Tag Archives: 2020 summer season

We’re in the prime Yellowstone fire season, so it’s no surprise that the Lone Star Fire growth is now measured at almost 800 acres, as it moves northeast and away from the developed Old Faithful area.

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.

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.

If you plan on a July-October visit, you’ll have more options when it comes to 2020 Yellowstone lodging, as concessionaire Xanterra plans on opening Lake, Canyon and Old Faithful Snow Lodge rooms for the rest of the season.