Sun dog over the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Blame the Snow: October 2019 Yellowstone Visits Down

You can probably blame snowstorms and early seasonal road closures, as October 2019 Yellowstone visits were down when compared to 2018, according to National Park Service officials.

The NPS recorded 170,038 October 2019 Yellowstone visits, which is 22 percent less than the numbers tallied in October 2018. Bad weather undoubtedly played a roll in this decrease: Park roads were closed for several days due to snowy and icy conditions, and both the Beartooth Highway and Dunraven Pass closed early due to snowy conditions.

So far in 2019 Yellowstone has hosted 3,977,852 visits, down 2.5 percent from the same period last year.

The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreational visits over the last several years (through October):

2019 – 3,977,852
2018 – 4,078,770
2017 – 4,084,763
2016 – 4,212,782
2015 – 4,066,191
2014 – 3,483,608

Photo of sun dog over the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by Jacob W. Frank, courtesy of National Park Service.

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