The park – which spans parts of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho – and several nearby cities have received record rainfall and flooding since last weekend, prompting officials to close all entrances into Yellowstone.
“On Wednesday, June 22 at 8 a.m., Yellowstone National Park will begin allowing visitors to access the park’s South Loop,” the park said in a statement. “The South Loop is accessed from the East (Cody), West (West Yellowstone), and South (Grand Teton/Jackson). Accessible areas include Madison, Old Faithful, Grant Village, Lake Village, Canyon Village, and Norris.”
To ensure the South Loop doesn’t become overwhelmed with visitors, the park said it would use an alternative license plate system:
- Vehicles having license plates ending in odd number can travel on odd days of the month
- Vehicles with license plates ending with an even number, including zero, may enter on even days of the month.
“While the North Loop is closed,” Yellowstone officials said, “park employees have engaged more than 1,000 business owners, park partners, commercial operators and residents of the surrounding Gateway communities to determine how to manage summer travel. How to do that.”
Over a period of three days last week, Yellowstone National Park received nearly two to three times more rain than normal for the entire month of June.
And according to the National Weather Service, rainfall this month has already exceeded 400% of the average in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana.
At one point, the Yellowstone River reached its highest level in more than 100 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.