Yellowstone National Park Has Announced Early Road Closures This Year Due to Expected Snowfall
As the winter snow blankets the Yellowstone National Park, visitors are brainstorming the best way to explore its terrains and trails. In a Reddit thread, a user said they have planned to arrive at the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, then head to Cooke City via Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction, and then hire a snow coach that will lead them to the Lamar Valley, where they would enjoy the view of grazing bison with their binoculars. This is not unfamiliar. Every year, at the onset of wintertime, Yellowstone announces the closing of its busiest roads, and this is the only road in Yellowstone that is likely to stay open. This year, however, the news about road closures has been announced ahead of the upcoming snowfall.
“Most park roads are closed to regular vehicles from early November to late April, and are open to limited oversnow travel (commercially-guided snowmobiles and snowcoaches) from mid-December to mid-March. When open, roads are not gated at night and people may enter/exit the park 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” the announcement reads, according to the NPS website. The report says that Yellowstone has five entrance stations, and it takes several hours to drive between them. Therefore, “Anticipate possible road closures, and check the road status of the entrance you intend to use before traveling.”
Not that the roads at Yellowstone are assaulted with some creepy wintery spirits at this time. It's just that the conditions of these roads are not as safe as they should be for those walking or driving on them. As a video log filmed by @SemirRoams shows, driving on Yellowstone’s roads during snowfall is like traversing a thunderstorm in a video game, through the glass wind shield of your car. The video shows a tempest of white snowflakes aggressively pounding on the car as it rides along a road snaking between trails of lush snow-dusted pines looming on both sides.
Another video log, shared by @yellowstonetours, shows a visitor standing on Yellowstone’s Highway 20 West. On most summer days, this road is dotted with cars parked for as long as a mile. But the snowfall of winter seemingly reduced it to a deserted track blanketed white with nothing but shadows moving on it. It’s not just the visitors or their vehicles that are vulnerable to the risk of getting blinded by the snowstorms. It’s also the wild animals.
Although most animals retire to their dens and caves to rest and snooze during their routine alarms during the winter, some of them are still active at this time. Bison, for instance. They wander around the valleys, yanking out tiny bushes from carpets of snow and nibbling on assorted vegetation. Their woolly bodies become laced with crumbs of snow, a gossamer memento of the wintertide.
This winter, Mammoth is expected to receive 1 to 3 inches of snow, while the rest of the park is likely to get between 6 and 12 inches. The Southern Entrance, which provides access to the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, will likely witness 15 inches of snow with possible blizzard conditions and winds barrelling up to 45 mph. “If you don’t have your own car or don’t feel comfortable driving in winter your options are pretty limited,” aptly explained a Reddit user u/Ankeneering.
To make matters worse, the government shutdown has cut away the supply of tour guides, park employees, and funds, which means limited facilities, limited open areas, and poor services. NPS has suggested visitors to stay tuned with and regularly visit the NPS Road Report for more updates. You can also call 307-344-2117 for recorded information and/or sign up for road updates by texting “82190” to 888777, per Yellowstone National Park Lodges.
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