MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – The park hosted 916,166 visits in August 2017. This was the busiest August on record, up 8.93 percent from August 2016, which saw 841,036 visits. The second busiest August was in 2015 and saw 854,408 visits. Visits were slightly down in August 2016 when the South Entrance Station was closed for 6 days due to the Berry Fire.
This year, the park experienced increased visitation during the days immediately surrounding the solar eclipse that occurred on August 21. An especially large number of visits occurred on August 22. Traffic congestion that day caused the park to briefly limit access to the Old Faithful and West Thumb Geyser Basin parking areas as well as to send rangers to manage traffic at Madison Junction.
So far in 2017, the park has hosted 3,232,708 visits, down 1.11 percent from the same period in 2016 (which was the highest on record). The table below shows the trend over the last five years. Year-to-date visitation in 2017 is 17.4 percent higher than five years ago in 2012.
Year-to-date Recreational Visits (through August)
2017: 3,232,708
2016: 3,269,024
2015: 3,133,965
2014: 2,717,039
2013: 2,553,998
2012: 2,710,519
The continued high level of visitation at Yellowstone underscores how important it is for visitors to plan their trip to the park. Visitors should anticipate delays at popular attractions and check road conditions on the park’s website.
Detailed park visitation information and additional information on how these statistics are calculated is available online.
