Yellowstone Park visitor numbers are way way down

Tourists to the Nation’s first National Park have decreased dramatically since last year.
In September 2022, Yellowstone National Park hosted 568,000 visitors. This is a 36% decrease from September 2021 which saw 882,000 recreational visits, the most-visited September on record, and an 18% decrease from September 2019 which was the last year before COVID.
So far in 2022, the park has hosted 3,014,569 recreation visits, down 32% from 2021 at the same time.

The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through September):
2022 – 3,014,569 (The park was closed June 13 through June 21. Three entrances opened June 22.)
2021 – 4,472,687
2020 – 3,393,642 (The park was closed March 24 through May 17. Two entrances opened May 18 and the remaining three opened on June 1.)
2019 – 3,807,815
2018 – 3,860,695
2017 – 3,872,775
More data on park visitation, including how we calculate these numbers, is available on the NPS Stats website.