Yellowstone National Park Releases 2018 Visitation Statistics

From Yellowstone National Park;

Yellowstone National Park experienced another busy year in 2018. The park recorded over 4.1 million visits, a .04 percent decrease from 2017 and a 3.5 percent decrease from the record-breaking year in 2016. It was the third busiest year on record.

Recreation Visits by Year:

2018 – 4,114,999

2017 – 4,116,524

2016 – 4,257,177

2015 – 4,097,710

2014 – 3,513,484

To calculate visitation numbers for late December during the shutdown, staff used data from an automated counter that recorded vehicle traffic at the North Entrance and reports from over snow concessioners.

Yellowstone is a place known and loved by local, regional, national, and international visitors. In this era of increased visitation, the National Park Service remains committed to preserving Yellowstone’s resources and the experience of people who come here. Continued high levels of visitation at Yellowstone remind visitors how important it is to plan your visit ahead of time.

More data on park visitation, including how we calculate these numbers, is available on the NPS Stats website.