Yellowstone hosts record visitor count in September

Yellowstone National Park broke yet another visitation record this September. With 882,078 recreation visits, this was a 5 percent increase from September 2020 and a 27 percent increase from September 2019 according to a National Park Service press release. The park has hosted over 4 million visitors year-to-date.

“Never in Yellowstone’s history have we seen such substantial visitation increases in such a short amount of time,” said Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly. “We will continue working with our teams and partners to develop and implement appropriate short- and long-term actions for managing increasing visitation across the park.”

Yellowstone is addressing and monitoring the impact of visitation with a plan set in 2019, focusing on park resources, staffing, infrastructure, and operations, visitor experience and gateway communities. The park is concentrating on the most congested areas including Old Faithful, Midway Geyser Basin, Norris, Canyon rims, and Lamar Valley, according to the release.

YNP piloted their first automatic electric shuttle system in 2021, transporting over 10,000 passengers. The park is using funds from the Great American Outdoors Act to reduce traffic congestion, improve transportation infrastructure and elevate visitor experiences.

More data on park visitation, including how visitation is calculated, is available on the NPS Stats website.