Yellowstone Visitation Down In July

Above, a crowd gathers at Old Faithful Geyer in the
 pre-pandemic year of 2019. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While this news may not be good news for park vendors and Yellowstone National Park area towns, it just may be good news for the park's ecosystem.

July park visitation was down due to the June floods. With fewer people stomping around, the park is able to "heal" somewhat, one would surmise.

The Idaho Capital Sun reported:

Visitation at Yellowstone National Park is down 30% so far this year following historic flooding that left damage and park closures in its wake. 

Park officials counted 596,562 recreation visits in July, which is down 45% from a record 1,080,767 visits that officials counted in July 2021, the busiest July in the park’s 150-year history, according to a new release issued by Yellowstone National Park last week.   

The North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, and the Northeast Entrance near Cooke City, Montana, are closed to vehicles but are open to pedestrians on foot and to bicycle traffic. 

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