Yellowstone Saw Decrease in Visits in June Following Flooding

According to a press release by the Yellowstone National Park, the park had 536,601 recreation visits in June 2022, a 43% decrease from 938,845 recreation visits in June 2021, the most-visited June on record.

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Part of the decrease was due to the park closing all entrances on June 13 due to historic flooding, with all visitors evacuated over the next 24 hours.

It wasn't until June 22 that the east, south, and west entrances to the park were reopened on a limited entry basis, with portions of the park still closed, including the north and northeast entrances.

On July 21, Yellowstone reopened access to Tower Junction, allowing visitors to bike, hike, and fish between Tower Junction and Slough Creek, and on July 22 Beartooth Highway reopened as well after portions of it were made available on June 28.

Currently, 94% of Yellowstone's backcountry is open for use day and night as crews continue to evaluate the damage done to the park.

While northern entrances to the park are most closed, a temporary and limited access road between the north entrance and Mammoth Hot Springs is currently an active construction zone and plans to be converted to a two-lane road at some point before winter.

So far in 2022, the park has had 1,268,053 recreation visits, down 20% from 1,587,998 at this point in 2021, and lower than the past several years as well.

In 2019, the park saw 1,358,629 visits, compared to 1,381,708 in 2018 and 1,354,137 in 2017.

In 2020, that number was 719,054, as the park was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic from May 1 to May 18, with two entrances open from May 18 through May 31.