South Loop in Yellowstone National Park Will Reopen on June 22

This news story about the reopening of the South Loop in Yellowstone National Park is based on a June 18, 2022, National Park Service press release. You can read the original release here.

It’s been nearly a week since record-breaking rainfall caused a “once-in-500-years flooding event” in Yellowstone National Park.

This historic flood—the worst in the park’s 150-year history—swept away campgrounds, claimed several sections of road and destroyed numerous bridges.

Due to these severity and potential dangers of the flooding, park management decided to temporarily close the entire park to all traffic last Monday. All visitors inside the park were evacuated.

Luckily and almost incredibly, not a single person is known to have been injured or died.

Now, as the park is licking its wounds, assessing damage and budgeting for repairs, the National Park Service on Saturday announced that the South Loop of Yellowstone will reopen to the public on Wednesday, June 22.

Yellowstone National Park’s South Loop Reopening on June 22

The Park Service specified that “at 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, Yellowstone National Park will begin allowing visitors to access the South Loop of the park.”

That South Loop encompasses many of Yellowstone’s top attractions, including Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Norris Geyser Basin and Lake Yellowstone.

Visitors can access the South Loop from the South (Grand Teton/Jackson), West (West Yellowstone) and East (Cody) entrances.

“As part of reopening planning, park staff have engaged over 1,000 business owners, park partners, commercial operators and residents in surrounding gateway communities to determine how to manage summer visitation while the north loop remains closed due to flood damage,” the Park Service said.

As previously explained, the reopening of the South Loop in Yellowstone National Park brings with it a new set of issues for the park.

The oldest and one of the most visited U.S. national parks, Yellowstone receives four million visitors each year. The vast majority of those people come during the peak summer months, when visitation numbers of up to a million people per month are not unusual.

Considering that the North Loop will remain closed for the foreseeable future, that effectively means that all of Yellowstone’s visitors will be concentrated in just the South Loop.

To combat overcrowding, preserve park resources and provide the best possible national park experience, Yellowstone National Park management has, therefore, decided to “institute an interim visitor access plan.”

In practice, this temporary plan will, it is hoped, keep visitation numbers within a manageable, safe and enjoyable range. The interim visitor access plan in Yellowstone is called the Alternating License Plate System (ALPS).

Alternating License Plate System Will Help Manage Visitation on South Loop of Yellowstone National Park

The Alternating License Plate System was suggested as a solution by gateway communities during major public engagement with the park this past week.

Both park managers and partners agreed this system is the most optimal temporary solution to prevent the South Loop from becoming overwhelmed by visitors.

The license plate system in Yellowstone will be actively monitored by the National Park Service.

Additionally, the Park Service is also “concurrently building a new reservation system that will be ready for implementation if needed,” the agency said.

Yellowstone Alternating License Plate System Details

• Public vehicle entry will be allowed based on whether the last numerical digit on a license plate is odd or even.
• Entrance will be granted based on odd/even days on the calendar.
  • Odd-numbered last digits on license plates can enter on odd days of the month.
  • Even-numbered last digits (including zero) on license plates can enter on even days of the month.
• Personalized plates (all letters, for example “YLWSTNE”) will fall into the “odd” category for entrance purposes.
• Plates with a mix of letters and numbers but that end with a letter (for example “YELL4EVR”) will still use the last numerical digit on the plate to determine entrance days.
• Entrance station staff will turn away vehicles attempting to enter the park when the odd/even numerical digits do not correspond to the odd/even calendar date for entrance.

Exceptions

• Current commercial use operators with active commercial use permits will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes commercial tours and stock groups.
• Visitors with proof of overnight reservations in the park will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes hotels, campgrounds, and backcountry reservations.
• Commercial motorcoaches will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number.
• Motorcycle groups may enter on even dates only.
• Essential services like mail and deliver, employees and contractors may enter regardless of license plate number.

Yellowstone National Park’s interim license plate system will ensure that visitors have access to the park during this period of high demand.

Park managers and staff will monitor the license plate system and impacts on resources, infrastructure, operations, and staffing, and may adjust or implement a reservation or timed entry system, if necessary, after three to four weeks.

“Less than six days ago, Yellowstone National Park was hit with devastating floods,” said Superintendent Cam Sholly. “Thanks to the tremendous efforts of our teams and partners, we are prepared to reopen the South Loop of Yellowstone.”

Sholly emphasized that “it is impossible to reopen only one loop in the summer without implementing some type of system to manage visitation. My thanks to our gateway partners and others for helping us work out an acceptable temporary solution for the South Loop while we continue our efforts to reopen the North Loop.”

“As we go through the reopening process, we will monitor the system’s effectiveness and work together to make adjustments that may be necessary. We will also reopen new sections of the park as repairs continue to be made. It is critical for visitors to stay informed about this interim system as we evaluate its effectiveness,” he said.

Sholly also encouraged all future visitors to plan ahead. He asked visitors to be patient while the park continues its park-wide recovery efforts and moves into this operational phase.

Places on the South Loop That Are OPEN as of June 22

The following locations on the South Loop of Yellowstone will be open as of Wednesday, June 22.

• Backcountry areas accessible from roads open to the public will be available/restricted for day use only.
  • Overnight use from trailheads in the south will open July 1.
  • Visit Camp in Backcountry for details.  
• Old Faithful, West Thumb, Grant Village, Bridge Bay, Fishing Bridge, Lake Village and Norris visitor services
• West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center
• Canyon Village Visitor Education Center

Places on the South Loop That Are CLOSED Until Further Notice

The following locations on the South Loop of Yellowstone will remain closed until further notice.

• Canyon Village Lodges and Cabins
• Canyon, Madison, Norris and Lewis Lake campgrounds
• Fishing Bridge Visitor Center and Trailside Museum

You can find information on what is open and closed throughout Yellowstone National Park on the park’s Operating Hours and Seasons page.

Yellowstone staff are working to determine what other potential sections of the park may be reopened prior to roads closing on November 1.cDecisions will depend on extent of damage and the ability of park managers to safely open additional sections as the year progresses.

Park managers are evaluating plans to reopen roads connecting Canyon Village, Tower Junction, Mammoth Hot Spring and Norris however this will not happen initially.

The park is also working to reconnect Mammoth Hot Springs to Gardiner and Cooke City/Silver Gate as soon as possible with temporary solutions, while long-term reconstruction is planned.  

Visitors should continue to monitor the park website and social media for additional updates on the reopening of Yellowstone National Park’s South Loop (and North Loop in the future).