News

A small fire on Sepulcher Mountain caused by a lightning strike has forced Yellowstone National Park officials to close down the popular Sepulcher Mountain Trail, near the park’s northern boundary and about three miles west-northwest of Mammoth Hot Springs.

The Yellowstone National Park bison population is up slightly in 2009, well below recorded highs but stable enough to lead Park officials to proclaim all is well.

A woman camping more than five miles into the remote Bechler River portion of Yellowstone National Park was found dead, presumably after drowning in the Bechler River.

With the tallies completed, it's official: This has been the busiest summer in Yellowstone National Park history, as nearly 2.3 million people came to the park during June, July and August, up 124,000 over the previous summer record of 2,173,371 set back in 1999.

Even though it's been a relatively wet summer -- at least by previous standards -- there's always the threat of summer fires in Yellowstone National Park, and this year is no exception, as 200 acres in the Lamar Valley have been affected by what began as an extremely small fire two weeks ago. The prognosis: minimal impact on the park.

A new line of quarters from the U.S. Mint will feature Yellowstone National Park in a first round of designs honoring National Parks, starting in April 2010.

Aiming to protect both bears and humans, the Yellowstone Park Foundation is embarking on a fundraising drive to install bear boxes -- those large, bear-proof containers -- in top-priority campgrounds throughout Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone’s Clear Lake Trail has been temporarily closed to protect the public from hazards associated with new thermal activity along the trail, as "hot spots" along the trail indicate a heat source under the crust of the trail. These hot spots will be evaluated by park geology staff using thermal imaging and a ground survey.

At the end of the day, President Barack Obama and his family did the things virtually everyone else wants to do when they visit Yellowstone National Park: do a little fishing, visit Old Faithful, and get away from it all.

The last of three free-admission weekends in Yellowstone National Park is scheduled for this weekend, as the National Park Service winds up an ambitious promotion of the National Park system.