Yellowstone National Park sees drops in visitors last month compared to past years
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The following is a news release from Yellowstone National Park.
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyoming — Yellowstone National Park hosted 582,211 recreation visits in August 2022. This is a 37% decrease from August 2021 (921,844 recreational visits), the most-visited August on record, and a 29% decrease from August 2019 (820,006), the last year pre-COVID.
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 2,446,982 recreation visits, down 32% from 2021 at the same time.
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through August):
- 2022 – 2,446,982 (The park was closed June 13 through June 21. Three entrances opened June 22)
- 2021 – 3,590,609
- 2020 – 2,556,528 (The park was closed March 24 through May 17. Two entrances opened May 18 and the remaining three opened on June 1)
- 2019 – 3,114,697
- 2018 – 3,136,241
- 2017 – 3,232,707
More data on park visitation, including how we calculate these numbers, is available on the NPS Stats website.