NPS / Jacob W. Frank The National Park Service mission is a dual mandate: to preserve Yellowstone’s natural and cultural resources and to provide for their enjoyment by the public. This means we must offer opportunities for people to experience Yellowstone without allowing that enjoyment to damage or diminish the very things they come to see. Since Yellowstone’s establishment in 1872 as the world’s first national park, visitation has steadily increased. However, since the early 2000s, that increase has accelerated. While increased visitation creates more opportunities to educate and inspire future stewards, it also puts greater strain on staffing, infrastructure, and funding—operational resources essential to protecting the park’s natural and cultural heritage. Our GoalsWe protect park resources from visitation impacts.Because park visitation is highly concentrated to roads and developed areas (which make up far less than 1% of the park’s total area), increasing visitation has not significantly impacted resources such as wildlife populations or ecosystem health. Through multi-year monitoring, we have detected impacts at some popular sites, but these impacts are limited to relatively small areas. We work to reduce visitation impacts to staffing, operations, and infrastructure.Increasing visitation causes the most dramatic impacts to staffing, operations, and infrastructure. We are addressing the need for additional employee housing and will also need more resources and other creative strategies so we can continue to protect Yellowstone for future generations. We deliver a world-class visitor experience.Despite increasing visitation, nearly all Yellowstone visitors rate their experience as “excellent” or “good,” based on data collected during our summer visitor use surveys. To mitigate crowding, traffic congestion, and lack of parking at popular sites, we test several localized projects to gather data and evaluate their effectiveness at reducing negative impacts. We collaborate with gateway communities to mitigate visitation impacts.Each year, tourism to Yellowstone provides $600-$800 million in economic benefits and supports thousands of jobs in gateway communities. While all local communities benefit economically, most communities experience congestion and pressure on their infrastructure from increasing visitation. We continue to work with gateway communities and discuss methods for reducing impacts from increasing visitation. 
NPS / Neal Herbert Summer Visitor Use ManagementSummer is the busiest season in Yellowstone with nearly 60% of annual visitation occurring solely during the months of June, July, and August. To better understand and respond to impacts from increasing visitation, we developed a summer visitor use management strategy in 2019 that focuses on visitor impacts to four main areas: (1) park resources; (2) staffing, operations, and infrastructure; (3) visitor experience; and (4) gateway communities. This strategy will guide our actions into the future.
NPS / Jacob W. Frank Impacts to Park ResourcesThe condition of Yellowstone’s natural and cultural resources is shaped largely by external forces beyond our control—such as wildlife disease, winter severity, and state wildlife management policies. Air quality is similarly influenced by regional factors like wildfires and nitrogen deposition. While we actively monitor and manage what we can, many of these pressures originate outside park boundaries.We also recognize that increased summer visitation can impact specific areas within the park. We monitor these effects in both the frontcountry (roads, parking lots, trails) and backcountry (wilderness areas, campsites). Our data shows that infrastructure improvements—such as restrooms, boardwalks, and a visible staff presence—help reduce negative impacts. By focusing use in durable areas, we limit resource degradation and continue addressing ongoing challenges such as social trails (undesignated paths created by repeated use) and human waste. Continued monitoring plays a critical role in guiding our management strategies. Frontcountry AreasYellowstone spans 2.2 million acres, but most visitation occurs in frontcountry areas—roads, parking lots, boardwalks, and developed sites—concentrating millions of people in less than 1% of the park. Since 2017, we’ve systematically monitored these high-use areas to assess the effects of increasing visitation. Our data includes visitor numbers and density, use patterns, and resource impacts. This information informs decisions on where and how to improve infrastructure and staffing to better protect park resources.Backcountry AreasWe have monitored backcountry conditions since 2014 (and some locations since 2007). Each year, we assess 50–60 campsites, map invasive plants and social trails, inventory signs, deploy trail counters, and update GIS data. To date, increased visitation has not significantly affected backcountry ecosystems. Impacts tend to diminish with distance from roads, and most campsites maintain “moderate” impact levels and “good” facility ratings, based on indicators such as vegetation loss and the presence of social trails. Overall, backcountry impacts remain limited. Concentrating use on designated trails and campsites continues to help protect the broader landscape.
NPS / Jacob W. Frank Impacts to Staffing, Operations, & InfrastructureIncreasing visitation to Yellowstone can present significant challenges, placing growing pressure on park staffing, daily operations, and aging infrastructure. These impacts strain the very systems designed to protect the park's natural and cultural resources. To ensure Yellowstone remains resilient and protected for future generations, we must explore and implement creative, forward-thinking strategies that can adapt to rising demand while preserving the park.StaffingStaffing in Yellowstone is directly limited by the availability of in-park housing and the lack of affordable housing in surrounding communities. These constraints reduce overall staffing capacity and increase demands on existing employees as visitation continues to grow. The result is higher stress, burnout, mental health challenges, and staff turnover. When employees leave, valuable institutional knowledge is lost, and new staff must be recruited and trained—further straining limited resources. Implementing new systems to manage visitation, such as reservations or shuttle services, would require even more staff and housing capacity.Since 2019, we’ve invested more than $166 million in employee housing, including a $40 million philanthropic gift to expand housing availability. Learn more about our efforts to address Yellowstone's employee housing needs. OperationsAs visitation increases, demands grow across all park divisions, requiring frequent staff reallocations to manage workloads. During peak periods, routine operations like trash collection and restroom cleaning must be adjusted to account for traffic congestion. Entrance stations require additional staff to manage long lines and ensure smooth entry. Park dispatch has also seen a rise in call volume—intensifying pressure on existing personnel.InfrastructureIncreased visitation puts significant strain on park infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and utilities. More vehicles—particularly RVs, vans, and buses—contribute to traffic congestion and accelerate road deterioration. Higher visitor volumes also stress aging water and wastewater systems, many of which were not designed for current use levels. Since 2020, more than $645 million has been invested in park infrastructure, with an additional $896 million in funded projects currently underway.
NPS / Jacob W. Frank Impacts to Visitor ExperienceOne of our strategic priorities is to provide a world-class experience for the millions of people who visit Yellowstone each year. To support this goal, we conducted comprehensive summer visitor use studies in 2016, 2018, and 2024 to better understand visitor demographics, trip planning behavior, desired experiences, transportation perceptions, and satisfaction with park services. The 2024 study focused on Yellowstone’s two most congested areas: North Rim Drive (Canyon Village) and Midway Geyser Basin.2024 Study Key Findings
Visitor Use Pilot Programs To date, we’ve tested several localized strategies in these areas and will continue exploring targeted solutions to improve the visitor experience while protecting park resources.
Nine days after the 2022 flood event, Yellowstone reopened and introduced the Alternating License Plate System (ALPS) to prevent overcrowding in the south loop while the north loop remained closed for repairs. Suggested by gateway communities, ALPS effectively managed visitation within the target range of 50–60% of normal levels, while allowing visitors to keep existing reservations. The system was suspended on July 2, 2022, when 93% of park roads had reopened.
In summer 2021, Yellowstone, in collaboration with the NPS Alternative Transportation Program and the Federal Highway Administration Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, piloted a low-speed, automated shuttle at Canyon Village to test this technology in a national park setting. The Electric Driverless Demonstration in Yellowstone (TEDDY) served over 10,000 riders, who overwhelmingly reported positive experiences and expressed interest in seeing more automated shuttles in national parks.
The main parking lots at Midway Geyser Basin were built in the 1980s-1990s, when annual visitation was below 2 million. In 2017, Yellowstone installed a temporary parking lot at Fairy Falls Trailhead to increase capacity and reduce roadside parking issues. However, following its installation, staff observed nearly 1,000 incidents of litter, human waste, and increased social trails. To address these issues, we are now considering site alternatives, which include removing the temporary lot, developing a new site, and implementing a timed-access entry system. These proposals will be shared with the public for comment before implementation.
In 2022, all NPS-managed campgrounds in the park transitioned to a reservation system during the summer. The system was well-received, with nearly all sites booked for the season. To allow for more spontaneous visits, 20% of NPS campsites are held until two weeks before the date of use.
From Aug. 3-Sept. 7, 2022, Yellowstone tested a timed-entry reservation system for travel between Tower Junction and Slough Creek on the Northeast Entrance Road. This system effectively preserved parking availability and protected resources while most of the road remained closed for emergency repairs after the 2022 flood event.
Localized forms of alternative transportation, such as shuttle systems in key park corridors, have been identified by park visitors, employees, and the public as potential solutions to address park challenges. In December 2022, Yellowstone completed a Transit Feasibility Study to analyze the opportunities, risks, and constraints of implementing transit in the Old Faithful to Madison corridor and the Canyon Village area. 
NPS / Jacob W. Frank Impacts to Gateway CommunitiesTourism at Yellowstone supports thousands of jobs and provides significant economic benefits to surrounding communities. However, rising visitation also places pressure on gateway community infrastructure, with peak-season congestion especially pronounced in West Yellowstone, Montana, and Jackson, Wyoming. Each community faces unique challenges shaped by its location and visitor volume. We collaborate closely with local governments, businesses, and organizations to develop tailored strategies that help manage these impacts effectively.
NPS / Jacob W. Frank Winter Visitor Use ManagementSnowmobiles are generally prohibited in national parks unless specifically authorized. For years, Yellowstone managed winter use under interim plans amid legal challenges. The 2013 Final Rule ended over 15 years of litigation and planning, established a long-term winter use plan, and addressed public concerns.In partnership with gateway communities and the public, we developed an adaptive winter use management program. This program monitors oversnow vehicle impacts, compares snowmobile and snowcoach use, and evaluates ecological and social effects—enabling us to adapt to changing conditions.
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Last updated: July 8, 2025