Yellowstone sees nearly 4.8 million visits in 2025 despite government shutdown

Yellowstone, Montana (KIFI) - Yellowstone National Park welcomed nearly 4.8 million recreation visits in 2025, according to a new release from the National Park Service.

The park recorded 4,762,988 visits over the year—an impressive number that comes despite a 43-day partial federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. During that time, the National Park Service worked to keep parks open and accessible whenever possible, allowing visitors to continue accessing some of the nation’s most iconic landscapes.

2025 Visitation Highlights

• 4,762,988 recreation visits
• 86,891,452 total visitor hours spent in the park
• 1,238,983 overnight stays

Park officials say these numbers reflect not only Yellowstone’s enduring popularity, but also the importance of maintaining access to public lands—even during challenging circumstances.

Visitation data plays a key role in how the National Park Service manages park resources, staffing, and visitor experience. Officials use these trends to balance conservation efforts with public access, ensuring parks remain both protected and enjoyable.

That demand is also spilling into nearby communities like West Yellowstone, where in-town employees and locals like Cam Carter are already preparing for a busy summer. Carter, who helps operate the Holiday Motel in town, shared that they've seen rooms consistently booked out during the summer season.

"The whole town is only one square mile, so it can become very packed," Carter shared. "We've had to turn away people in our motel room every single night at peak season. We definitely have felt that, in the last couple of years, especially since Covid, it's been a lot busier in the park, since Covid."

The National Park Service also noted that Yellowstone’s numbers are part of a broader national dataset. Of the 433 sites in the National Park System, 406 parks reported visitation in 2025, with records dating back to 1979 in some locations.

For visitors and park managers alike, the data offers a snapshot of how Americans continue to connect with the outdoors—even in uncertain times.