The Fourth of July in Yellowstone didn’t blow up records from previous years, but it shows visitation continues its trend of more vehicles and more people.
Yellowstone officials released the official visitation statistics for the entire Fourth of July weekend – July 2 to 5. Vehicle entry data is collected from park entrance stations’ point-of-sale systems and is usually released at the end of every month and after major holidays.
Overall, Yellowstone vehicle entries through the Fourth of July weekend showed an 8% increase over the same weekend in 2019.
All vehicle entry numbers in 2021 are compared to 2019 – the last regular year in Yellowstone. Unfortunately, due to pandemic-related trends, 2020’s numbers are not a good comparison.
There are no earth-shaking records for the weekend. In fact, most of Yellowstone’s gates saw lower or minimal increases to their vehicle entries for the entire weekend.
Then Monday happened . . .
By far, the most popular day of the four-day weekend was Monday, July 5. 12,825 vehicles entered the park that day – 33% higher than the same date in 2019.
Yellowstone’s West Gate continues to be the busiest entry into the park. On the Fourth of July, more vehicles entered the West Gate than nearly all the other four gates combined.
In decreasing order, the busiest Yellowstone gates were the West, North, South, East, and Northeast. For example, only 736 vehicles passed through the Northeast Entrance on July 5, compared to 5,530 vehicles thru the West Entrance on the same day.
This has already been a busy year for Yellowstone. The busiest May in the park’s history ended with massive Memorial Day attendance.
But more people bring more danger. The park’s fire danger level is currently Very High, with arid, windy conditions persisting in northwest Wyoming.
| Park entrance | Vehicle entries | Percent increase 2021 over 2019 | |
| Friday, July 2, 2021 | Friday, July 5, 2019 | ||
| East | 1,148 | 1,473 | -22% |
| North | 2,106 | 2,026 | 4% |
| Northeast | 570 | 862 | -34% |
| South | 2,049 | 2,226 | -8% |
| West | 5,228 | 5,680 | -8% |
| Total | 11,101 | 12,267 | -10% |
| Saturday, July 3, 2021 | Saturday, July 6, 2019 | ||
| East | 1,257 | 1,405 | -11% |
| North | 2,263 | 1,983 | 14% |
| Northeast | 667 | 861 | -23% |
| South | 2,203 | 1,730 | 27% |
| West | 5,470 | 5,377 | 2% |
| Total | 11,860 | 11,356 | 4% |
| Sunday, July 4, 2021 | Sunday, July 7, 2019 | ||
| East | 1,210 | 1,430 | -15% |
| North | 2,119 | 1,810 | 17% |
| Northeast | 604 | 751 | -20% |
| South | 1,767 | 1,744 | 1% |
| West | 5,359 | 4,511 | 19% |
| Total | 11,059 | 10,246 | 8% |
| Monday, July 5, 2021 | Monday, July 8, 2019 | ||
| East | 1,751 | 1,205 | 45% |
| North | 2,364 | 1,605 | 47% |
| Northeast | 736 | 649 | 13% |
| South | 2,444 | 1,764 | 39% |
| West | 5,530 | 4,407 | 25% |
| Total | 12,825 | 9,630 | 33% |
Summer is Yellowstone’s busiest season. Millions of people visit the park in June, July, and August. If you plan to travel to Yellowstone this summer, plan ahead, expect crowding and recreate responsibly to protect yourself and the park.
