Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone recorded 4,762,988 recreation visits in 2025. Established on March 1, 1872, the park calls itself the world's first national park. Yellowstone National Park was established on March 1, 1872, and the park's facts page calls it the world's first national park. It lists 2,221,766 acres, or 3,472 square miles, with 96 percent in Wyoming, 3 percent in Montana, and 1 percent in Idaho. Eagle Peak is the highest point at 11,358 feet, and Reese Creek is the lowest at 5,282 feet. The park reports more than 10,000 hydrothermal features and more than 500 active geysers, which it says is more than half the world's geysers. Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River is 308 feet. In a March 17, 2026 release, the park said it recorded 4,762,988 recreation visits, 86,891,452 visitor hours, and 1,238,983 overnight stays in 2025. The system-wide NPS release lists the same visit total.