Park Service releases August visitation numbers for Yellowstone

Although Yellowstone National Park visitation in August was at the third highest level in history, visitor numbers were still down 3.1 percent compared to last year.

According to the National Park Service, 780,286 recreational visitors passed through Yellowstone’s gates last month.

Visitation year to date is 2.7 million, up 2.1 percent over 2011.

July is typically Yellowstone’s busiest month, and that was true again this year, with more than 888,000 visitors.