Roadwork, some at Yellowstone's North Entrance, will disrupt traffic this summer/NPS file
Travelers heading to Yellowstone National Park will have to be strategic in touring the park, as three major road projects will disrupt travel.
The greatest disruption will be in the northeast corner of the park, as the road between Tower-Roosevelt and Canyon Junction will be completely closed by construction. The two other projects -- one involving the Old Faithful Overpass Bridge and the other at the park's North Entrance -- will require delays and/or traffic pattern changes.
Due to the closure between Tower-Roosevelt and Canyon Junction (over Dunraven Pass), there won't be any access to the Mount Washburn trails. Still, Yellowstone has 1,100 miles of hiking trails. In lieu of Mount Washburn, park staff suggest you consider hiking Bunsen Peak near Mammoth Hot Springs, Purple Mountain north of Madison Junction, or Avalanche Peak along the East Entrance Road.
This is the second year of the project that will widen the road and provide additional/improved pullouts, create a larger, safer parking area at Tower Fall General Store, and improve the Tower Fall’s trail and overlook. The project’s anticipated completion date is May 2022.
The work involving the Old Faithful Overpass Bridge could create delays of up to 15 minutes to accommodate one-lane travel over the overpass bridge. Travelers will be able to access Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin, lodges, stores, clinic and gas station. The project will include several repairs to the bridge and approaches. The project’s anticipated completion date is this fall.
The North Entrance project will likely alter traffic patterns around the entrance and lead to delays. The entrance station will be open. The project is expected to improve infrastructure, safety for pedestrians, and traffic flow for vehicles. It will also reduce lines at the entrance. The project’s anticipated completion date is this fall.
Visit park roads for the status of Yellowstone roads. You also can receive Yellowstone road alerts on your mobile phone by texting “82190” to 888-777 (an automatic text reply will confirm receipt and provide instructions). In addition, call 307-344-2117 for recorded information.
Select roads and services in Yellowstone National Park will open for the season, weather permitting, on April 16.
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Comments
Just closing one road last summer had a serious domino effect on traffic throughout the park.
The biggest road feature that I would eliminate from the "Yellowstone Environs" is the unsightly "Yellowstone Overpass Bridge" close to "Old Faithful. This overpass bridge must have been from the construction days of "Mission 66" in the 1960's. This bridge has no place in our National Park System. I would replace this overpass bridge with a "round-about." Bend, Oregon has great examples of "round-abouts." This also would help reduce the speeding and possible animal collisions in this section of Yellowstone by Old Faithful.