Following historic flooding, the north loop in Yellowstone National Park will reopen to visitation.

NPS / Jacob W. Frank
NPS / Jacob W. Frank
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On Thursday, Yellowstone National Park announced that access to the park's north loop will reopen to the public on Saturday, July 2.

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Federal Highway Administration engineers have completed the final bridge and road safety inspections, and have determined that the north loop is safe for daily use. The recent announcement means that visitors will have access to the following places:

  • Norris Junction to Mammoth Hot Springs
  • Mammoth Hot Springs to Tower-Roosevelt
  • Tower-Roosevelt to Canyon Junction (Dunraven Pass)
Bull Elk
Photo by David Garry on Unsplash
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In addition, the Alternating License Plate System has been suspended. The east, west, and south entrances will return to normal entrance procedures. The North Entrance Road and Northeast Entrance Road are still closed to visitor traffic while crews work to make repairs.

Visitor access to the southern loop reopened on Wednesday, June 22. Once the north loop reopens, 93% of the roadways in the park will be open to visitors. Visitors can access the south and north loops via the East Entrance, West Entrance, and South Entrance.

Flooding Temporarily Closes Yellowstone National Park
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Services in the north loop will include general stores at Tower and Mammoth Hot Springs, and gasoline in both locations. The park is working to reopen additional services as quickly as possible.

Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly said:

We're pleased to reopen the north loop of Yellowstone to the visiting public less than three weeks after this major flood event. We have attempted to balance major recovery efforts while reopening as much of the park as possible. We have greatly appreciated the tremendous support of the Department of the Interior; National Park Service; Federal Highway Administration; and our congressional, community, county and state partners.

If you're planning a visit to YNP, high water remains in many waterways and some backcountry closures still exist due to hazardous conditions or damaged trails and bridges. For updated information, click here.

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