Winter Adventures Are Over In Yellowstone, Ready For Spring Fun?
March is a big month for Yellowstone National Park, but you'll never see what goes on. Historically, March is the least visited month of most every year and for a good reason. The park closes the gates to begin preparing for the summer.
2022-23 has been a strange year and historic year for Yellowstone and the states around the park. The horrific flood that swept through in the summer of 2022, was devastating to roads, towns and other infrastructure.
The park had to close all 5 gates from June 13 - June 22 due to the flood. Even though crews jumped into action and were able to rebuild roads and get things back up and running, it really never was fully back to normal. Experts feel it will take the park 3-5 years to fully recover from the devastation caused.
Last years flooding caused major impacts on travel in the park, check out the information on how recovery is going in the park.
Even though the park was only fully closed for a short amount of time, the fact that some of the entrances were closed for a longer period of time, affected the overall park attendance in 2022.
The 2022 numbers have just been released and show that Yellowstone National Park's 3,290,242 visiting last year was the fewest number of people through the gates since the 3,188,030 in 2013 . That number comes just one year after the most people ever visited, with 4,860,242.
So, what are they doing from now through when parts of the park reopens April 21st?
By the time March 15 rolls around, most of the roads and features will be closed to start preparing for the millions of visitors that will arrive at the park.
This has been an extremely snowy year in the park and crews will begin work on clearing the roads to be ready for when guests arrive. Obviously, weather will play a big part of the park reopening and many of the major attractions don't even consider opening until mid to late May or even into June.
Being aware of the conditions in the park before you attempt to go, is always a great idea. The parks website has great resources for you to determine if you're even able to get in. Go here for road closures and conditions and here to find out when certain parts of the park will be open.
This video from Practical Engineering to find out more information about the historic flood of 2022.