May 2026 was officially the busiest May in the history of Yellowstone National Park, with 570,272 recreation visits throughout the month. That’s up 1% from May 2025, which saw 566,363 recreation visits.
This May also showed a 20% increase from May 2021, Yellowstone’s record-breaking year. That year the National Park saw 473,799 recreation visits in May, while the total recreation visits for the entire year was 4.8 million.
So far in 2026 Yellowstone has seen 773,653 recreation visits, up 1% from 2025 (762,672) and up 19% from 2021 (649,153 recreation visits). By May of 2024, Yellowstone had seen 719,127 visits, and 2023 saw 644,979 recreation visits. 2022, which saw the park close between June 13th and June 21st due to historic flooding, had seen 733,471 visitors by the end of May.
2025 saw a total of 4,762,988 recreation visits throughout the year, just around 100,000 visitors less than 2021’s 4,860,242 recreation visits. 2021’s biggest month was July, when 1,080,767 recreation visits were recorded. June also brought 938,845 recreation visits, while August saw 921,844.
It’s not yet clear if 2026 will have what it takes to break the record set by 2021, but either way, visiting Yellowstone National Park during the busy summer months means you must plan ahead. Stay prepared by reading the park’s top things to know and downloading the free NPS app.
