Visitation to Yellowstone up Tue Aug 7, 4:23 PM ET

Visitation to Yellowstone up Tue Aug 7, 4:23 PM ET



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - The number of visitors to Yellowstone National Park continues to climb.

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Nearly 1.8 million people visited the park from January through July this year, an increase of 9.8 percent over the roughly 1.6 million people who had visited from January through July last year.

Park officials say visits were up 9.4 percent for this July alone, compared to the same month last year. More than 808,000 people visited Yellowstone in July of this year, while more than 738,000 visitors came in July 2006.

The greatest increase in visitors was recorded at the park's East Entrance, where the number of visitors is up more than 31 percent compared to last year. Park officials say construction work no longer closes the East Entrance at night, which may have contributed to the increase.