Yellowstone National Park Announces Big Record
Yellowstone National Park is having a very good year.
Despite proposed budget cuts that have impacted staffing, Yellowstone National Park managed to attract a record-high number of visitors in May.
As National Parks Traveler reports, Yellowstone welcomed a total of 566,363 guests in the month of May, which was a record-high number for the park and an eight percent increase over May 2024’s numbers.
Related: Man Gored By Bison at Yellowstone National Park
Overall, reports the the National Park Service, Yellowstone has logged a total of 762,672 guests this year as of May 31, which is the highest-ever number for this period of time. This puts the park on track to potentially experience its busiest year ever.
At this point, at Yellowstone, that record belongs to the year 2021, when more than 4.8 million visitors passed under its Roosevelt Arch.
As the oldest national park in not just the United States, but the world, Yellowstone National Park first opened to visitors on March 1, 1872. Its more than 2.2 million acres are situated mostly in Wyoming, though parts of the park extend into Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone is well known for its geothermal features, including an array of geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles, as well as its abundant wildlife, which freely roam the park.
That latter point, however, has been a source of danger for some visitors, who have opted to get too up-close and personal with the park’s wilder residents. At least two people have reportedly been gored by bison this year, including one incident in May and another just last week.
Related: Yellowstone Hits Major Reopening Milestone as Busy Summer Tourism Season Looms
In late May, just ahead of the commencement of the summer season, the park announced that it had reopened Dunraven Pass, a stretch of road that connects the park’s Canyon Village to Tower Fall, making all 2.2 million acres accessible to visitors. Which is certainly one way to ensure the visitor experience is a memorable one.