News

UPDATE: The new Lone Star Fire temporarily closed the Grand Loop Road south of Old Faithful — between Old Faithful and West Thumb, including the Craig Pass — on Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. due to smoke.

There were 43,019 reported cases of COVID-19 in the United States today, but none of them came from Yellowstone National Park, as NPS officials reported that all pending Yellowstone COVID-19 testing came back negative.

Despite a surprising number of visitors to the park in July, another round of testing yielded no new Yellowstone COVID-19 cases as of mid-July.

With the summer season upon us and anecdotal evidence of crowds returning, it’s important to note that the Yellowstone fire danger is now currently rated as very high by the National Park Service.

If it’s August, you know it’s Yellowstone fire season–and sure enough, with the fire danger high, we’ve seen the first two wildfires of the 2020 Yellowstone summer season.

We have the first Yellowstone COVID-19 positive tests in the books, as two concessions employees and three separate visitors reported symptoms and subsequently tested positive.

With the Old Faithful Overpass Bridge closed because of safety concerns, getting to and from the Old Faithful area will be a challenge for the time being.

After a habituated Yellowstone black bear entered a backcountry campsite and bit several campers before raiding the group’s food cache, rangers made the decision to kill the bear.

A limited number of Old Faithful Inn rooms will open to the public starting July 24, as Superior, Premium and Suites facilities will be available for overnight stays.

Yellowstone visitation in June 2020 was down some 32 percent from June 2019 visitation numbers, as the COVID-19 pandemic is clearly keeping many folks at home during the high summer season.