Burning Man Traffic

Every gate and exodus wait time posted by @bmantraffic since the account began in 2014 — 1,000+ reports across twelve burns, with the rain and dust that caused the worst of them. Hover any point to read the original post.

10 h
Worst exodus wait
2022, Labor Day night
8 h
Worst entrance wait
2025, after rain closures
0.92″
Rain over burn weekend
2023, the mud year
2026 exodus (live)
last report from the playa

Entrance — wait to get in

Wait on Gate Road, from the pavement to the gate, in hours. Day 0 is opening Sunday.

Exodus — wait to get out

Wait from Greeters/camp to the pavement, in hours. The Man burns Saturday night; the crush peaks Sunday night into Labor Day.

So when should you leave?

Median exodus wait by 3-hour departure window, Thursday through Labor-Day Monday, pooled across all years (2026 excluded). The Man burns Saturday night, the Temple burns Sunday night — and the queue peaks after the Temple. Exodus reporting only begins Saturday afternoon: before the burn there is simply no queue.

Data table — peak wait by year

Method. Wait times were parsed from every @bmantraffic post (2014–2026). The account reports entrance waits during arrival week and exodus waits from the Saturday burn onward; in 2016–2018 it only staffed exodus. Ranges like “2–3 hours” are plotted at the midpoint; “no wait” is 0. Weather is hourly reanalysis for Black Rock City from Open-Meteo (rain) plus dust reports in the posts themselves. 2020–2021 had no event. 2026 exodus is in progress as of Sept 7, 2026.