Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park have record October

November 25, 2020
Travel

Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park reported their highest number of visitors for October.

Visits to Yellowstone National Park in October increased 110% from the same month a year before and making it the busiest October on record, park officials said earlier this month, the Great Falls Tribune, a USA TODAY Network publication, reports.

The park hosted 360,034 recreation visits in October, surpassing the previous record of 252,013 set in 2015 by 43%, officials said. So far in 2020, the park has hosted 3,743,907 recreation visits, down 6% from the same period last year.

The park was closed due to health and safety concerns related to COVID-19 beginning March 24. Two Wyoming entrances opened on May 18 and three Montana entrances opened on June 1, park officials said.

FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2011 file photo a bison from Yellowstone National Park walks through the snow shortly before being shot and killed during a hunt by members of an American Indian tribe, near Gardiner, Mont. U.S. officials have rejected a petition to protect the park's roughly 4,500 bison, which are routinely hunted and sent to slaughter to guard against the spread of disease to cattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

All roads in Yellowstone, with one exception, are closed to vehicle traffic from early November to late April. The road from the park’s north entrance at Gardiner through Mammoth Hot Springs to the northeast entrance and Cooke City and Silver Gate is open year-round, weather-permitting.

Conditions permitting, most park roads will open to oversnow travel (snowmobiles and snowcoaches) on December 15, 2020. Visit Explore in Winter for details.

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