Yellowstone National Park attracts millions of visitors to its entrances every year. In 2022, there were dozens of injuries reported resulting from tourists getting too close to wildlife, and 2023 will no doubt see its share of broken bones and bruised egos.

Yellowstone National Park is a magical, colorful, and potentially deadly expanse of over 2,000,000 acres located in the states of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. It's the oldest of all national parks in the United States, but that doesn't mean those who visit the park are wise. In fact, the exact opposite is true and on display weekly.

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Last year ended with a string of "touron" injuries. There are a number of social media sites devoted to archiving these confrontations that ensue between animals and humans. Ninety-nine percent of the time a park visitor is gored or takes a header on the side of a road resulting from getting too close to an animal for a photo opp, it's on the touron.

A YouTube post from a couple of months back is a prime example of what people shouldn't do when coming into contact with buffalo in the park. In the short video that has racked up over 1,000 views, you'll see multiple tourists/tourons flocking toward the massive animal.

In the end, there are five people that surround the beautiful creature and take pictures with their phones from a distance of fewer than 10 feet. If the buffalo wanted to extend an ass-whooping, it sure could have. These tourons are lucky the animal didn't feel too threatened.

LOOK: Must-do activities at every national park

Stacker lists the must-do activities at every national park ranked by the annual number of visitors. 

RANKED: Here are the most popular national parks

To determine the most popular national parks in the United States, Stacker compiled data from the National Park Service on the number of recreational visits each site had in 2020. Keep reading to discover the 50 most popular national parks in the United States, in reverse order from #50 to #1. And be sure to check with individuals parks before you visit to find out about ongoing, pandemic-related safety precautions at www.nps.gov/coronavirus.

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