Glacier, Yellowstone set June visitaton records

UPDATED 9:05 a.m. with Yellowstone information.

PARKS — Attendance at Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks soared in last month, making it the busiest June on record.

Glacier Park

A record 414,000 visitors came to the Glacier Park last month. According to National Park Service data, visitation was up 24.1 percent from June 2014.

The west-side route up Going to the Sun Road was cleared of snow earlier than normal, with bicyclists allowed to ride up on Memorial Day weekend. But the west side from Logan Pass was blocked to through traffic by construction.

This year is on pace to break 2014’s annual visitation record, with the first six months of visitation 26 percent higher than the previous year. July and August are historically the park’s busiest months.

Total overnight stays jumped nearly 31 percent last month compared to the previous year with more than 67,200 people camping or staying in a lodge or RV. Backcountry overnight stays increased 114.9 percent with 3,900 permits issued.

Last year saw an annual record number of visitors to Glacier with 2.33 million.

Yellowstone Park

Yellowstone National Park tracked more than 780,700 recreational visits last month, an increase of 17 percent over June 2014 and 12 percent more than the previous record set in June 2010.

The previous record saw more than 694,800 visits.

Data shows that visitation at Yellowstone is up almost 20 percent for the year thus far. Through May it reached an increase of 24 percent over last year.

As of the end of June, visitation was close to 1.3 million, an increase of 314,000 people through that point in 2014.

And the biggest crowds are yet to come: July and August are the busiest months of the year for tourists.

Incidentally, tourists also are crowding into Canadian national parks. Visitors reporting back last week said Banff National Park officials were blocking new traffic into the Moraine Lake near Lake Louise to prevent gridlock.  Waits of more than an hour to find a parking space were common.