Open! ...mostly...

Normally heralded as the first chance to get into Old Faithful and Canyon, just after opening this year we find out the road south of Canyon has washed out. Again. Does it happen every year? Pretty much. Is it the same area of road? Pretty much. {Sigh} ---------------------------------------------------- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE ---------------------------------------------------- Washout Prompts Temporary Closure Of Road South Of Canyon Junction Just hours after opening for auto travel for the summer season, a section of road in Yellowstone National Park has been temporarily closed because the roadbed has given way. A basketball-sized hole was discovered Friday afternoon in a section of Yellowstone’s Grand Loop road south of Canyon Junction. Upon further inspection, park staff members discovered a large section of the roadbed beneath the pavement has washed out. Visitors can take in views of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by traveling on the North Rim Drive. However, viewing locations along the South Rim Drive such as Artist Point won’t be accessible until road repairs are completed. There is no estimate on the scope of the necessary repairs of the length of the temporary closure of this section of road. After being closed to automobiles all winter, Friday morning some interior park roads opened to motorists for the start of the busy tourist season. Visitors may enter Yellowstone through the park’s North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, and West Entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana, to Norris, Madison, Canyon and Old Faithful. The road from Gardiner, Montana, through Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction to Cooke City, Montana, is open all year. The road south of the Canyon area to Fishing Bridge and the East Entrance is not scheduled to open for the season until May 4. The park’s South Entrance to West Thumb, Old Faithful, and Lake Village is scheduled to open on May 11. Information on park road conditions is available 24 hours a day by calling the park’s road information hotline at 307-344-2117. - www.nps.gov/yell -

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm