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!!
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
Winter Opening Opening Dates are Snow Permitting and all dates are subject to change!! See our Winter Use Planning page for current information.
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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.