Yellowstone NP Has Record Attendance In 2021

The final numbers have been tallied and the Nation’s First National Park can say it had its busiest year on record.

Yellowstone National Park officials say there were more than 4.86 million recreational visits in 2021.

That’s about 600-thousand more than the previous record of 4.257 million in 2016.

The 2021 numbers are up 28% from 2020, or 1.54 million more visitors, however 2020 numbers were impacted by the COVID pandemic.

Park officials estimate about 350-thousand vehicles re-entered the park during the course of the 2021 season.

They attribute that number to 20% fewer overnight stays in the park during the year, due to in part of COVID, and various construction projects, to name a few reasons, thus fewer campsites and hotel rooms within the park were available.

Yellowstone has completed more than $100 million in projects over the past two years to improve transportation infrastructure, reduce traffic congestion and enhance visitor experiences.

Last year, the park started an Automated Shuttle Pilot system in the Canyon Village area, and a feasibility study is underway to make the system available in other areas of the park, sometime in the future.

Most roads within the park are currently open to snowmobile and snow coach traffic.

Those roads will close in early to middle March so that snowplow crews can work on clearing the roads.

The west entrance to the park is scheduled to open to motor vehicle traffic in middle-April.

The park’s north and northeast entrances are open to motor vehicle traffic year-round, depending on weather and road conditions.

2022 will mark the 150th anniversary for the park.