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Yellowstone breaks visitor record in 2007

By Chronicle Staff

A record number of visitors traversed the landscape of Yellowstone National Park in 2007.


DEIRDRE EITEL/CHRONICLE Tourists enjoy the thermal features in Yellowstone National Park in this January 2007 photo. The park saw a record number of visitors last year, at 3.15 million people. Park officials announced Thursday that 3.15 million people visited Yellowstone last year. Those visits represent a 9.8 percent increase over the 2006 total visits.

The park's previous record was set in 1992 at 3.14 million visitors.

The bulk of the visits occur in May through September, though the park has seen increases in winter visits over the years.

Recreational visits during the summer months in 2007 totaled 2.9 million with an average of 15,690 visitors a day. The average number of visitors per day in July was 26,542.

According to a Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks report, called Montana Challenge, 94 percent of Yellowstone visitors go to see the animals. The big three on everyone's list, according to the report, are grizzly bear, moose and black bear.

Some of the recent increase in park visits has been attributed to international tourists.

In August, when the park released an earlier report about visits being up, Jim McCaleb, general manager for Xanterra Parks & Resorts, speculated that this year's weaker dollar attracted more international visitors. Xanterra manages many of the Yellowstone's accommodations and restaurants.

McCaleb also said the park was due more visitors this year, following on a few recent years when the numbers of visitors had flattened out.

Other reasons given during the summer months for the increased visits included the lack of major wildfires in the greater Yellowstone area during the early months of the season, and the end of construction at the east entrance, near Cody, Wyo., park officials said.

As of August, the greatest percentage increase in visitors was recorded at the east entrance, where the number of visitors was up more than 31 percent compared to 2006.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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