MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS — Yellowstone National Park (YNP) hosted 3,290,242 recreation visits in 2022, which is down 32% from 2021, the busiest year on record.
The historic floods in June 2022 closed public access to YNP. On June 13, all park entrances closed and visitors were evacuated over the next 24 hours. On June 22, the East, South and West entrances opened 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 through September.
The Northeast Entrance opened to regular visitor traffic on Oct. 15 and the North Entrance opened on Oct. 30. The road between the North and Northeast entrances is open to automobiles year-round.
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years:
- 2022 – 3,290,242 (The Park was closed June 13 through June 21. Three entrances opened June 22.)
- 2021 – 4,860,242
- 2020 – 3,806,306 (The Park was closed March 24 through May 17. Two entrances opened May 18 and the remaining three opened June 1).
- 2019 – 4,020,288
- 2018 – 4,115,000
- 2017 – 4,116,524
