Yellowstone visitors down 45% last month compared to July 2021
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The following is a news release from Yellowstone National Park.
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyoming — Yellowstone National Park hosted 596,562 recreation visits in July. This is a 45% decrease from July 2021 (1,080,767 recreational visits), the most-visited July on record, and a 36% decrease from July 2019 (936,062), the last pre-Covid year.
On June 13, all entrances to Yellowstone National Park closed due to historic flooding. Park visitors were evacuated over the next 24 hours. On June 22, the East, South and West entrances to the park reopened on a limited entry basis. On July 2, entry restrictions on the East, South and West entrances were removed. The North (Gardiner, Montana) and Northeast (Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana) entrances remain closed to visitor vehicles.
As the park recovers from the June flood, it’s critical that visitors traveling to the park in the coming weeks stay informed about what’s open and closed.
So far in 2022, the park has hosted 1,864,771 recreation visits, down 30% from 2021.
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through July):
- 2022 – 1,864,771 (The park was closed June 13 through June 21. Three entrances opened June 22)
- 2021 – 2,668,765
- 2020 – 1,674,699 (The park was closed May 1 through May 18. Two entrances were open May 18 through May 31)
- 2019 – 2,294,691
- 2018 – 2,322,271
- 2017 – 2,316,541
More data on park visitation, including how we calculate these numbers, is available on the NPS Stats website.