Yellowstone Insider Your Complete Guide to America's First National Park
The road from the South Entrance to West Thumb and on to Old Faithful opened to public travel by commercially guided snowmobiles and snowcoaches on Tuesday at 7:00 a.m., and at 10:00 a.m. the rom the West Entrance to Madison and on to Old Faithful opens.
As of 7:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, the road from West Thumb through Lake to Canyon and Norris; and from Mammoth Hot Springs through Norris on to Madison will open to the public for travel by commercially guided snowmobiles and snowcoaches.
All commercially guided snowmobiles and snowcoaches will be allowed on all of these groomed park roads with the exception of the road from Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris Junction. Due to low snowpack, travel over this road will be temporarily limited to rubber-tracked snowcoaches only.
The Fountain Freight Road will remain closed to travel until it receives sufficient snow, but most other side roads will open to commercially guided oversnow travel Wednesday.
Commercially guided snowmobile and snowcoach travel over the East Entrance road and Sylvan Pass is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 22.
The opening is partially symbolic, as the only thing open at the Old Faithful area is the Old Faithful Visitor Center. The Old Faithful Snow Lodge, dining room, fast food, and gift shop will open for the winter season on Friday, December 18. The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, dining room, and gift shop open for the season on Monday, December 21. The Yellowstone General Store, clinic, campground, post office, 24 hour gasoline pumps, and the Albright Visitor Center at Mammoth Hot Springs are open all year.
Alas, this isn’t a current photo. It’s from the National Park Service archives, circa 1998.
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