Beartooth Highway Opens For Memorial Day Holiday Weekend

The Beartooth Highway, the scenic high elevation portion of US-212 linking Red Lodge, Montana, with the communities of Cooke City and Silver Gate, Montana, and the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park, is scheduled to open for the season at 9:00 a.m. Friday morning, May 24. Spring road clearing and maintenance is conducted by the Montana Department of Transportation and the National Park Service. Inside Yellowstone, the road over Dunraven Pass linking Canyon Village, Tower Fall and Tower Junction also opens for the season Friday morning. All other park roads and all park entrances have already opened for the season.

Most seasonal visitor services in the park open in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Saturday also marks the opening of fishing season in the park. Details are available online at http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit, by consulting the park newspaper handed out at entrance stations, or by asking the staff at visitor centers and information stations in and near the park.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and a chance of afternoon or evening thunderstorms for the three day holiday weekend, with high temperatures in the 50s and low 60s, and overnight low temperatures near freezing. Spring visitors to the park are encouraged to have flexible travel plans and to be prepared for a wide range of weather conditions.

All communities near and on the way to Yellowstone are open all year, offering a wide range of recreation opportunities, activities, and services for visitors to the region.

Information on lodging, camping, services, and activities near the park in Montana including the towns of Gardiner, West Yellowstone, Cooke City and Silver Gate, is available by contacting their respective Chambers of Commerce or from Travel Montana at 800-847-4868 or http://visitmt.com. Information on visiting Wyoming including the communities of Cody and Jackson is available from their Chambers of Commerce, or by contacting Wyoming Travel and Tourism at 800-225-5996, or on the web at http://www.wyomingtourism.org. Idaho travel information is available by calling the Idaho Tourism Division at 800-VISITID or online at http://www.visitidaho.org.

There will be no daytime travel delays or overnight road closures due to road construction during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Starting Tuesday morning, May 28, visitors should expect construction delays of up to 30 minutes on the road between Tower Fall and Canyon. This section of road will also be closed every night between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. due to construction.

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.