Yellowstone Park has record October visitation
Annual visitation down 6% from 2019 and 9% from 2018
by National Park Service
November 13, 2020
Yellowstone National Park hosted 360,034 recreation visits in October 2020, up 110% from October 2019. This was the busiest October on record, surpassing the previous record (252,013) set in 2015 by an increase of 43%.
So far in 2020, the park has hosted 3,743,907 recreation visits, down 6% from the same period last year.
The park was closed due to health and safety reasons related to COVID-19 beginning March 24, 2020. Two Wyoming entrances opened on May 18 and three Montana entrances opened on June 1, 2020. All five entrances have been open since June 1.
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through October):
2020 – 3,743,907
2019 – 3,979,153
2018 – 4,078,771
2017 – 4,084,762
2016 – 4,212,782
2015 – 4,066,191
All roads in Yellowstone, with one exception, are closed to automobile traffic from early November to late April. The road from the park’s North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, through Mammoth Hot Springs to the Northeast Entrance and the communities of Cooke City and Silver Gate, Montana, is open year-round, weather-permitting.
Conditions permitting, most park roads will open to over-snow travel (snowmobiles and snowcoaches) on December 15, 2020. Visit href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/visiting-yellowstone-in-winter.htm">Explore in Winter for details.
If you plan to visit the park this winter, please have flexible travel plans and prepare for changing weather conditions. Temporary travel restrictions or closures can occur at any time without notice. Visit Park Roads for the status of Yellowstone roads, or call (307) 344-2117 for recorded information. To receive Yellowstone road alerts on your mobile phone, text "82190" to 888-777 (an automatic text reply will confirm receipt and provide instructions).
Visitors are asked to recreate responsibly and reduce the spread of COVID-19. If you are sick, do not visit the park. Self-quarantine to avoid exposing others. Services are limited in the park. To stay informed about changes to park operations download the Yellowstone App, or visit www.nps.gov/yell and the park's social media channels.
More data on park visitation, including how numbers are calculatedv, is available on the NPS Stats website.
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Editor’s Note on COVID-19 statistics: Yellowstone National Park has had over 3.7 million visitors in 2020. They have an estimated 2,000 employees. They report since reopening they have had only 16 park employees test positive for COVID-19 and no employee deaths (data as of the end of September 2020). Teton County (which includes the town of Jackson) has had 1,033 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2 COVID-19 related deaths in 2020 (data as of Nov. 13, 2020).
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