YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK - Yellowstone had its busiest February in five years, thanks to an uptick in snowcoach, car and truck travelers.

More than 33,500 recreational visitors came in last month, nearly half through the park's North Entrance near Gardiner, Mont., where all traffic is made up of cars and trucks.

The North Entrance saw a 14.4 percent increase over February 2007.

The biggest increase was in overall snowcoach traffic, which grew 16 percent over last February. The number of snowmobiles fell by 1.8 percent.

All told, 33,557 visitors came to the park last month, about 3,000 more than in recent years. In February 2003, more than 39,000 visitors came into the park.

February is often a barometer for Yellowstone's three-month winter season, especially because it includes Presidents Day weekend, typically the busiest each winter.

That holiday weekend this year lagged behind last year's numbers.

Including non-recreational traffic, totals for February include 14,768 automobile passengers, 564 bus passengers, 11,281 people on snowmobiles, 8,534 people in snowcoaches and 124 skiers or bicyclists, according to Park Service figures.

Some groomed roads have started to close. All will be closed for the winter season by Sunday.