Yellowstone Closed 🚨

[rainyescape]

We are currently in Tetons, camping in Colter Bay, and were planning on doing a day trip into Yellowstone today. We got up to Flagg Ranch and had to turn around. We also have a reservation at Mammoth tomorrow, so this was particularly alarming.

We got back to our campsite and found out the whole park is closed to outside visitors, at least for the next 3 days. If you have a reservation during this time (June 13 thru 15), you should have received a message like the one we got below. It has been raining a ton here, and when we did a drive around the grand loop yesterday, we thought the rivers looked particularly high. We feel very lucky we weren’t staying the night we got out when we could.

In some places, entire sections of the roadway and bridges have washed out. Here is a link to photos the park service sent out: https://www.flickr.com/photos/yellow...57668680150793

Here is the message from recreation.gov:

We wanted to provide an update about Yellowstone National Park operations as of June 13, 2022.

All entrances to Yellowstone National Park are CLOSED temporarily due to heavy flooding, rockslides, extremely hazardous conditions.

If you have a reservation beginning June 13 through June 15, your reservation will be cancelled, and a full refund will be provided.

If your reservation extends beyond June 15, we recommend you stay informed about road status and weather conditions in the park:

Effective immediately (June 13), there will be no inbound visitor traffic at any of the five entrances into Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday, June 14, and Wednesday, June 15, at a minimum.

Stay informed about up-to-date road conditions in Yellowstone: Visit Park Roads.

To receive Yellowstone road alerts on your mobile phone, text “82190” to 888-777 (an automatic text reply will confirm receipt and provide instructions).

Call (307) 344-2117 for a recorded message.

Find photos on Flickr of this extremely hazardous situation in Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone will continue to communicate about this hazardous situation as more information is available. Check the park’s Current Conditions page for updates.

[MyronL]

Just looked through the Yellowstone Park site for current information on the closure due to severe flooding. Incredible road erosion, really bad. I think instead of calling the closures temporary they should be using the word indefinitely.

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by MyronL

Just looked through the Yellowstone Park site for current information on the closure due to severe flooding. Incredible road erosion, really bad. I think instead of calling the closures temporary they should be using the word indefinitely.

or at least the rest of the year........

[WillyB]

Seeing all the erosion it reminds me of my Grandpa saying:

"When Mother Natures decides it wants to go somewhere it does so without asking permission from us"

He's also the one who told me to save 10 cents of the Quarter he would give me on Sundays before I went to the cornerstone down the street to buy candy. He was a good old fashioned self made man.

[brain]

Originally Posted by MyronL

Just looked through the Yellowstone Park site for current information on the closure due to severe flooding. Incredible road erosion, really bad. I think instead of calling the closures temporary they should be using the word indefinitely.

Agreed. Having been in Yellowstone when they are (trying to) doing road repairs I know it's an absolute nightmare! They have a very short construction season due to the weather and add to that all the tourist traffic during that time and basically a one loop road ... Yikes!


I think the only ones that are going to be happy about the closures are the wildlife. Fewer tourists annoying them.

[YakRV]

We had reservations at Fishing Bridge campground in Yellowstone for tonight through the 19th. We’re on our way back from Sumas and already had reservations in Grand Teton (also Colter Bay, rainyescape - boy is that name apropos, or what??!!!) for later this week. We landed at Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone tonight and tomorrow. Found two extra nights in Grand Teton (Headwaters) to fill the gap.

Such a shame how absolutely wrecked Yellowstone is right now. Feel terrible for the people that depend on the park to earn a living.

[MyronL]

I read a news report today that the park will be "partially" opened on June 22. Not sure exactly what that means but will be keeping an eye open for that.

[brain]

Originally Posted by MyronL

I read a news report today that the park will be "partially" opened on June 22. Not sure exactly what that means but will be keeping an eye open for that.

Odd/even entry to the park starting June 22.

Only the south loop.
North loop remains closed.


So all the people in half the space ...


https://www.eastidahonews.com/2022/0...ic-on-june-22/

[Mike G]

A river runs through it, for real!

[MyronL]

So I read because of currently volatile climate destruction the Yellowstone honchos are thinking they might re-route roads to far away from the river. Might be a no-brainer.

[Mike G]

Rivers choose the easiest path through an area. Road builders also tend to choose the easiest paths; mankind has traveled along riverbanks when possible for centuries. But heavy rains and flood conditions also have been happening, here and there and from time to time, for centuries. We make our roads and we take our chances.

Hopefully they can come up with another route that is less apt to be washed out, is still scenic, and has low environmental impact. It would have to take a chunk of time to get built, though; tourism impact could be measured in years.

[Ooshkaboo]

Need a pipeline to the west- this isn’t the river flooding, just a night of rain.
Highways shutdown here and there, more rain on the way.

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by Ooshkaboo

Need a pipeline to the west- this isn’t the river flooding, just a night of rain.
Highways shutdown here and there, more rain on the way.

You folks up North really got dumped on this morning. Down South here at 8:00 AM we only had 1/4" of rain. Total so far is only 1".

I hope you and your Escape came through unscathed.

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by WillyB

You folks up North really got dumped on this morning. Down South here at 8:00 AM we only had 1/4" of rain. Total so far is only 1".

I hope you and your Escape came through unscathed.

Up on high ground here, Cabellas and the river are below me…

I was in U city this morning, it was like scenes from a movie, cars floated around to just eventually be sitting in odd places unoccupied.