Yellowstone National Park South Entrance, Yellowstone visitation

Nearly 1.5 Million Visit Yellowstone So Far In 2016

Visitation to Yellowstone National Park is up 10 percent from this time last year—and we’re not even in the busy season yet.

According to new information from Yellowstone, visitation for the month of June alone is up a whopping seven percent, as you can see in the table below:

Month 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 444,817 383,064 +15.2%
June 838,316 780,768 +7.37%
Total Year-To-Date
1,432,258 1,298,855 +10.27%

We previously reported that May 2016 saw nearly 15 percent more visitors than May 2015. From a Yellowstone press release:

Most of the park’s five entrances showed an increase in vehicles for the month of June compared to June 2015. The West Entrance recorded the largest vehicle increase in June, with 9,020 more vehicles than June 2015.

Similar to the month of May, the most striking increase in vehicle traffic was with buses. There were 25 percent more buses (514 buses) this June compared with June 2015.

A number of factors are likely driving the rise in visitation between this time now and last year, from the National Park Service Centennial to cheaper gas prices.

Based on the numbers, it’s likely 2016 will top 2015, which saw over four million people visit Yellowstone National Park. And in all likelihood, visitation will continue to crest or stay high; some parks have started considering visitor caps and other measures to keep national parks healthy and stable for future years.

Historically, the busiest month for Yellowstone visitation has been July, followed by August, June, September, and May.

About Sean Reichard

Sean Reichard is the editor of Yellowstone Insider and author of Yellowstone Insider For Families 2017.

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