Check News Releases or Current Conditions for any unscheduled entrance closures due to adverse weather conditions.
Please refer to our Opening and Closing Dates for Facilities and Road Construction Schedule regarding closures not related to the weather.
Check here for Visitor Center dates and hours.
ROAD OPENING AND CLOSING DATES
Some Park Areas, Entrances & Roads are Not Open Year-round!!
Fall Road Closures:
- October 14, 2008: Roads close to the public at Tower Fall to Canyon Jct. and Long Lake via Beartooth Pass to the Montana Stateline. (GATES CLOSE AT 8 A.M.).
- November 3, 2008: all park roads closed to the public at 8 a.m. except from the North Entrance to Upper Mammoth Terrace, and Mammoth via Tower Junction to Northeast Entrance. Cooke City via Colter Pass to the Long Lake gate is not maintained for wheeled vehicle travel.
Fall: Fall weather is unpredictable; roads may be closed temporarily by snow or other weather conditions. Snow tires or chains may be required. Please Note: The section of the Beartooth Highway (Highway 212), between the junction of Highway 296 and Red Lodge, Montana, closes in winter on a schedule determined by amount of snowfall. Travel between Red Lodge and the Northeast Entrance is not possible on Highway 212 until it opens again in the spring.
Winter:
The only park road that remains open to wheeled-vehicle use year-round is the road from the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, to the Northeast Entrance at Silver Gate and Cooke City, Montana. Snow tires and/or chains may be required. The road is open 24 hours per day (winter storms may close the road temporarily).
2008-2009 Winter Oversnow Vehicle Road Opening and Closing Schedule
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December 15, 2008 - Most roads open to oversnow travel (weather and snow conditions permitting).
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December 22, 2008 - East Entrance Road (between East Entrance and Fishing Bridge) opens to oversnow travel.
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Park roads close to oversnow travel at
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9:00 pm on Sunday March 1, 2009: Mammoth to Norris Junction and East Entrance Road.
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9:00 pm on Tuesday March 3, 2009: Norris Junction to Madison Junction and Norris Junction to Canyon
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9:00 pm on Sunday March 8, 2009: Canyon Junction to Fishing Bridge Junction closed.
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9:00 pm on March 15, 2009: All groomed roads in the park are closed.
Refer to Winter Daily Weather Reports for information about temperatures, snowfall, road conditions and Sylvan Pass.
Only commercially guided oversnow vehicles are allowed on other park roads. Best Available Technology snowmobiles are required, and there is a daily limit on snowmobile and snowcoach entries. Off-road use of snowmobiles and snowcoaches is prohibited. The park is open for oversnow vehicle travel from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (the East Entrance opens at 8:00 a.m. and closes at 9:00 p.m.). For more information, go to Winter Activities and Winter Use Planning.
Spring:
The North Entrance to Northeast Entrance at Silver Gate and Cooke City, Montana is open all year. Please note that this road is closed to east/west travel just east of Cooke City from late fall to early spring.
Once an Entrance/Road opens, it is open 24 hours a day. The only exceptions are caused by road construction and weather-related restrictions.
Roads will open to motorized, wheeled vehicles as follows:
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April 17, 2009–West side roads open to motor vehicles. Mammoth to Norris Junction to Madison Junction to Old Faithful; Madison Junction to West Entrance; Norris Junction to Canyon
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May 1, 2009–Canyon to Lake; Lake to East Entrance
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May 8, 2009–Tower to Tower Fall; Lake to West Thumb; West Thumb to Old Faithful; South to Old Faithful. Cooke City via Colter Pass to the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway intersection to the Long Lake gate shall be open as soon thereafter as possible.
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May 22 (if snow and plow conditions allow): Tower Falls to Canyon via Dunraven Pass; Long Lake Gate to Red Lodge via Beartooth Pass.
In the spring, before park roads open to motorized vehicles, some roads are open to non-motorized recreational vehicles such as bicycles, roller skis, and roller blades. There will be some administrative vehicles traveling the roads at this time so be careful. See the Spring Biking Page for a map and more information.
