Yellowstone National Park 2021 / 2022 Schedule

Yellowstone National Park Schedule Information

Yellowstone National Park Schedule Information
Spring Opening / Services Schedule	Fall Closing	Getting Here
Spring Biking	Winter Opening	Winter Closing

Yellowstone National Park Fee Free Dates
Fee Free Dates

“Yellowstone Today” - Park Newspaper / Ranger Led Activities

Roads From West Yellowstone and Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful Set to Open Friday, April 16th at 8:00 AM.

Restroom facilities will be available at Madison Junction and Old Faithful starting April 16th, with pay-at-the pump fuel available 24 hours a day at both the Upper and Lower Service Stations, and all year at Mammoth, and Tower.

The Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, the Geyser Grill and the Bear Den Gift Shop will open for the season on Friday, April 16th. The Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Cabins and Restaurant, the Old Faithful Upper Store and the Lower Service Station convenience store all open for the season on Friday, May 7th.

Visitors should be aware that spring in Yellowstone is very unpredictable and often brings cold temperatures, high winds and falling snow. Even cleared sections of roads can be narrow and covered with a layer of snow, ice and debris. Therefore, visitors should use extreme caution when driving as road clearing operations can be ongoing at any time throughout the park. In the case of extreme weather conditions, temporary road closures are also possible with little or no advance warning.

Park entrance fees will be waived April 17th as part of National Park Week. The week-long annual celebration is designed to encourage people to visit one of America's 401 national park system sites. A seven-day pass to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks is normally $ 30.00 for each park for a private, non-commercial vehicle.

The road from the park's North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana through Mammoth Hot Springs, and on to the Northeast Entrance and the communities of Silver Gate and Cooke City, Montana, is open all year.

Thanks to fundraising efforts by the communities of Cody and Jackson, Wyoming, crews and equipment from the Wyoming Department of Transportation have joined National Park Service efforts to clear park roads for visitor travel. You can follow the progress of spring road clearing in Yellowstone on the web at http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/plowing.htm.

Weather permitting, the road from Canyon Junction to Lake and Lake to the park's East Entrance (Sylvan Pass) will open to travel on Friday, May 7th. Travel from Lake to the South Entrance and Tower Junction to Tower Fall and from Old Faithful to West Thumb (Craig Pass) open on May 14th. May 28th the Beartooth Highway open. Tower Junction to Tower Fall road opens June 25th.

Information on current conditions in the park is available online at www.nps.gov/yell/conditions.htm. Updated Yellowstone National Park road information is available 24 hours a day by calling: 307-344-2117.

Yellowstone National Park is our first and grandest national park. Only a part of Yellowstone is open all year. The North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana is Open Year Round. The road from Gardiner to Mammoth Hot Springs and from Mammoth to Silver Gate and Cooke City, Montana is maintained for winter vehicle travel. In winter, vehicles are usually required to have snow tires and may be required to have chains to enter the park. The road though plowed and maintained, will be snow or ice packed in areas. The North Entrance is open 24/7 365 days a year, but there may be temporary closures due to weather or other conditions. Also of note, you cannot travel east of Cooke City, Montana until late spring when the road east of Cooke City is plowed open for vehicle travel.

The Albright Visitor Center and the Mammoth Campground are open year round. The Visitor Center offers a bookstore, a museum, park movies, a ranger information station, and ranger programs all year. The Visitor Centers in other areas of the park open shortly after the entrances and roads open.

This is the normal park schedule for other areas of the park:

The West Entrance normally opens for vehicle travel and visitors the Third Friday of April at 8:00 AM. The East Entrance normally opens two weeks later and the South Entrance three weeks after the West Entrance. These dates depend on road plowing and snow and ice removal and the weather. The road from Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris to Madison to the West Entrance and to Old Faithful open at this time.

In the spring, once the roads are plowed and before vehicle travel is opened, visitors may hike, bike or roller blade the park roads from Mammoth to Norris, from Norris to Madison and from Madison to the West Entrance. The road from Madison to Old Faithful is closed due to spring bear activity.

In the fall, after the East, South and West Entrances are closed to vehicle travel, visitors may hike, bike or roller blade the park roads from Mammoth to Norris, from Norris to Madison and from Madison to the West Entrance.

~ Spring Opening ~

Spring Opening

* * * Spring Bike Opening 2021 * * *

A brief spring bicycling season is offered on some park roads after the plows safely clear traffic lanes and before the roads are ready for automobile travel. Details are available at the above link.

Yellowstone National Park Entrance Opening Schedule
North Entrance	Open	Year	Round
West Entrance	Friday	16 April	at 8:00 AM
East Entrance	Friday	07 May	at 8:00 AM
South Entrance	Friday	14 May	at 8:00 AM
Old Faithful to West Thumb	Friday	14 May	at 8:00 AM
Beartooth Highway	Friday	28 May	at 8:00 AM
Tower Junction to Tower Fall	Sunday	25 June	at 8:00 AM

Once an Entrance Opens, it is open 24 hours seven days a week unless a temporary closure for special conditions exists.

The road from Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris to Madison to the West Entrance and to Old Faithful open at 8:00 am on April 16th, 2021.

Opening Dates and Times are subject to change due to special situations or weather conditions.

Visitors will once again be able to drive into portions of the interior of Yellowstone National Park starting this weekend. The roads through the North and West Entrances to Norris, Madison, Canyon and Old Faithful are set to re-open to car and RV traffic as scheduled at 8:00 a.m., Friday, April 16th.

The road linking Canyon, Fishing Bridge and the East Entrance opens on Friday, May 3rd. Travel from the South Entrance to Grant, West Thumb and Fishing Bridge is set to begin Friday, May 10th. Travel from Cooke City over Colter Pass to the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway and the Long Lake gate typically also opens by mid-May. The balance of the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge, Montana, and the road between Tower Fall and Canyon over Dunraven Pass will open on the 24th of May weather permitting.

Very limited visitor services will be open for several weeks. Due to the deep snow present in the park’s interior, walking on trails including those along the Canyon Rim, or on boardwalks through thermal areas, will be difficult or impossible for some time.

The park also has several seasonal Bear Management Area closures designed to reduce encounters with bears in areas that have a high density of elk and bison carcasses. Several areas including Midway Geyser Basin and Fountain Paint Pots will remain closed through the Friday of Memorial Day (May 24th, 2019) weekend.

Park crews have to clear 198 miles of main road, 124 miles of secondary roads, and 125 acres of parking lots inside the park, as well as 31 miles of the Beartooth Highway outside the park’s Northeast Entrance, each spring.

Yellowstone's weather is very unpredictable. Visitors should be prepared for a wide range of winter and spring weather conditions, including plows clearing snow from the roads, and temporary road closures. Updated Yellowstone National Park road information is available 24 hours a day by calling 307-344-2117.

Yellowstone National Park Fee Free Dates

Yellowstone National Park Fee Free Dates
January 18st - Monday	Martin Luther King Day
April 17th - Saturday	First Day of National Park Week
August 4th - Wednesday	Great American Outdoor Act
August 25th - Wednesday	National Park Service Anniversary
September 25th - Saturday	National Public Lands Day
November 11th - Thursday	Veterans Day

The National Park Service is waving entrance fees on six (6) days in 2021 as a way to encourage people to get outdoors and enjoy the remarkable wildlife, landscapes, historical, and cultural sites that the national parks have to offer.

Area Schedules for 2021

* * PLEASE NOTE: These are the scheduled Opening and Closing dates; however, all are subject to change based on future conditions and public health guidance. Updates will be provided if new information becomes available. * *

Bridge Bay 2021 Schedule