Yellowstone's South Entrance Opens Friday, May 10

The South Entrance to Yellowstone National Park will open for the season on Friday morning, May 10, as originally scheduled.

As of 8:00 a.m. Friday, visitors will be able to travel through the South Entrance to Grant Village, West Thumb Junction and on to Fishing Bridge and across Craig Pass to Old Faithful.

Inside the park, the road between Canyon and Tower-Roosevelt over Dunraven Pass will open to travel May 24 in time for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Due to construction, there will be daytime delays of up to 30 minutes and nightly closures on the section of road between Tower-Roosevelt Junction and Chittenden Road beginning May 28.

All other interior park roads are open for the season.

In addition, National Park Service (NPS) crews are clearing a section of US-212 outside the park's Northeast Entrance. The road from Cooke City, Montana, to the intersection with WY-296, the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, will open May 10, weather permitting.

The section of the Beartooth Highway between the junction of US-212/WY-296 and the community of Red Lodge, Montana, is set to open on Friday, June 14.

Visitor services throughout the park are opening for the season. Operating dates and hours are available online at http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/ocd_locale.htm or by consulting the free park newspaper, provided to visitors at each entrance station.

Budget cuts due to the impacts of sequestration were expected to delay the opening of some park entrances and road segments by one to two weeks. Fundraising by the communities of Cody and Jackson, Wyoming allowed crews and equipment from the Wyoming Department of Transportation to assist the NPS with spring road clearing, allowing the East and South Entrances to the park to open as originally scheduled.

Visitors should be aware that spring in Yellowstone is very unpredictable and often brings cold temperatures, high winds and falling snow. Cleared sections of roads can be narrow and covered with a layer of snow, ice and debris. Visitors should use extreme caution when driving as road clearing operations can be ongoing at any time throughout the park. In the case of extreme weather conditions, temporary road closures are also possible with little or no advance warning.

Updated Yellowstone National Park road information is available 24 hours a day by calling 307-344-2117. Information on current conditions in the park is also available online at http://www.nps.gov/yell/conditions.htm.