by 
The closure of the North and Northeast gates to Yellowstone National Park led to yet another month of lowered visitation numbers. Yellowstone National Park hosted 567,587 recreation visits in September 2022. This is a 36% decrease from September 2021 (882,078 recreational visits), the most-visited September on record, and an 18% decrease from September 2019 (693,118) which was the last year before COVID.
On June 13, all entrances to Yellowstone National Park closed due to historic flooding. 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. On July 2, entry restrictions on the East, South and West entrances were removed. The North (Gardiner, Montana) and Northeast (Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana) entrances remained closed to visitor vehicle traffic through September. 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 3,014,569 recreation visits, down 32% from 2021 at the same time.
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through September):
- 2022 – 3,014,569 (The park was closed June 13 through June 21. Three entrances opened June 22.)
- 2021 – 4,472,687
- 2020 – 3,393,642 (The park was closed March 24 through May 17. Two entrances opened May 18 and the remaining three opened on June 1.)
- 2019 – 3,807,815
- 2018 – 3,860,695
- 2017 – 3,872,775
