Yellowstone National Park has set a new visitation record this year with more than 3.8 Million visits to the park at the end of September. They have seen about 200,000 more people than their previous yearly record attendance in 2010… And the year is not over. Right now they are on track to exceed 4 Million visits this year.
Yellowstone spokeswoman Amy Barlett says that some factors for this increase may be lower gas prices, the upcoming National Parks Service centennial, and a new marketing campaign by the NPS called “Find Your Park.”
Although this is delightful news for park officials, an increase in visitors can also create safety issues. Just this year there was a hiker who died from a bear attack, and five visitors who were injured by a bison.
According to Yellowstone National Park Superintendent:
“We are delighted to see that more and more visitors are making their way to Yellowstone to experience the park. However, it creates additional challenges for our staff who work hard to protect this amazing place while providing top-notch services for visitors. We want to do everything we can to make sure that park visitors have a safe and enjoyable trip, while at the same time protecting the special resources that Yellowstone was set aside to preserve.”
Some of the top attractions are the Old Faithful Geyser, Grand Prismatic Spring, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and The Lamar Valley.
