Yellowstone
West Yellowstone visitation up this fall
Published
12 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersBy Tyler Allen, Explorebigsky.com Staff Writer
WEST YELLOWSTONE – September was a good month in West Yellowstone. After July, it tends to be the second busiest month of the year, and this year’s warm weather and good fall fishing likely helped make it one of the best on record.
“There were definitely more people on the streets this September, lots of people were asking at the visitor’s center about rooms,” said Jan Stoddard, Marketing Director for the Chamber of Commerce.
Visitation at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center last month, “was up 3 percent from last year and last September was our busiest on record,” said GWDC Director John Heine. “Tourism fluctuates so much that to match last year’s numbers and to achieve an increase, we’re overjoyed by that,” Heine said.
If the trend continues, the GWDC should have its best October on record, Heine said. “The weather has been great, and the [fall] colors are spectacular this year.” A lot depends on the weekend weather, he added, since this time of year more visitors come from Montana and the surrounding region.
The Stagecoach Inn in West was sold out every night in September. “Demand is just as strong in September for seniors as it is for families in July,” said operations manager Mark Rogers. Rogers believes last month’s success was also due to the inn’s smaller rate increase this year, as compared to other hotels in town.
“We purposely positioned the rate lower than last year,” Rogers said. “Bookings [last month] were up in town 3.8 percent, but the average throughout the country is up 5.8 percent.” He pointed out that hotel bookings nationwide have also been high all fall, citing Smith Travel Research.
The fishing was quieter than usual in early September, but the Madison River below Quake Lake really heated up mid-month, said Cam Coffin, shop clerk at Blue Ribbon Flies for the last 25 years. “The park was decent fishing last month, and the rest of the area was pretty dang good,” he said. “We may have been as busy as July. We had a lot of bookings just the day before, while people will typically book a month or two in advance.”
The word is out that September and October are nice months to visit the park, said Kelly Sanders, owner of Free Heel and Wheel with her business partner Melissa Alder. “There aren’t many people, the fall colors are amazing,” Sanders said. “It’s not too cold yet, and we usually don’t get a lot of moisture in September and October.”
The annual fall cycling tour of 450 bicyclists that rode from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful and back, as well as the half marathon on Sept. 29 – boosted overall business in town, Sanders said.
“We’ve had unseasonably nice fall weather,” said park spokesman Al Nash. “We would expect that to reflect fairly strong September visitation.” The west entrance is by far the busiest and, “for the year we started out slowly, but should expect one of the highest visitations years [in the park] on record,” he added.
While the winter months can be pretty lean for businesses in West Yellowstone, the annual Yellowstone nordic festival over Thanksgiving week, plus snowmobiling and snowcoach tours in the park, and heavily discounted accommodations do also draw visitors throughout the season.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
Upcoming Events
july, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
CALL FOR ARTISTS: Paint anytime from June 1-28EXHIBITION & SALE: June 29 - July 31Calling all artists and nature enthusiasts! Get
more
Event Details
CALL FOR ARTISTS: Paint anytime from June 1-28
EXHIBITION & SALE: June 29 – July 31
Calling all artists and nature
enthusiasts! Get your paintbrushes ready for an unforgettable experience at
Paint Under the Big Sky, a thrilling plein air event set against the stunning
backdrop of Big Sky, MT, Chet Huntley’s “The Last Best Place”. Don’t
miss this chance to unleash your creativity and be part of a vibrant artistic community.
What is Paint Under the Big Sky? PUBS is a plein air event for all painters of any ability (over the age of 16). Sponsored by the Big Sky Artist’s Studio & Gallery and the Big Sky Artists Collective, a non-profit organization whose mission is to foster a strong community of artists in the Big Sky area, the paint-out hopes to introduce painters to our extraordinary landscape for an opportunity to create, meet and have fun. Plein air painters record our landscape for generations to come.
Artists are invited to travel to Big
Sky, MT to paint anytime between Jun 1 – 28, and participate in the exhibition
and sale of paintings from June 29 – July 31.
Come join us! We have a great
place to paint and are welcoming and fun!
Don’t miss out!
Time
June 1 (Saturday) 1:00 am - July 31 (Wednesday) 11:55 pm
Event Details
Embrace the freedom and serenity of movement in nature with our rejuvenating morning yoga class on the Mountain Lawn. Allow the fresh mountain air and gentle guided yoga practice
Event Details
Embrace the freedom and
serenity of movement in nature with our rejuvenating morning yoga class on the
Mountain Lawn. Allow the fresh mountain air and gentle guided yoga practice to
invigorate your day of adventure ahead. Complimentary. Weather
permitting.
Time
June 1 (Saturday) 7:00 am - August 31 (Saturday) 7:00 am
Location
Montage Big Sky
995 Settlement Trail
Event Details
Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by
Event Details
Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by GAS for ride information.
Time
June 10 (Monday) 6:00 pm - August 19 (Monday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by
Event Details
Bike Big Sky is a FREE community mountain biking group with BSCO and Gallatin Alpine Sports. Meet at posted locations at 6 p.m. Monday evenings. Visit BSCO.org or swing by GAS for ride information.
Time
June 17 (Monday) 6:00 pm - August 26 (Monday) 6:00 pm