The gates to Yellowstone National Park are open again after a 16-day closure. Following an 11th-hour agreement in Congress to restore funding after a partial government shutdown and to avert a default over the nation’s debt, national parks across the country are reopening.
All roads into Yellowstone are once again open, according to a statement released Thursday morning by the National Park Service. The National Park Service website has been restored for public use.
Visitors are encouraged to return to the region to take advantage of the crisp weather and enjoy the last few weeks of the fall season.
All roads in the park are open with the exception of the section linking Tower Junction and Canyon over Dunraven Pass, which has closed for the season. Outside the park’s Northeast Entrance, US-212 remains open through Silver Gate and Cooke City east to the junction with WY-296, the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. The road over Beartooth Pass has closed for the season.
The Old Faithful Visitor Education Center and the temporary Visitor Center in Mammoth Hot Springs open at 9 a.m. Thursday. The Mammoth Hot Springs and Lewis Lake Campgrounds are open. The Yellowstone General Store in Mammoth Hot Springs is open. Pay-at-the-pump fuel is available by credit card at locations throughout the park. All other visitor services in Yellowstone have closed for the season.
Communities around Yellowstone are open all year. Information on lodging, camping, services, and activities near the park in Montana including the towns of Gardiner, West Yellowstone, Cooke City and Silver Gate, is available by contacting their respective Chambers of Commerce or from Travel Montana at 800-847-4868 or http://visitmt.com. Information on visiting Wyoming including the communities of Cody and Jackson is available from their Chambers of Commerce, or by contacting Wyoming Office of Tourism at 800-225-5996 or on the web at http://www.wyomingtourism.org. Idaho travel information is available by calling the Idaho Division of Tourism at 800-VISITID or online at http://www.visitidaho.org.
Updated Yellowstone National Park road information is available 24 hours a day by calling 307-344-2117. Updated information on current conditions in the park will be available online later Thursday at http://www.nps.gov/yell/conditions.htm.