Yellowstone Tourism October 2024: Visits Have Increased

The latest visitation numbers from Yellowstone National Park suggest some interesting trends in the park's popularity, and maybe hint at what we can expect for tourism in the park in the future.

Yellowstone's Popularity Over Time

We've talked about how popular Yellowstone National Park is compared to America's other national parks. Its ranking has hopped around the top 10, with factors like the pandemic and the historic flooding of 2022 affecting its visitation numbers and popularity.

In a Yellowstone National Park press release the park gave the number of visits since 2019, as well as the number of visits in 2024 so far. Here are some key findings:

Visits in 2024 are up 6% from 2023
2021 had the most visitors since 2019
Visits in 2024 are down 2% from 2021
2024 had the most visitors after 2021

Generally, this might suggest that the park is on a trajectory to have more visits annually than before the pandemic. But there was another interesting statistic that sticks out.

Photo by Judy Beth Morris on Unsplash

No Longer a Best Kept Secret

Montanans know that the best time to visit Yellowstone or Glacier National Parks is during the shoulder seasons. That's when the lines are shorter, some of the animals are more active, and the weather is more temperate.

But the latest visitation numbers may suggest that everyone, not just Montanans has figured out that October is one of the best times to visit the park. Look at these numbers from the park's press release:

October 2024 visits increased by 16% from 2023
October 2024 visits increased by 9% from 2021

It's not every October that's ideal for visiting the park. Surprise snow storms can make it difficult to travel. But during October for the last two years, Montana has seen some mild weather. That could be a factor in seeing increased visits to the park during that month.

If you want to dig into the numbers more you can visit the park's stat's website.