Yellowstone Sees Busiest September On Record

Eruption of Old Faithful Geyser, main attraction of Yellowstone National Park... (Photo by: Gagliardi Giovanni/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – The park hosted 837,499 recreation visits in September 2020. This is a 21% increase from September 2019, making it the busiest September on record.
So far in 2020, the park has hosted 3,383,872 recreation visits, down 11% 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 September):
2020 – 3,383,8722019 – 3,807,8152018 – 3,860,6952017 – 3,872,7752016 – 3,970,7782015 – 3,814,178
Visitors: 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. Stay informed about changes to park operations. Download Yellowstone’s App, and visit www.nps.gov/yell and the park’s social media channels. To reduce wait times at park entrances, buy a pass online ahead of time.
More data on park visitation, including how we calculate these numbers, is available on the NPS Stats website.