Yellowstone National Park Closed Due To Record-Breaking Flooding

Parts of Yellowstone National Park will be closed for “a substantial amount of time” after the recent, record-breaking flooding. The flood destroyed some of the park’s infrastructure leading to all five entrances being closed for at least the rest of this week. Meanwhile, officials have warned that the northern end of the park could be closed for quite a while.

Work underway on Yellowstone after flooding

Reportedly, work is ongoing to evacuate some areas of Yellowstone by boat and helicopter. This comes after the unprecedented flooding and melting snow destroyed buildings and roads in the park. Fortunately, no injuries or deaths have been reported so far, but conditions in the park remain hazardous.

Footage taken in the UNESCO World Heritage site revealed cracked and subsiding roads and gushing mudslides. Other video clips showed bridges underwater, while one waterfront building was completely washed away. As officials work to assess damage across the park, the NPS urges people to stay away, warning of dangerous conditions and the risk of rockslides.

Current conditions of Yellowstone’s North Entrance Road through the Gardner Canyon between Gardiner, Montana, and Mammoth Hot Springs.

We will continue to communicate about this hazardous situation as more information is available. More info: https://t.co/mymnqGvcVB pic.twitter.com/S5ysi4wf8a

— Yellowstone National Park (@YellowstoneNPS) June 13, 2022

Meanwhile, several sections of the road between North Entrance (Gardiner, Montana, Mammoth Hot Springs, Lamar Valley and Cooke City, Montana) are completely gone. This means it will take quite some time to rebuild once the flood waters have receded.

When will Yellowstone National Park reopen?

Yellowstone officials announced on Wednesday that the National Park Service is making every effort to repair the roads as quickly as possible. However, they did warn that it is likely road sections in northern Yellowstone will not reopen this season, due to the time required for repairs.

At this moment, day-trippers and people with lodging and camping reservations will not be permitted to enter Yellowstone until it is safe to do so. In fact, all five entrances remain closed and no inbound traffic or lodgings will be accepted until the NPS evaluates the infrastructure.

According to officials, they estimate that the southern loop will remain closed until at least June 19. Meanwhile, the northern loop will be closed longer, possibly for the balance of this season. For now, the park is assessing how to manage additional crowds at the southern end once it reopens. It is possible that they will introduce a reservations system, but nothing has been decided as yet.

Yellowstone National Park superintendent, Cam Sholly, said in a statement:

Due to record flooding events in the park and more precipitation in the forecast, we have made the decision to close Yellowstone to all inbound visitation.

Our first priority has been to evacuate the northern section of the park where we have multiple road and bridge failures, mudslides and other issues.

Sholly explained that they won’t know the timing of Yellowstone’s reopening until the flood waters subside. Once this happens it will take some time for them to assess the damage. However, he also stressed that the northern loop will be closed for “a substantial amount of time.”

Advice for people planning on visiting the park

According to park officials, visitors planning a trip to Yellowstone should check the status of road conditions in the park. Many of the roads are likely to stay closed, even after the park reopens. Moreover, more rainfall is expected over the coming days. This comes with flooding levels on the Yellowstone River already well over record levels.

The destructive flooding comes at a time when the park is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2022. Events have been scheduled throughout the year to mark the occasion.