Now’s your last chance to visit this popular national park before winter closures

It's your last chance to visit Yellowstone National Park before it winterizes

By Sarah Joseph Published October 24, 2024

West ridge of Amphitheater Mountain at Yellowstone National Park in the winter — Jim Peaco / NPS

Yellowstone National Park is open year-round, but several closures in the wintertime can impact your visit. This year, Yellowstone will implement its winterizing procedures on October 31st, so get in your fall visit while you still can.

Here’s everything you need to know about Yellowstone’s upcoming winter closures.

Rime Ice on trees near Canary Spring at Yellowstone — Jim Peaco / NPS

Starting November 1, the West, South, and East entrances and most park roads will close to regular vehicles as park officials prepare them for snowmobile and snowcoach season. The road from Tower Fall to Canyon Village (Dunraven Pass) will remain open through October 31, weather permitting. Not every road will close, though. One road that will remain open is the route between the North Entrance (Gardiner, Montana) and the Northeast Entrance (Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana), which passes through Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Junction, and Lamar Valley.

Recommended Videos

These closures mean that only limited parts of the park will be accessible by car until mid-December, when snowmobiles and snowcoaches begin to operate on certain routes. This includes roads leading to popular areas like Old Faithful, West Thumb Geyser Basin, Hayden Valley, and Yellowstone Lake. Hiking and wildlife watching will be restricted to areas accessible from the North Entrance route. While you can still enjoy Lamar Valley, Mammoth Hot Springs, and nearby trails, the options will be fewer until over-snow travel begins. Only Mammoth Campground remains open year-round, though services will be minimal.

If you plan to drive into Yellowstone after the closure, be prepared for changing weather. Snow, ice, and sudden weather shifts are common in the area, so have flexible plans in case you are delayed.

Topics

Contributor

Sarah is a lover of all things outdoors. With a bright sense of adventure and a heart for the mountains, she is always…

Outdoors

Looking for solitude? These are the 3 least visited national parks in America

Adventurers seeking isolation will love these 3 national parks

least visited national parks three bright yellow tents on red autumn tundra with mountains blue sky amp survey equipment

If you're sick and tired of those crowds at your favorite national park, you're not alone. Many parks have seen a huge increase in visitors in just the last year alone, leading to the implementation of reservation systems that can sometimes be more complicated than helpful. In this article, we will explore some of the least-visited national parks according to 2023 statistics.
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Gates of the Arctic is the northernmost U.S. national park, and its remoteness makes it one of the least-visited with only 11,045 visits in 2023. Located entirely above the Arctic Circle, this 8.5 million-acre park has tons of wilderness with hardly any roads, trails, nor established campsites. Key sights include the rugged Brooks Range, wild rivers, and all of the wildlife, such as caribou, grizzly bears, wolves, and wolverines.
Activities around the park

Outdoors

Plan your adventure: The best time to visit Sequoia National Park

Thinking of going to Sequoia National Park this here? Here's the best time to plan your trip

A stand of Giant Sequoia trees in California.

Sequoia National Park is home to some of the oldest and largest living organisms on earth — sequoia trees. Many of these ancient trees are over 2,000 years old, so it's no mystery why this national park has become a treasured vacation spot for many. These trees really have stood the test of time, enduring millennia of weather changes, forest fires, and environmental shifts. And while the sequoias are one of the most prominent sites to see at the park, it also has deep canyons and serene meadows, plus plenty of wildlife to see along the way. But how do you know what time of year you should go? In this guide, we will break down everything Sequoia National Park has in store for each season so you can make an educated decision.

There's so much to explore, so to make the most of your trip, just make sure that you make any required reservations, like for campsites and tours. After that, the only thing you and your family need to do to access this amazing park is a $35 vehicle pass that can be purchased on the NPS website.
Sequoia National Park in the fall

Outdoors

What you need to know about Rocky Mountain National Park road closure

This road was just closed for all vehicles

A view of the continental divide mountains in Rocky Mointains National Park on a Sunny day

As the cold seasons approach, Rocky Mountain National Park is starting to transition to winter mode. This shift may affect your visit, so here's everything you need to know.
Here's how Rocky Mountain National Park's winter closures will affect your stay
Rocky Mountain National Park Sonja Wilkinson / Unsplash

Effective on October 25, 2024, the Trail Ridge Road, also known as U.S. Highway 34, has been officially closed to through-traffic. This closure is expected to last through the winter season, since the road is a high-altitude route that stretches above 11,500 feet for 11 miles. This makes it incredibly dangerous during snowy and icy conditions, especially since it has minimal guardrails and doesn't have any shoulders.