October Visitors Set Second Highest Yellowstone Record

Date: November 8, 2011

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, 2011         11-113
Al Nash or Dan Hottle [phone]

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YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE
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October Visitors Set Second Highest Yellowstone Record

It was no trick that more than 175,000 visitors to Yellowstone National Park last month were treated to unseasonably beautiful fall weather, yielding the park's second highest October visitation numbers on record and securing the park's second highest annual record.

With two more months remaining in the year, Yellowstone has already hosted 3,365,614 visitors, besting 2009's annual numbers. The park's record year in 2010 saw more than 3.6 million visitors, followed by nearly 3.3 million visitors in 2009.

The upswing last month may be attributed to several days of sun and mild temperatures that averaged in the 50s, including a high on the first day of October of 72 degrees.

The West Entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana, remained the park's busiest, with 77,526 visitors in October, nearly double the next highest numbers of 35,821, which were recorded at the North Entrance, near Gardiner, Montana. The South Entrance near Jackson, Wyoming, followed with 32,569; the East Entrance at Cody, Wyoming, with 18,185; and the Northeast Entrance at Cooke City, Montana, at 11,981. 

For the third straight summer, Yellowstone topped more than 3 million visitors between the months of May and September, the latter month seeing more than half a million visitors for the second time in a row.

Recreational Visitors	2011	2010	Change
January through April	99,566	108,515	- 8.2%
May	207,842	250,445	- 17.0%
June	634,316	694,841	- 8.7%
July	906,935	957,785	- 5.3%
August	805,173	854,837	- 5.8%
September	536,349	550,504	- 2.6%
October	175,433	189,072	- 7.2%
Total Year-To-Date	3,365,614	3,605,999	- 6.7%

Recreational Visitors	October	Year to Year Change
2011	175,433	- 7.2%
2010	189,072	+ 52.6%
2009	123,867	- 14.9%
2008	145,488	+ 4.1%
2007	139,789	- 4.8%
2006	146,790

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 November 7.
 
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.

For more detailed visitation statistics, visit www.nature.nps.gov/stats.

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