YELLOWSTONE, Wyo (KIFI) - Yellowstone National Park has welcomed nearly 3.5 million recreation visits through August 2026, according to new National Park Service visitation data. This however shows a slight decline in the number of summer tourists traveling through the park compared to 2025.

The park recorded approximately 3.49 million recreation visits through August this year, compared with 3.54 million during the same period in 2025.

That represents a decrease of about 56,000 visits, or 1.6%, from last year.

The difference is more noticeable when compared with 2021, when Yellowstone was experiencing record-setting visitation.Through August 2021, the park recorded approximately 3.59 million recreation visits.

August Visitation also down

Yellowstone recorded 856,467 recreation visits in August 2026, down about 3% from August 2025.

Despite the decrease, August remains one of Yellowstone's busiest months of the year, with millions of visitors traveling through the park during the summer season.

West Yellowstone remains a major gateway

For visitors coming into Yellowstone from eastern Idaho and southwest Montana, the West Yellowstone entrance remains the park's busiest entrance.

National Park Service entrance data through July show nearly 425,000 recreational automobiles entering through the West Entrance in 2026.

That compares with approximately:

• 244,000 through the North Entrance
• 152,000 through the South Entrance
• 84,000 through the East Entrance
• 75,000 through the Northeast Entrance

The West Entrance accounted for roughly 43% of recreational automobile entries through the five traditional Yellowstone entrance stations through July.

Summer season still successful, despite smaller numbers

While the 2026 visitation is running below both 2025 and 2021 levels, Yellowstone continues to draw millions of people each year.

For communities surrounding the park — including West Yellowstone and Island Park — the summer tourism season remains a major driver of visitors traveling through the region, and the success of local businesses.

The National Park Service tracks “recreation visits,” which represent visits to the park and do not necessarily correspond to the number of unique individual visitors. A full release of the 2026 Calendar Year Statistics will be available in January of 2027.