approximately one-third of the increase in economic magnitude ($) in the post-pandemic period compared to the pandemic period. Similarly, recreational activity preferences and expenditures in the post-pandemic period differed from those in both the pandemic and pre-pandemic periods. While boating and fishing were the activities with the largest economic volume in both the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, recreational vehicle (RV) activities emerged as the activity type with the largest economic volume in the post-pandemic period. In addition, activities such as guided tours and festivals, which ranked among the top five activities in terms of economic magnitude before the pandemic, were replaced by winter sports and equestrian activities in the post-pandemic period. These findings are important as they contribute to future research.