Hopefully YNP has successful year

by Amber Steinmetz, Cody Enterprise

It’s that time of year once again.

Last Friday, the East Entrance to Yellowstone Park opened for the season, signaling what we hope will be the start of a great tourist season.

Last year was expected to be a banner one as the park celebrated its 150th anniversary, but the historic floods in June closed public access to the park and had many people changing their plans.

Yellowstone had 3.3 million visits in 2022, down 32 % from 2021.

All things considered, though, it went better than expected. On June 13, all park entrances closed, and visitors were evacuated. It remained that way until June 22, when the East, South and West entrances opened on a limited entry basis.

On July 2, entry restrictions on the East, South and West entrances were removed. The North and Northeast entrances remained closed to traffic through September. The Northeast Entrance opened to regular visitor traffic on Oct. 15 and the North Entrance on Oct. 30.

This year the West Entrance opened on April 21 and other entrances opened throughout May. Hopefully things will warm up slowly and it will be business as usual in the park this year.

As visitation doesn’t pick up until next month, now is a great time for locals to venture into the park.

However, keep in mind that visitors can anticipate temporary road closures near Sylvan Pass because of increased avalanche danger from recent snowfall and warm temperatures.

And many areas of the park are still experiencing winter conditions where snow and ice may cover sections of road. Additionally, spring services are still limited.

Check for road updates by visiting Park Roads on the park’s website or calling (307) 344-2117 for recorded information.

In an interview last fall, superintendent Cam Sholly said all signs pointed to a strong and successful return in 2023.

We hope he’s right and look forward to another great season.