After Yellowstone National Park closed following the unprecedented flood event in June, they have announced the reopening of access to backcountry areas and limited access to the North and Northeast entrances. 

Park officials also reopened Slough Creek (one of the park’s most visited backcountry areas) to overnight backcountry use. Slough Creek from Tower Junction will be limited to overnight backcountry permit holders, stock outfitters and approved commercial guides and operators. Park staff will coordinate directly with current backcountry permit holders and commercial operators to allow them to enter and exit the area during daylight hours.

“At this time, outside of permit holders allowed into the corridor (as described above), visitors will not be allowed on the 6-mile segment of road from Tower Junction to the Slough Creek Campground Road until further notice,” the park announced in a Wednesday press release. 

The change is due to limited traffic capacity on the section of road, the road closure after Slough Creek, construction traffic and other factors that are being monitored as the road partially opens. The park will monitor use within this corridor and determine if expanded day-use can occur at a later date. The park is developing a new day-use permit system to potentially allow additional visitor access to Slough Creek at a later date. Slough Creek Campground will remain closed until further notice.

Another priority is to open a portion of the road to foot traffic from Tower Junction to the Yellowstone River to provide fishing access in the near future.

The North Entrance Road (Gardiner, Montana, to Mammoth Hot Springs) and Northeast Entrance Road (Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana, to Tower-Roosevelt) remain closed to automobiles and motorcycles while temporary repairs are completed. However, visitors can now access the park on bicycles and by foot through these entrances.

From the North Entrance, bicyclists are allowed to travel 1 mile to the Rescue Creek Trailhead and from the Northeast Entrance, bicyclists can travel 6 miles to the Barronette Meadows area. On June 30, the park announced that visitors can access the park on foot through these entrances to recreate (fish and hike) in areas not identified as closed. 

“Any visitors accessing these areas should understand dangers and risks of travel within these corridors,” said a spokesman from the communications office.

Approved guides and outfitters are being granted as much access as possible to opened sections of the park through the North and Northeast Entrance roads. Park staff will continue to work with commercial guides and outfitters in Gardiner and Cooke City/Silver Gate to further expand park access where possible.

Reconnecting the park to Gardiner and Cooke City/Silver Gate remains Yellowstone’s highest flood recovery priority. A temporary and extremely limited access road (Old Gardiner Road) between the North Entrance and Mammoth Hot Springs is currently an active construction zone and being converted to two lanes before winter. “At this time, ONLY approved personnel and limited commercial use authorization holders are allowed on the road,” park officials cautioned.