Yellowstone Tourists Wane At East Entrance

The number of tourists passing through Yellowstone National Park’s east entrance fell last month, but numbers at other entrances were up or steady, and park tourism for the year is up overall.

About 89,700 tourists traveled through the east entrance in August, compared to about 102,900 in August 1994, for a 13 percent decline, park figures show.

So far this year, about 316,425 visitors have passed through the east entrance, compared to about 379,662 through the same time last year, for a decline of nearly 17 percent, officials said.

The August decline follows declines of 14 percent in July, 1 percent in June and 41 percent in May.

Many area businesses have attributed the decline to heavy construction on the Cody-to-Yellowstone highway.

Meanwhile, 277,900 visitors passed through the park’s west entrance, up 19 percent from the 233,700 visitors entering the park from the west in August 1994.

Traffic also increased at the northeast entrance, with a 17 percent gain, and at the north entrance, with a 1 percent increase. Traffic at the south entrance remained steady.