MOOSE, Wyo — Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park has already had its busiest year in nine months.
This year, the park will be joining Yellowstone and setting new visitor records.
Between January and September, Grand Teton saw almost 3.5 Million recreation visits. Officially, 3,493,937 was more than the 2,786 total for 2018, according to park officials in a Wednesday statement.
Increasing tourism has led to more tourists. Trail usage is up 29% in 2019 and 49% in 2016.
The park is visited by visitors at various times throughout the year. According to park officials, more people visit the park in March, April, and May.
The summertime is still hectic. However, this July was the busiest ever in park history.
Grand Teton Superintendent Chip Jenkins said that park officials are currently studying tourist patterns to see how other parks handle more visitors.
Jenkins stated that the visitor experience is an asset, much like clean air or moose, and that they are working hard to preserve it.
Yellowstone officials had earlier announced that the park north of Grand Teton saw almost 4.5 million recreational visits in September. Yellowstone saw more than 4,000,000 visitors in September for the first time.
In 2016, Yellowstone received just 4 million visitors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, visits to Grand Teton and Yellowstone were somewhat lower in 2020.
