Yellowstone Saw 45% Decrease in Visits This July Compared to 2021
According to a press release by National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park had 596,562 recreation visits in July 2022.
That was a 45% decrease from the 1,080,767 visits in July 2021, the most-visited July on record, and a 36% decrease from the 936,062 visits in July 2019.
The decrease in visitation follows the historic flooding the park had on June 13, when all entrances to Yellowstone National Park were closed and park visitors were evacuated over the next 24 hours.
By June 22, the East, South, and West entrance to the park had reopened on a limited entry basis, then on July 2, entry restrictions on the East, South, and West entrances were removed.
The North entrances to Gardiner, Montana, and the Northeast entrance to Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana still remain closed to visitor vehicles.
Since the park closed, a plethora of construction and repair projects have begun throughout the park in order to fix the roads and bridges that have been destroyed.
As of Aug. 12, the Small Business Administration has approved $6,984,800 in disaster loans to those affected by the flooding, $4,007,000 going towards businesses, and those seeking economic injury disaster loans (EIDL), and $2,977,800 has gone toward homes.
The deadline for physical disaster loans is Aug. 29, while the deadline for EIDLs is March 30, 2023.
So far in 2022, the park has hosted 1,864,771 recreation visits, down 30% from 2021 when the park had 2,668,765 visitors, and compared to 1,674,699 visitors in 2020, 2,294,691 in 2019, 2,322,271 in 2018, and 2017 in 2,316,541.
In 2022, the park was closed from June 13 through June 21, with three entrances opened on June 22.
In 2020, the park was closed from May 1 through May 18, with two entrances open from May 18 through May 31.