Yellowstone visitation statistics for September 2021: Busiest September on record - first time park hosted over 4 million visits - NPS
News Release
Yellowstone visitation statistics for September 2021
Park exceeds 2016 year-to-date visits
NPS / Jacob W. Frank
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Contact: Morgan Warthin, (307) 344-2015
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Yellowstone National Park hosted 872,695
recreation visits in September 2021. This is a 4% increase from
September 2020 (837,114 recreation visits) and a 26% increase from
September 2019 (693,118 recreation visits).
This is the busiest September on record and the first time the park hosted over 4 million visits year-to-date.
So far in 2021, the park has hosted 4,463,599 recreation visits, up 32% from the same period last year, and up 17% from 2019.
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through September):
2021 – 4,463,599
2020 – 3,393,642*
2019 – 3,807,815
2018 – 3,860,695
2017 – 3,872,775
2016 – 3,970,778
"Never in Yellowstone's history have we seen such substantial visitation
increases in such a short amount of time," said Superintendent Cam
Sholly. "We will continue working with our teams and partners to develop
and implement appropriate short- and long-term actions for managing
increasing visitation across the park. My thanks to our teams here for
working through a record visitation year, especially with the continued
workforce challenges presented by COVID-19."
Affected areas: developed corridors
Yellowstone's road corridors and parking areas equate to less than 1,750
(0.079%) acres of the park's 2.2 million acres. Most visitors stay
within a half mile of these corridors.
Visitor use strategy
Yellowstone's visitor use strategy, developed in 2019, focuses on the
impacts of increasing visitation on: 1) park resources; 2) staffing,
infrastructure and operations; 3) visitor experience; and 4) gateway
communities, including economic and recreational access. The park is
concentrating on the most congested areas including Old Faithful, Midway
Geyser Basin, Norris, Canyon rims, and Lamar Valley.
Actions
The park has developed a comprehensive resource tool to monitor and respond to impacts on resources. The park piloted an AV shuttle system
in 2021, moving over 10,000 visitors at Canyon Village and testing
technology that could be used in the future. A major shuttle feasibility
study is underway to analyze the viability of a shuttle system in the
Midway Geyser Basin corridor. The park is also taking advantage of data
derived from recent major visitor surveys and transportation studies
to inform future decisions and is working closely with Grand Teton
National Park on future solutions since both parks substantially share
visitation each year.
Yellowstone has completed over $100 million in projects over the past
two years to improve transportation infrastructure, reduce traffic
congestion and enhance visitor experiences. Substantial additional
investments will continue in 2022 and 2023 in multiple areas of the park
as part of funding received from the Great American Outdoors Act.
Plan your visit
If you plan to travel to Yellowstone this autumn, check the road and weather conditions, plan ahead and recreate responsibly to protect yourself and the park. Stay informed about changes to park operations and services by downloading the NPS Yellowstone app and visiting www.nps.gov/yell or the park’s social media channels.
More data on park visitation, including how we calculate these numbers, is available on the NPS Stats website.
Editor’s note: *The park was closed March 24-May 18, 2020, due
to COVID-19. Two entrances were open May 18-31 and the remaining three
opened on June 1.