Beautiful Weather Enabled Another Record-Breaking Month

Date: November 8, 2010
Contact: Al Nash, 307-344-2015

National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

Yellowstone National Park
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190
   
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2010 10-119   
Al Nash [phone]

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE
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Beautiful Weather Enabled Another Record-Breaking
Month in Yellowstone

To those out and about in Yellowstone last month, it’s no surprise that October set another visitation record. The actual numbers, however, said it all – up over 52% from last year, and almost 20,000 more than 1988, which held the previous October record. Year-to-date visitation is up 10.4% from last year.

Unusually mild weather, less construction, and regional travelers happy to have the park a little more to themselves, may be some of the factors contributing to the record visitation of 189,072 in October; making it the fifth record-breaking month in a row for the park.

Visitation figures were up at all five park entrances when compared to 2009 levels. The West Entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana, remains the park’s busiest, with nearly 80,600 visitors in October; more than double the next highest numbers which were at the North Entrance, near Gardiner, Montana.

Recreational Visitors	2010	2009	Change
January through April	65,137	58,326	+ 11.7 %
May	250,445	261,763	-  4.3 %
June	694,841	643,844	+  7.9 %
July	957,785	900,515	+  6.4 %
August	854,837	752,983	+ 13.5 %
September	550,504	489,438	+ 12.5 %
October	189,072	123,867	+ 52.6 %
Total Year-To-Date	3,605,977	3,267,683	+  10.4 %

Recreational Visitors	October	Year to Year Change
2010	189,072	+ 52.6 %
2009	123,867	- 14.9 %
2008	145,488	+ 4.1 %
2007	139,789	- 4.8 %
2006	146,790	+ 2.7 %
2005	142,912

Detailed park visitation information is available online at http://www.nature.nps.gov/stats/.

The road from the park’s North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, through Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Junction, the Lamar Valley, and on to Cooke City is open to wheeled vehicle travel all year, but all other entrances and park roads closed to automobile travel this morning, Monday, November 8, at 8 a.m.  
 
At Mammoth Hot Springs, the Yellowstone General Store, Post Office, medical clinic, campground, and the Albright Visitor Center remain open all year. Pay-at-the-pump fuel is available 24 hours a day all year at the Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction service stations.

-- www.nps.gov/yell --