Yellowstone Insider Your Complete Guide to America's First National Park
July is the busiest time for Yellowstone visitation, followed by August. Though the numbers are down, the second-highest August visitation total in Park history is nothing to sneeze at, particularly coming in a down economy when unemployment rates and gas prices remain high.
For the record, 805,173 recreational visitors were in the Park in August 2011; that’s down some 5.8 percent from the 854,837 visitors to the park in August 2010, the highest recorded August total.
Here’s a look at August numbers in the past few years, as well as summer numbers for the past three years:
| Year | August Visitation | Year-to-Year Change | |
| 2011 | 805,173 | -5.8% | |
| 2010 | 854,837 | +13.5% | |
| 2009 | 752,983 | +3.0% | |
| 2008 | 731,063 | +3.0% | |
| 2007 | 710,781 | +11.8% | |
| 2006 | 635,666 |
| 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | |
| June | 634,316 | 694,841 | 643,844 |
| July | 906,935 | 957,785 | 900,515 |
| August | 805,173 | 854,837 | 752,983 |
| Summer | 2,346,424 | 2,507,463 | 2,297,342 |
| Total Year-to-Date | 2,653,832 | 2,866,401 | 2,654,378 |
It’s shaping up to be a pretty good year in terms of Yellowstone numbers. The summer and year-to-date figures are a little down from 2010 but up compared to 2009. We expect September to be a pretty good year when the final numbers come in; a quick check of the Xanterra reservation system shows strong room demand for the rest of the month and arly October.
July is typically the park’s peak visitation month, followed by August, June, September, and May.
To put these numbers in some perspective: Yellowstone is not the most popular National Park when it comes to the numbers. Far more people visit the Blue Ridge Parkway (1.88 million in August), Gateway National Recreational Area in New York/New Jersey (1.22 million in August), the Golden Gate National Recreational Area in San Francisco (1.12 million in August) and Cape Cod National Seashore (1.02 million visitors in August). So the next time you’re complaining about how crowded Yellowstone is, keep in mind there are far smaller National Park Service spaces attracting many more visitors.
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