Yellowstone National Park sets May Tourism Record
The park had more than 483,000 recreation visits last month, up 11 percent from May 2019.
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Yellowstone National Park saw a record number attendance for the month of May. The park had more than 483,000 recreation visits last month, up 11 percent from May 2019, park officials reported last week.
This comes as Yellowstone reports it is currently having its busiest year in recent memory. The park recorded more than 658,000 visits from January through May, the most since 594,000 visits during that time in 2016. The park has attributed the surge in visitors to the ease in restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic and the rebound in tourism.
Usually the park opens to vehicles between mid-April and mid-May. But, last year they closed from late March through most of May due to the coronavirus. Yellowstone’s two Wyoming entrances opened for the summer season May 18 and its three Montana entrances opened June 1.
Tourism rebounded and the park posted its second-busiest August and busiest September and October on record. The park finished 2020 with 3.8 million recreation visits, down just 5 percent from 2019.
