Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park visitation statistics
Grand Teton National Park on pace to see busiest year since 2021
by National Park Service
November 22, 2024
Grand Teton National Park visitation statistics
Grand Teton National Park hosted more than 3.5 million recreation visits between January and October, already making 2024 the second busiest year on record. The busiest year on record is 2021, with almost 3.9 million recreation visits for the entire year. Four of the last ten months have been the second busiest months.
"Even though the year isn’t over yet, the data shows us that Grand Teton National Park continues to resonate with millions of visitors," said Superintendent Chip Jenkins. "As visitation trends change, we will need to figure out how to respond to and manage those changes for the good of visitors, park resources, and our local communities."
When and how people visit the park continues to change. Some of the largest increases in recreation visits occurred during the shoulder seasons, including April, May, and October. Arrivals increased at the Moose Entrance while wildfires affected U.S. Highway 26/287 east of the park. And more visitors hit the trails this summer than ever before. Trail use increased by about 16% compared to 10 years ago and by about 4% compared to five years ago.
In an effort to better understand changing visitation and how people use the park, we asked the public over the summer for their input about desired conditions and visitor experiences. Park staff are reviewing and analyzing the comments and will use that information to ensure visitors continue to have high-quality experiences in the park.
Visitation figures are a valuable tool used by the NPS to manage public enjoyment of Grand Teton National Park while monitoring resource conditions and the quality of the visitor experience. The NPS Stats website has more information about visitation statistics at Grand Teton and all national parks.
Yellowstone National Park visitation statistics for October 2024
Yellowstone National Park hosted 346,025 recreation visits in October 2024. This is a 16% increase from October 2023 (299,127 recreational visits). This October’s visitation showed a 9% increase from October 2021 (316,662 recreation visits).
So far in 2024, the park has hosted 4,692,810 (4.6 million) recreation visits, up 6% from 2023 (4,446,509 recreation visits), and down 2% from 2021 (4,789,349 recreation visits).
The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through October):
2024 – 4,692,810
2023 – 4,446,509
2022 – 3,241,761 (The park was closed June 13 through June 21 due to the historic flood event. Three entrances opened on June 22.)
2021 – 4,789,349
2020 – 3,753,531 (The park was closed March 24 through May 17 due to COVID 19. Two entrances opened on May 18 and the remaining three opened on June 1.)
2019 – 3,979,154
Most roads in Yellowstone closed to vehicle traffic at the end of October in preparation for the winter season and snowmobile and snowcoach travel, which will begin Dec. 15.
More data on park visitation, including how we calculate these numbers, is available on the NPS Stats website (https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/.
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