YNP Reports Third Busiest September
Written by Andrew-Rossi on October 12, 2017
Yellowstone National Park reported its third busiest September on record – but Park officials say it would have been better if it wasn’t for the snow.
The park hosted just over 640 thousand visits in September – that’s down 8.79 percent from September of last year, which saw almost 702 thousand visits and was a record breaker. The second busiest September was in 2015.
Officials say visits may have declined due to several days of inclement, snowy weather. Road closures resulting from snow, ice, and avalanche danger occurred on September 15th and 16th, and again from the 19th through the 23rd. Portions of the Beartooth Highway were also closed from September 15th through the 28th.
So far in 2017, the park has hosted almost 3.9 million visitors, which is down 2 and a half percent from the same period in 2016, which was the highest on record. But year-to-date visitation in 2017 is almost 20 percent higher than five years ago, in 2012.
