Spring visitation up 11%

June 9, 8:24 PMYellowstone National Park ExaminerAndrew Stanton

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Photo courtesy Yellowstone National Park

Below is a press release from the National Park Service. Some are heralding the upswing in visitation as a sign the economy may be recovering, while others say the public is just realizing the comparative bargain of National Parks for their vacations. Which ever it is more are coming to see the wonders of Yellowstone.

PRESS RELEASE:

After four months of declining or near flat visitation, Yellowstone saw a dramatic increase in visitors in May.

Over 260,000 people visited Yellowstone in May, up over 20 percent from last year’s levels. For the first five months of the year, nearly 360,000 people came through the park gates, a nearly 11 percent increase over the same period in 2008. Visitation figures for the first five months of the year are also up compared to the five-year average of just over 340,000 visitors. 

Most of the park is inaccessible by automobile during the winter and early spring. May represents the first month most major park roads are open to wheeled visitor traffic and when visitor services begin to reopen for the busy summer season. 

The park’s East Entrance saw the greatest increase in visitation, up nearly 21 percent in May compared to the previous year. The West Entrance remains the park’s busiest, with nearly 115,000 visitors passing through the gate in May, up nearly 17 percent from 2008. The South and North entrances also showed impressive increases compared to last year’s levels.

Nice spring weather like the park experienced in May is typically reflected by stronger visitation numbers. An analysis of past visitation trends also indicates park visitation typically rebounds as the country begins to pull out of an economic downturn.

The winter and spring seasons represent a small but important portion of the park’s annual visitation, which topped the 3 million mark the last two years. In comparison, as many people will visit the park during two weeks in July as typically enter during the entire first five months of the year. 

Visiting the national parks remains a good value. A seven-day pass good for both Yellowstone and Grand Teton is just $25; a pass good for entrance to any national park for an entire year is just $80. Even better, the National Park Service is offering three fee-free weekends to encourage Americans to visit their national parks. The first is right around the corner: Father’s Day Weekend, June 20-21.

All communities near and on the way to Yellowstone are open all year, with local businesses offering a wide range of recreation opportunities.