Yellowstone August 2020 visitation second busiest August on record

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. (KIFI/KIDK) - Yellowstone National Park hosted 881,543 recreation visits in August 2020.

This is a 7.5% increase from August 2019, making it the second busiest August on record.

The busiest August on record was in 2017, the year of the solar eclipse.

So far in 2020, the park has hosted 2,546,373 recreation visits, down 18% 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 August):

• 2020 – 2,546,373
• 2019 – 3,114,697
• 2018 – 3,136,241
• 2017 – 3,232,707
• 2016 – 3,269,024
• 2015 – 3,133,965

More data on park visitation is available on the NPS Stats website.