Yellowstone Set For Busy Independence Day Holiday Weekend

Holiday weekend visitors to Yellowstone may see some traffic delays, but they won’t be due to road construction.

Thousands of cars, campers, vehicles with travel trailers, RVs, and tour buses enter the park each day during the summer. Traffic congestion and travel delays should be expected due to two lane mountain roads, a speed limit on most roads of just 45 miles an hour, and visitors frequently stopping along or even in the road to look at bears, bison, and elk.

Work on the one major road project in the park will be halted for the holiday weekend to help keep traffic moving. There will be no delays or night- time closures on the road through Gibbon Canyon between Norris and Madison from 8:00 a.m. Friday, July 2 until 10:00 p.m. Monday, July 5.

All campgrounds, lodging, stores, shops, service stations, restaurants, and other services and activities in the park are open for the season.

While fireworks displays are held in many communities surrounding Yellowstone, none are offered inside the park. Fireworks are prohibited in Yellowstone National Park and on all national forest land surrounding the park.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for typical summer mountain weather for the Yellowstone area for the July 4th holiday weekend. There is a chance of showers or thunderstorms each day, with highs expected in the 60s and lows from near freezing to 40 degrees.

Updated road information is available 24 hours a day at (307) 344-2117.

Calling (307) 344-2114 will provide the current status of available camping and lodging in the park.

Visitors can get the latest weather forecast at (307) 344-2113, or by listening to the NOAA Weather Radio station broadcasts from transmitters located at Mammoth Hot Springs and Grant Village.