10/06/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/06/2026 14:12
News Release Date: October 6, 2026
Contact:Yellowstone Public Affairs, (307) 344-2015
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. - Yellowstone National Park hosted 868,450 recreation visits in September 2026, up 3% from September 2025 (839,579 recreation visits).
Visitation in September 2026 showed a 2% decrease from September 2021 (882,078 recreation visits), which was Yellowstone's record-breaking year with over 4.8 million recreation visits and the busiest September on record.
So far in 2026, the park has hosted 4,360,300 recreation visits, down 1% from 2025 (4,387,546 recreation visits), and down 3% from 2021 (4,472,687 recreation visits).
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through September):
2026 - 4,360,300
2025 - 4,387,546
2024 - 4,346,785
2023 - 4,147,382
2022 - 3,005,194 (The park was closed June 13 through June 21 due to the historic flood event. Three entrances opened on June 22.)
2021 - 4,472,687
More data on park visitation, including how we calculate these numbers, is available on the NPS Stats website.
-nps.gov/yell-
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