Yellowstone closed 6/13 - 15

[Aerides]

All park entrances are currently closed, mainly due to massive erosion from the north entrance and overall safety. Just a heads up for anyone with summer plans. I'm sure the other entrances will reopen, but the North inbound route looks like it will need major repairs, and the flooding conditions will likely continue for longer than the currently announced closing:

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/news/220613.htm

2nd link is a chopper video of the road:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1536470361210077184

 

[Ronstar]

We’re scheduled to roll through Yellowstone end of July. Should be fixed by then.

 

[W2R]

I had no idea they were having that much rain up there! Good idea to close it for a while, given the flooding and landslides.

 

[RunningBum]

I dunno, that's some serious damage. I bet that North entrance stays closed for awhile. Of course there are 4 other entrances so it might not affect you but I wouldn't count on that damaged road being fixed.

 

[street]

We’re scheduled to roll through Yellowstone end of July. Should be fixed by then.

Yes I would think so Ronstar!!!

Yellowstone is roaring right now. Water as of yesterday even was all backup in the willow bar when I was over to the ranch. That 4 feet plus snow above 75K feet 3 weeks ago is melting fast and plus all the heavy rains is the culprit. The cricks here are out of the boundaries and a lot of timber and trash coming with it.

 

[Pellice]

I didn't know and just checked, and the Yellowstone River is in the watershed of the Missouri - and therefore no relief to the Colorado River.

 

[corn18]

We’re scheduled to roll through Yellowstone end of July. Should be fixed by then.

Did you watch the video?

 

[aaronc879]

We’re scheduled to roll through Yellowstone end of July. Should be fixed by then.

If you haven't watched the video in the Twitter link in post #1 then watch it. I highly doubt that road will be fixed by end of July. Not if it's done well.

 

[RunningBum]

I have a friend who is a ranger out there. He's in the lake area, so hasn't seen this area, but says along with the multiple sections at the North entrance there's also a section at the NW entrance that's out. Hopefully that one's a quicker repair.

 

[audreyh1]

Most of the park can be accessed without using the North entrance. It’s my favorite entrance though. Looks bad!

No way that’s fixed in a few weeks.

 

[HawkOwl]

Feel like my wife and I dodged a bullet. We left the park at 0600 this morning. Things started shutting down three hours later. I can’t imagine how crowded the roads were when they announced the shutdown.

The rivers were over their banks, and very churning and muddy. A concessionaire at Old Faithful Inn told my wife that this was the most rain he could remember in 15 years.

 

[Ronstar]

If you haven't watched the video in the Twitter link in post #1 then watch it. I highly doubt that road will be fixed by end of July. Not if it's done well.

I’ve watched a few videos. That road could easily be fixed by the end of July - and done correctly.

But I forgot that this will be a government road project with its associated red tape, so it will most likely take more than a few years.

 

[Fermion]

That road is eff'd...at least a year to fix that.

 

[HawkOwl]

I’ve watched a few videos. That road could easily be fixed by the end of July - and done correctly.

But I forgot that this will be a government road project with its associated red tape, so it will most likely take more than a few years.

Are there many non-government road projects?

 

[Chuckanut]

Helicopter video of a damaged road. Not so good.

 

[Ronstar]

Are there many non-government road projects?

Lots of them. But mainly in new subdivisions. New roads in a subdivision are generally constructed and owned by the developer until completed. Then they become public roads owned and maintained by the government.

In the Yellowstone case, extreme measures will be taken to design and build the new road segments within blown out of proportion environmental standards.

Otherwise, skip the design, and just truck in millions of tons of road base and rip-rap, relocate the river and road base a little, and then repave. All could be done in a couple of weeks.

 

[Dave J]

I’ve watched a few videos. That road could easily be fixed by the end of July - and done correctly.

But I forgot that this will be a government road project with its associated red tape, so it will most likely take more than a few years.

I worked many years in road construction. It will be lucky if open to non-local by mid spring 2023.

 

[skyking1]

yeah, I have been there too. That's a mess. It does not help that they have a very short season there.
I did two years in Mount Rainier NP tearing it up. We had maybe 5 good months and then get snowed out.
One spring they said go find the rock wall that had been taken down and put on pallets. I had an excavator, a loader, and a closet rod to probe down to find the rock. They had no idea it had 10'+ of snow over it still

 

[Ronstar]

I worked many years in road construction. It will be lucky if open to non-local by mid spring 2023.

Yep the north entrance will be closed quite some time. The park will probably reopen within a week or so with limited access to other affected areas.

We are staying at Canyon Lodge in late July and heading from there to Glacier National Park. Our plan was to exit Yellowstone via the north entrance. But we can take the west exit- probably only add a couple of hours to our travel.

 

[gromit]

Video of house falling into the river. This is near the park, not in it.

 

[street]

Yep the north entrance will be closed quite some time. The park will probably reopen within a week or so with limited access to other affected areas.

We are staying at Canyon Lodge in late July and heading from there to Glacier National Park. Our plan was to exit Yellowstone via the north entrance. But we can take the west exit- probably only add a couple of hours to our travel.

I hadn't seen the news on all the damage of the entrance road when I commented earlier. I seen just one spot but yes it will take a lot of work to replace that road. Good luck and like you said you can go out the west side.

 

[UtahSkier]

I arrive in West yellowstone on Friday in my rv. Looking for interesting activities outside the park, just in case.

 

[skyking1]

that drive in to West is quite lovely in itself.
Check out the wolves and bears at the Grizzly and Wolf discovery center. We were across the street in WorldMark, and listen to the pack howl every night.

 

[gcgang]

Flooding caused by late season snow combined with major rain where it was 50 degrees even at 12,000 feet. Snowpack for the Winter was actually below normal.

Major roadwork required; next couple of Summers probably affected, imo.

Although the water seems to have crested, by Friday here in Billings 100 degrees is predicted.

I’m actually leaving Thursday. Lol.

 

[Texas Proud]

Interesting video of that house.... whoever built it did a good job as it held together as far as you could see...