Roads to Old Faithful and Canyon open for season April 16
by Yellowstone National Park
April 13, 2010
Roads into Yellowstone National Park begin to reopen for automobile travel later this week. Visitors will be able to travel by car through the park’s North and West Entrances to Norris, Madison, Canyon and Old Faithful as scheduled beginning at 8:00 a.m., Friday, April 16.
Visitors to Yellowstone National Park will be able to enter for free during National Park Week, which will be celebrated April 17 through April 25 this year. A seven-day pass to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks is normally $25 for a private, non-commercial vehicle.
The road linking Canyon, Fishing Bridge, and the East Entrance opens on Friday, May 7. Work on a one-mile section of road through Sylvan Pass may cause up to 30-minute traffic delays this year. There will be no nighttime closures.
Travel from the South Entrance to Grant, West Thumb, Old Faithful and Fishing Bridge is set to begin Friday, May 14, while the road between Tower Fall and Canyon over Dunraven Pass is scheduled to open for travel on Friday, May 21.
The road from Cooke City over Colter Pass to the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway and the Long Lake gate typically opens by mid-May, with the balance of the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge, Montana opening the Friday before the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, weather permitting.
The road from Gardiner, Montana, through the park's North Entrance to Mammoth Hot Springs to Cooke City, Montana, is open to automobiles all year, weather permitting.
Once again this year, travel between Norris and Madison through Gibbon Canyon will be impacted by a major road construction project. Visitors can expect up to 30-minute delays through October 20. This section of road will also be closed to travel between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. every night until September 1. There will be no alternate route available overnight until the road from Old Faithful to West Thumb opens on May 14.
There will be no daytime delays or overnight closures on any park road projects during holiday weekends.
Very limited visitor services will be available for several weeks. Due to the deep snow present in the park’s interior, walking on trails including those along the Canyon Rim, or on boardwalks through thermal areas, will be difficult or impossible for some time.
Park crews must clear 198 miles of main road, 124 miles of secondary roads, and 125 acres of parking lots inside the park, as well as 31 miles of the Beartooth Highway outside the park’s Northeast Entrance, each spring. Yellowstone's weather is very unpredictable. Visitors should be prepared for a wide range of winter and spring weather conditions, including plows clearing snow from the roads, and temporary road closures. Updated Yellowstone National Park road information is available 24 hours a day by calling 307-344-2117.
Related Links
www.nps.gov/yell - National Park Service - Yellowstone National Park
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