August 2020 was the 2nd busiest August in Yellowstone’s history, seeing 881,543 recreation visits.
The record was set during the August 2017 solar eclipse – 916,166 visits.
While this record is certainly impressive, it isn’t enough to rectify the downward trend observed from the pandemic.
2020 continues to have the lowest attendance of the last five years: 2,546,373 visits as of the end of August. This is 18% lower than in 2019, and 33% lower than 2016. 3,269,024 visits were recorded in 2016, the highest in the last 5 years.
But August 2020’s visitation was 7.5% higher than August 2019.
Considering the numbers and the pandemic-related obstacles – Yellowstone closing in March, the Wyoming gates reopening on May 18, the Montana gates reopening on June 1 – its reasonable to assume 2020 would have been another record-setting year for the park.
At the very least, people are still eager to come to visit and experience the wonders of Yellowstone – pandemic, or no.
