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Most of the park is inaccessible by automobile during the winter and early spring. May represents the first month most major park roads are open to wheeled visitor traffic and when visitor services begin to reopen for the busy summer season.The park’s East Entrance saw the greatest increase in visitation, up nearly 21 percent in May compared to the previous year. The West Entrance remains the park’s busiest, with nearly 115,000 visitors passing through the gate in May, up nearly 17 percent from 2008. The South and North entrances also showed impressive increases compared to last year’s levels. Nice spring weather like the park experienced in May is typically reflected by stronger visitation numbers. An analysis of past visitation trends also indicates park visitation typically rebounds as the country begins to pull out of an economic downturn. The winter and spring seasons represent a small but important portion of the park’s annual visitation, which topped the 3 million mark the last two years. In comparison, as many people will visit the park during two weeks in July as typically enter during the entire first five months of the year. Visiting the national parks remains a good value. A seven-day pass good for both Yellowstone and Grand Teton is just $25; a pass good for entrance to any national park for an entire year is just $80. Even better, the National Park Service is offering three fee-free weekends to encourage Americans to visit their national parks. The first is right around the corner: Father’s Day Weekend, June 20-21. All communities near and on the way to Yellowstone are open all year, with local businesses offering a wide range of recreation opportunities United States Mint and National Park Service Launch Quarter Honoring Yellowstone National Park YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- The United States Mint and National Park Service launched the second coin in the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Program today near the iconic Old Faithful geyser in scenic Yellowstone National Park. "When Americans pull this coin out of their pockets, some will remember fond memories of their family vacation in Yellowstone, others will be inspired to visit Yellowstone to create new memories," said United States Mint Director Ed Moy. "Many Americans will make the connection to their rich history as a nation and the extraordinary natural resources of Wyoming." Moy and Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Suzanne Lewis co-hosted the event, with park Public Affairs Officer Al Nash serving as master of ceremonies. Noted Yellowstone historian and author Paul Schullery was a special guest speaker. At the conclusion of the ceremony, members of the public attending the event exchanged their paper currency for rolls of the new Yellowstone National Park quarters at face value, while children 18 and younger received one of the new Yellowstone National Park quarters as a memento. "We are excited to be able to kick off the summer visitor season with the debut of this quarter," said Superintendent Suzanne Lewis. "The images depicted on the coin of a bison and Old Faithful offer a sense of the special nature of Yellowstone." The America the Beautiful Quarters Program is a multi-year initiative to honor 56 national parks and other national sites in each state, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. Each year through 2020, the United States Mint will issue five new quarters in the order in which the honored site was first established as a national site. One final coin will be released in 2021. Quarters bearing the Yellowstone National Park design were released into circulation on June 1. The reverse (tails side) design features the Old Faithful geyser with a mature bull bison in the foreground. The design includes the inscriptions YELLOWSTONE, WYOMING, 2010 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The obverse (heads) design features the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, which was restored to bring out subtle details and the beauty of the original model. The obverse inscriptions are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR. The Yellowstone National Park quarter is currently available in a two-roll set priced at $32.95 and 100-coin bags priced at $35.95 each. To place orders or for more information, visithttp://www.usmint.gov/catalog or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing- and speech-impaired customers with TTY equipment may call 1-888-321 MINT (6468). New lesson plans based on the America the Beautiful Quarters Program are also available. Created and reviewed by teachers to meet national curricular standards, the plans draw on the new quarter reverse designs to inspire students to learn about the culture, geography and unique heritage and natural beauty of our national parks and sites. For more information about America the Beautiful Quarters Program educational resources, visit http://www.usmint.gov.
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