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Big 2021 Yellowstone Fourth of July weekend

It was a big Yellowstone Fourth of July weekend this year, as almost 50,000 vehicle entries were recorded over the holiday, representing an 8 percent rise over 2019.

Traditionally, a Yellowstone Fourth of July weekend is a big event. That was true in 2021, as the National Park Service recorded 46,845 visits over the four-day event. This is not a precise comparison because of where the Fourth fell on the calendar; the National Park Service is comparing holiday weekends, and in 2019 the holiday weekend fell on July 5-8. Take away July 8, 2019 from the equation, and the numbers are fairly comparable. (The comparison to 2019 vs. 2020 is apt; 2020 was a COVID summer, with skewed numbers due to limited travel.) Still, the numbers show some healthy visitation to Yellowstone this summer despite hot and dry conditions; May 2021 visitation set a record, and we’ll be interested to see the June numbers when they are posted.

Here are the numbers for vehicle entries by gate:

Park entrance Vehicle entries  
 Friday, July 2, 2021 Friday, July 5, 2019  % 2021/2019
East 1,148 1,473 -22% 
North 2,106 2,026 4% 
Northeast 570 862 -34% 
South 2,049 2,226 -8% 
West 5,228 5,680 -8% 
Total 11,101 12,267 -10% 
    
 Saturday, July 3, 2021 Saturday, July 6, 2019  
East 1,257 1,405 -11% 
North 2,263 1,983 14% 
Northeast 667 861 -23% 
South 2,203 1,730 27% 
West 5,470 5,377 2% 
Total 11,860 11,356 4% 
    
 Sunday, July 4, 2021 Sunday, July 7, 2019  
East 1,210 1,430 -15% 
North 2,119 1,810 17% 
Northeast 604 751 -20% 
South 1,767 1,744 1% 
West 5,359 4,511 19% 
Total 11,059 10,246 8% 
    
 Monday, July 5, 2021 Monday, July 8, 2019  
East 1,751 1,205 45% 
North 2,364 1,605 47% 
Northeast 736 649 13% 
South 2,444 1,764 39% 
West 5,530 4,407 25% 
Total 12,825 9,630 33% 

File photo courtesy National Park Service.

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