2017 Nearly A Record Breaking Year For Visitors To Yellowstone

The 2017 headcount for the planet's first national park is in. While attendance was down from the previous year, Yellowstone National Park is still proving to be one heck of an appealing crater.

In the past two years alone, more than eight million people have entered the gates of the park, according to national park data. Last year drew more than 4.1 million visitors, which was the second largest total in the park's 146 year history.

To date, 2016 remains the biggest attendance year on record for Yellowstone, with approximately 4,257,177 crossing one of five entrances into park boundaries, according to Wikipedia.

With its aqua-blue, thermal pools, miles of pristine backcountry, famous geysers and an amalgam of beautiful wildlife, Yellowstone National Park has averaged at least two million visitors annually since the 1960s.

The park officially opened for its winter season about a month ago, and usually runs through mid-March.