Yellowstone's visitors reflect great age diversity, but not-so-great racial diversity/NPS

Not too many years ago there was a concern that the national parks were losing their relevancy with the American public. Crowds that have been swarming the park system since last year should be easing that concern, though if Yellowstone National Park is any indication, the park system still lacks racial diversity among its visitors.

A Visitor Use Study, compiled from information collected last year and released this past week, found that just 7 percent of the 4.25 million visitors to Yellowstone in 2016 were Hispanic or Latino, and just 1 percent identified as Black or African-American. Eighty-two percent of those surveyed, meanwhile, identified as being white, while 15 percent were Asian.

In terms of age diversity, Yellowstone's visitors in 2016 provided a healthy mix, with 32 percent identified as Baby Boomers (52-70 years old), 24 percent as Generation X (36-51), 14 percent as Millennials (19-35) and 24 percent age 18 or younger.

Not only did Baby Boomers comprise the highest number of visitors, when broken down by generational age categories, but you might say they were the most adventuresome. Thirty-nine percent of Baby Boomers coming to Yellowstone entered through the Northeast Entrance at Cooke City/Silver Gate, with another third of that generation coming in through the East Entrance.

Far and away the bulk of visitors -- 83 percent -- were from the United States.

"International visitors were from 25 countries and comprised 17 percent of total visitation to the park during the study period. Forty-nine percent of international visitors came from Europe, 34 percent came from China, and 10 percent came from Canada," the report said. 

When you compare international visitation to total visitation for the park, Chinese visitors represented just 6 percent of the total, and Italians, who amounted to 11 percent of international visitors, represented just 2 percent of total visitation.

Somewhat surprising, if you've ever been to Yellowstone and wish you had more time to see all the park offers, is that slightly more than a third of the visitors stayed in the park for just a day.

Getting around the park did prove troublesome for about 45 percent of those surveyed. For those who couldn't see all they wanted to see in Yellowstone, 64 percent said they didn't have enough time, 34 percent said it took longer to move around the 2.2-million-acre park than they anticipated, 34 percent could not find a place to park, and 18 percent blamed traffic issues.