Well, the economy might be lousy, and gas prices might be uncomfortable, but that's not stopping folks from heading to Yellowstone National Park. A record 694,841 visitors to Yellowstone were counted in June.
According to the National Park Service, last month marked the second consecutive June in which the park saw a record number of visitors, and the third record-setting June in the past four years. This year's count was 100,000 higher than last year's.
Year-to-date, Yellowstone has been seen by 1,053,780 visitors, according to Park Service statisticians. That represents a 5.3 percent increase over last year's tally through six months.
This April, by the way, saw visitation nearly 32 percent higher than a year earlier, with 32,763 visitors counted this year and 24,831 last year.
Visitor numbers in June were up at all four entrances when compared to year-ago levels, with double-digit increases reported through the East and Northeast entrances, the park noted. The West Entrance remains the park’s busiest, with more than 280,000 visitors
recorded this June, compared to just over 261,000 a year ago.
July is typically the park’s peak visitation month, followed by August, June, September, and May, according to the park.
Yellowstone hosted a record number of visitors in 2009, when nearly 3.3 million people visited the world’s first national park. That turnout represented a 7.5 percent increase from 2008 and a 4.6 percent jump from the previous record of 3.15 million visitors set in 2007.
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Requesting help with a good plan on where to stay (without camping) in Yellowstone and an organized day by day plan on how best to see all the attractions. Needing good driving maps and literature if anyone has some to share or sell. Plan to spend a week or so within the park area, after flying in and getting a rental car. Have been there before but it involved camping over 40 years ago. Thank you in advance.
Richard