Visitation numbers for August decreased slightly in Yellowstone National Park. The overall decrease for August 2016 totaled 1.5 percent below August 2015. However, the first seven months of 2016 are up 4.3 percent compared to the previous year.
Two of the park’s five entrances (West Entrance and North Entrance) showed an increase in vehicles for the month of August compared to August 2015. The South Entrance showed a decrease because it was closed for six days due to fire activity south of the park.
Once again, the most striking increase in vehicle traffic was with buses. There were 16 percent more buses (303 buses) this August compared with August 2015.
Recreational Visits 2016
Recreational Visits 2015
Change
January
30,621
28,091
9%
February
36,327
34,343
5.7%
March
22,924
22,989
(1%)
April
59,253
46,600
27%
May
444,630
386,064
15.2%
June
838,316
780,768
7.37%
July
995,917
980,702
1.5%
August
841,036
854,409
(1.5%)
Total Year-To-Date
3,269,024
3,133,966
4.3%
While many factors could be at play, park managers point to the National Park Service’s Centennial year, marketing and tourism promotions by the states of Montana and Wyoming, and lower gas prices as influences in the record number of visits to Yellowstone so far this year. For additional park visitation data and information on how these statistics are calculated, go to irma.nps.gov/Stats/Reports/Park.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service