Date: June 27, 2006
Contact: Nash, (307) 344-2010
Contact: Vallie, (307) 344-2012
The North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park has reopened to traffic.
Heavy rain and hail from a powerful thunderstorm which cross the northern section of the park early Tuesday afternoon caused four small mud slides across the road linking Gardiner, Montana and Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming.
The mud slides were located between the southern section of the Gardiner River Canyon and the Montana/Wyoming state line at the 45th parallel.
Park staff closed the road at the North Entrance and at the Mammoth Hot Springs Campground at 2:30 Tuesday afternoon. Crews used heavy equipment to clear away the debris. The road reopened to traffic at 5:45 p.m.
This was the second incident that inconvenienced park visitors and employees on Tuesday.
Shortly after noon, a small wildland fire north of the park in the Gallatin National Forest took out the transmission line that provides electrical service to Gardiner and all of Yellowstone National Park.
Back-up generators were brought on line in Yellowstone to provide power. USDA Forest Service and National Park Service firefighters quickly brought the small fire under control, allowing NorthWestern Energy crews to repair the damage and restore power by 1:30 p.m.
