High Visitation Numbers Bring Management Concerns
Written by Andrew-Rossi on August 14, 2018
Yellowstone marked its second busiest July on record.
The park hosted over 940 thousand visits last month, which is a slight decrease from last year. So far in 2018, the park has hosted over 2.3 million visits, up slightly from the same period last year.
Year-to-date visitation in 2018 is 19 percent higher than five years ago in 2014. In a press conference last week, Superintendent Dan Wenk commented that there are days when there are over 35,000 visitors in the Park at once – and he says management is going to have to change in relationship to the increasing numbers.
The continued high level of visitation in the park underscores the importance of planning a Yellowstone adventure ahead of time. Park officials say visitors should anticipate delays or limited parking at popular destinations, and check road conditions on the park’s website before they arrive.