July Visitation Increases Slightly

Date: August 9, 2016
Contact: Morgan Warthin, [phone]

Visitation numbers for July, often the busiest month of the summer season, increased slightly in Yellowstone National Park. The overall increase for July totaled 1.5 percent over July 2015. The first seven months of 2016 are up 6.5 percent compared to the previous year. 

Two of the park’s five entrances (West Entrance and South Entrance) showed an increase in vehicles for the month of July compared to July 2015. Three entrances reported a slight decrease in vehicles (North Entrance, East Entrance, and Northeast Entrance).  

Once again, the most striking increase in vehicle traffic was with buses. There were 13 percent more buses (301 buses) this July compared with July 2015.

	Recreational Visits 2016	Recreational Visits 2015	Change
January	30,621	28,091	9%
February	36,327	34,343	5.7%
March	22,924	22,989	(1%)
April	59,253	46,600	27%
May	444,630	386,064	15.2%
June	838,316	780,768	7.37%
July	995,917	980,702	1.5%
Total Year-To-Date	2,427,988	2,279,557	6.5%

While many factors could be at play, park managers point to the National Park Service's Centennial year, marketing and tourism promotions by the states of Montana and Wyoming, and lower gas prices as influences in the record number of visits to Yellowstone so far this year. For additional park visitation data and information on how these statistics are calculated, go to irma.nps.gov/Stats/Reports/Park.

As part of a park-wide social science effort, randomly selected visitors are being asked to take a survey pertaining to their travel through the park from August 4-14. This survey is being conducted by the National Park Service in partnership with Resource Strategies Group Inc.

This data collection effort will be used to understand trends in the demographics, experiences, opinions, and preferences of visitors to Yellowstone National Park. The survey results will help park managers to make decisions that reflect the experiences and needs of visitors and help the park better provide enjoyment, inspiration, and education to the visiting public, while still protecting park resources. The survey report will be available in spring of 2017.

More information is available here: www.nps.gov/yell/learn/news/visitorusestudy.htm.