Despite the historic floods experienced in June, Yellowstone National Park is open. Check below for updates following the floods that temporarily shut the park down for a brief period of time. Credit to the National Parks Service for their efforts to get the park opened back up as quickly as possible. We hope you enjoy your trip to the Greater Yellowstone Area.
Some trails and backcountry campsites in the northern range of the park near this road corridor are closed due to flood damage. Know before you go! Visit Yellowstone’s Backcountry Situation Report for the most up-to-date details.
Slough Creek Campground is closed for the season.
The Northeast Entrance Road between Lamar Valley and the barrier near Warm Creek (2 miles from the Northeast Entrance), is closed to all vehicle, bicycle and foot traffic while major construction repairs are made. This section of road is an active construction zone, and the closure is expected to stay in place until Oct. 15 to allow contractors to complete work prior to winter.
Yellowstone’s North and Northeast entrances remain closed to visitor vehicular traffic; however, access is available by approved commercial tours, bicycle (on paved roadways) and foot through the North (Gardiner, Montana) and Northeast (Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana) entrances to fish and hike in areas not identified as closed.
From the North Entrance, visitors can travel 1 mile to the Rescue Creek Trailhead.
From the Northeast Entrance, visitors can travel 2 miles to the barrier near the Warm Creek area.
The temporary road (Old Gardiner Road) that connects Gardiner, Montana, to Mammoth Hot Springs is an active construction zone and closed until Oct. 15 to allow contractors to complete work prior to winter. At this time, ONLY approved personnel and commercial tours are allowed on the Old Gardiner Road in specific traffic windows.
Visitors traveling to the park must stay informed about what is OPEN and CLOSED throughout the park. Visit Operating Hours and Seasons for more info.
Monitor the park website and social media for updates.
Visit Camp in Backcountry for details about backcountry permits.
Stay informed about up-to-date road conditions in Yellowstone:
Visit Park Roads.
Receive Yellowstone road alerts on your mobile phone by texting “82190” to 888-777 (an automatic text reply will confirm receipt and provide instructions).
Call (307) 344-2117 for a recorded message.
It’s critical that visitors traveling to the park stay informed about what’s open and closed
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Major construction repairs will begin substantially on Tuesday, Aug. 2. Contractors will be working on all damaged sections of the park’s Northeast Entrance Road near Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana. This requires alterations to the closures on the road.
The road had previously been open to bicyclists and pedestrian traffic to Barronette Meadow. Due to significant work beginning on the road this week, the road will be closed near the Warm Creek Trailhead and picnic area. This will still afford access to visitors and residents but will provide room for construction work to begin, including staging of equipment and materials needed to make repairs. It is estimated that repairs will be completed by Oct. 15, facilitating traffic between the park and Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana.
It's critical that visitors traveling to the park stay informed about what's open and closed
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – In the park’s continuing efforts to expand visitor access, effective Aug. 3 through Oct. 31, 2022, visitors with a day-use ticket will be able to drive the road corridor from Tower Junction to Slough Creek to park and hike, fish and watch wildlife. This section of road in the northern portion of the park has been closed to visitor vehicular traffic since the park closed in June immediately following a historic flood event. Yellowstone has rapidly reopened areas when safe to do so. Approximately 93% of paved roads and 94% of Yellowstone’s backcountry is open.
Beginning Aug.1 at 8 a.m. MDT, visitors wanting to tour the Tower Junction to Slough Creek road corridor on Aug. 3 can book a day-use ticket here: Recreation.gov.
Tickets are only available at Recreation.gov.Visitors with a ticket will only be able to enter this road corridor from Tower Junction. Visitors cannot access the area from the Northeast Entrance (Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana). That road segment is closed to visitor vehicular traffic because of significant flood damage on the road.
This pilot day-use access program was initiated in response to the flood damage and provides the park an opportunity to safely reopen this impacted area to more visitation. Since the road essentially is a dead-end, the park will continue to monitor use along the road corridor and determine if expanded day-use capacity can occur at a later date.
It’s critical that visitors traveling to the park in the coming weeks stay informed about what’s open and closed.
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Yellowstone National Park today announced that visitors will be able to park at Tower Junction and bicycle, hike and fish between Tower Junction and Slough Creek starting Thursday, July 21. The road between Tower Junction and Slough Creek is also open for commercial tour authorization holders, commercial tour operators, and stock outfitters to provide public access by vehicle. The park is finalizing a day-use reservation system for visitor vehicle access which will be online by Aug. 1, allowing reservation holders day-use access with their vehicles.
Yellowstone National Park will reopen the north loop on Saturday, July 2, to all visitors. In addition to roads in the south loop, visitors will now be able to access:
Visitors can access the south and north loops via the East Entrance (Cody, Wyoming), West Entrance (West Yellowstone, Montana), and South Entrance (Grand Teton/Jackson, Wyoming).
“We're pleased to reopen the north loop of Yellowstone to the visiting public less than three weeks after this major flood event," said Superintendent Cam Sholly. "We have attempted to balance major recovery efforts while reopening as much of the park as possible. We have greatly appreciated the tremendous support of the Department of the Interior; National Park Service; Federal Highway Administration; and our congressional, community, county and state partners."
Federal Highway Administration engineers have completed final bridge and road safety inspections. Temporary repairs to the wastewater systems have been evaluated and will accommodate day use on the north loop.
The park cautions the public that high water remains in many waterways and to be aware of backcountry closures in the north loop due to hazardous conditions or damaged trails and bridges. Visit Yellowstone’s Backcountry Situation Report for details.
Services in the north loop will include general stores at Tower and Mammoth Hot Springs, and gasoline in both locations. Additional services may open in upcoming weeks. Visit Operating Hours and Seasons for details.
The North Entrance Road (Gardiner, Montana to Mammoth Hot Springs) and Northeast Entrance Road (Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana to Tower-Roosevelt) remain closed to visitor vehicular traffic while temporary repairs are completed. Visitors may access the park on foot through these entrances in order to recreate (fish and hike) in areas not identified as closed. The park will evaluate authorizing bicycle use through these entrances up to damaged road sections in the near future.
Park staff are working with commercial guides and outfitters in Gardiner and Cooke City/Silver Gate to further expand park access where possible. Yellowstone has reopened a 23-mile segment of the Beartooth Highway (from US-212/WY-296) junction to the ski hill parking lot), providing visitors access to this world-class scenic roadway.
Reconnecting the park to Gardiner and Cooke City/Silver Gate remains Yellowstone's highest flood recovery priority. These communities are open with access to the park as described above.
Yellowstone implemented the Alternating License Plate System (ALPS) upon reopening the south loop June 22, 2022, to ensure visitor traffic did not overwhelm the south loop. The interim system worked very effectively at moderating traffic within the park, however, with the opening of the north loop and 93% of the road system open, ALPS will be suspended effective July 2. Visitor entrances from East, West, and South will return to normal entrance procedures. Park staff will continue monitoring visitor use data, traffic counts, and the condition of infrastructure over the upcoming months to ensure visitor usage is not overwhelming capacity. The ALPS may be reinstituted if this becomes the case.
Alternating License Plate System (ALPS) for Entry (expires July 2, 2022)
Exceptions to ALPS
Most of Yellowstone's southern backcountry will open to overnight use on Friday, July 1, however some trails and campsites will remain closed for repairs due to flood impacts, high water and bear management closures.
A large portion of the backcountry in the north remains closed as damage assessments continue. Many northern trails have been severely damaged and bridges washed away. Additional backcountry in the northern part of the park will reopen as repairs and final damage assessments are completed.
Visitors traveling to the park must stay informed about the current situation, changes in visitor entry requirements, and road conditions. The public should also use extreme caution in areas of high water.
Visitors should regularly monitor updates from the park on new openings or closures as recovery efforts continue.
THINGS TO DO OUTSIDE OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Montana offers so much more to experience beyond Yellowstone National Park. There are endless options to experience Montana’s wide-open spaces, touchable history, western offerings and American Indian culture. Cast a fishing line on blue-ribbon waters with an experienced guide in Ennis, walk through Montana history in Virginia City and Nevada City, take the backroads to Helena and explore the Gates of the Mountains. Red Lodge’s historic downtown escaped the flood largely unscathed -- and Red Lodge is open for business.
Additional Yellowstone Road Information
In addition to road closures caused by flood damage, Yellowstone will have routine road improvement projects and maintenance, and park roads can close at any time due to inclement weather or dangerous driving conditions. Stay informed about up-to-date road conditions in Yellowstone:
As many of our communities are already hosting or are now ready to welcome visitors, we encourage you to bring your patience and be sure to “know before you go.” Right now that means:
To speak with someone over the phone, please call the Call Center: 800.736.5276.
To sign up for text alerts for the following areas, please consider the following resources: