Yellowstone: June 2022 Attendance 40% Lower Than 2021 (But Overall Attendance Isn’t Too Bad)
Written by Andrew-Rossi on July 25, 2022
June attendance in Yellowstone National Park was considerably lower in 2022, but considering a week’s closure, two severed entrances, and devastating floods – it’s not as low as many feared.
Yellowstone National Park’s 150th anniversary has been one of the most disruptive in its history. However, while the park’s attendance is considerably lower than the record-breaking numbers seen in 2021, it’s still steady and relatively high.
On Monday, July 25, park officials released the official visitation statistics for June 2022. At the beginning of the month, the park was operating as usual for the summer season. By the end, the park missed a whole week of visitation, and two entrances were – and will remain – completely severed from the park’s roadways.
Courtesy National Park Service & Jacob W. Frank
Yellowstone hosted 536,601 recreation visits in June 2022 – a 43% decrease from June 2021 (938,845 recreation visits), which was the most-visited June on record.
It’s low. But considering the tumultuous month that was June 2022 – it’s not that low.
On June 13, all entrances to Yellowstone National Park closed due to historic flooding. Because of this, all park visitors were evacuated over the next 24 hours.
On June 22, the East, South, and West entrances to the park reopened on a limited entry basis. However, portions of the park remained closed through the remainder of June, including the North and Northeast entrances.
As the park recovers, visitors traveling to the park in the coming weeks must stay informed about what’s open and closed.
So far, in 2022, the park has hosted 1,268,053 recreation visits, down 20% from 2021.
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through June):
- 2022 – 1,268,053 (The park was closed from June 13 through June 21. Three entrances opened on June 22)
- 2021 – 1,587,998
- 2020 – 719,054 (The park was closed May 1 through May 18. Two entrances were open May 18 through May 31)
- 2019 – 1,358,629
- 2018 – 1,381,708
- 2017 – 1,354,137
Visitation to the park is lower than in most of the previous six years. Nevertheless, June 2022 saw significantly more visits than June 2020, when the pandemic crippled international travel.
