Yellowstone visits show increase for October
By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
November 6, 2008
Yellowstone National Park saw a slight increase in visitation last month compared with the previous October despite a poor economy that some say resulted in declines in September.
Yellowstone officials say park visitation last month increased 4 percent compared with last year, growing from 139,789 to 145,488.
After a record June and a steady summer, the number of visitors had dropped 6 percent in September. Compared with the same month last year, September visits fell from 463,994 to 437,552. Grand Teton National Park experienced a more than 12 percent decline for September.
Despite the good numbers for October, year-to-date visitation is down 2.7 percent, from 4,013,464 in 2007 to 3,904,952. Officials attribute the small decline to a cold and rainy start to the year. The rest of the summer held steady despite high gas prices and economic concerns.
Yellowstone spokeswoman Linda Miller said snow in September followed by relatively good weather in October may account for the variations this fall.
“[In October], we had pretty nice weather except for a snowstorm in the middle of the month,” she said. “[But] we had snow and road closures on Memorial Day weekend.”
Miller said the elk rut usually brings a good crowd during late September and October.
“We got a lot of people who come to see that,” she said.
