Cooke City Mountain House

07/02/2024

10/30/2022

We are reconnected with the North Entrance! Right now the weather is beautiful. Soon it will snow enough to ski and sled. We hope you can visit.

Effective immediately, the North Entrance and road between the North Entrance and Mammoth Hot Springs (Old Gardiner Road) is open! Today, Oct 30., and Oct. 31, the park will waive all entrance fees. Travel safely and enjoy the improved road!

nps.gov/yell/learn/news/220613.htm

10/28/2022

Fantastic News!

08/10/2022

08/09/2022

Scotch Bonnet Ridge

07/19/2022

BEARTOOTH HIGHWAY SCHEDULED TO OPEN FRIDAY!

Montana Department of Transportation is excited to announce that our crews and Riverside Contracting are finishing up the repair work south of Red Lodge on US 212 ahead of schedule.

The Beartooth Highway will be opening this coming Friday (July 22, 2022) at 5pm. Special thanks to the teams that worked so hard to get the repair work completed!

07/05/2022

06/30/2022

https://www.facebook.com/151418891540140/posts/5962497823765522/?d=n

06/24/2022

Crazy Creek Falls

06/24/2022

06/20/2022

⚠️ 6/20 FLOOD UPDATE ⚠️

During a visit to Yellowstone National Park and Gardiner, Montana, on Sunday, June 19, National Park Service Director Chuck Sams with Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly announced $50 million to kick-start recovery efforts from record breaking floods.

They also announced that in addition to the park’s southern loop reopening on June 22, the park’s northern loop is expected to reopen in two weeks or less following completion of clean-up, repairs and final inspection of the northern loop infrastructure. This will allow visitors to access Dunraven Pass, Tower, Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris opening visitor access to approximately 80 percent of Yellowstone National Park. Additional details on access will be announced in the coming weeks.

The initial $50 million will be used to restore temporary access to Gardiner and Cooke City, Montana and other additional sites. Plans are being finalized for improving the Old Gardiner Road for temporary access between Yellowstone and Gardiner, Montana. In partnership with the Federal Highway Administration, road construction crews and materials that were already in the park for a previously scheduled road project to repair 22 miles of the Grand Loop Road between Old Faithful and West Thumb Geyser Basin will be diverted to the Old Gardiner Road project.

The NPS currently anticipates the Old Gardiner Road will be substantially improved over the upcoming months, ensuring that essential emergency services, food, supplies and other administrative needs will be available throughout the winter months. As work proceeds through the summer, the NPS will look for opportunities to restore limited visitor access at the park’s North Entrance. Emergency environmental and historic preservation compliance is underway in accordance with the National Historic Preservation and Environmental Policy Acts. Permanent reconstruction options are being developed and alternatives will be completed in the upcoming months.

In addition to plans to reopen Yellowstone’s northern loop much sooner than initially anticipated, the NPS is working with the Federal Highway Administration on a range of temporary and permanent options to restore access to Silver Gate and Cooke City at the park’s northeast entrance. Currently, the Northeast Entrance Road is impassible between Lamar Valley and Silver Gate. Cost, funding and timelines are not yet available for these short or long-term repairs to the Northeast Entrance Road but will be released as soon as possible.

Announced on June 18, Yellowstone will restore access to the southern loop of the park at 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, via the East (Cody), West (West Yellowstone), and South (Grand Teton/Jackson) entrances. Accessible areas include Madison, Old Faithful, Grant Village, Lake Village, Canyon Village and Norris. To balance the demand for visitor access, park resource protection and economic interests of the communities, the park will institute an interim visitor access plan based on license plate numbers. To learn more about the alternate license plate entry system, visit Yellowstone’s flood recovery webpage : go.nps.gov/YELLflood.

06/19/2022

⚠️6/18 FLOOD UPDATE⚠️
Yellowstone National Park’s south loop will reopen to the public on June 22; Visitors traveling to park in coming weeks must stay informed about the new interim visitor entry system

At 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, Yellowstone will begin allowing visitors to access the south loop of the park. The south loop is accessed from the East (Cody), West (West Yellowstone), and South (Grand Teton/Jackson) entrances. Accessible areas include Madison, Old Faithful, Grant Village, Lake Village, Canyon Village and Norris. As part of reopening planning, park staff have engaged over 1,000 business owners, park partners, commercial operators and residents in surrounding gateway communities to determine how to manage summer visitation while the north loop remains closed due to flood damage.

To balance the demand for visitor access, park resource protection and economic interests of the communities, the park will institute an interim visitor access plan. The interim plan, referred to as the Alternating License Plate System (ALPS), was suggested as a solution by gateway communities during major public engagement with the park this past week. Park managers and partners have agreed this system is the best interim solution to ensuring the south loop does not become overwhelmed by visitors. The National Park Service will actively monitor the license plate system and is concurrently building a new reservation system that will be ready for implementation, if needed.

Alternating License Plate System (ALPS)
- Public vehicle entry will be allowed based on whether the last numerical digit on a license plate is odd or even.
- Entrance will be granted based on odd/even days on the calendar.
- Odd-numbered last digits on license plates can enter on odd days of the month.
- Even-numbered last digits (including zero) on license plates can enter on even days of the month.
- Personalized plates (all letters, for example "YLWSTNE") will fall into the “odd” category for entrance purposes.
- Plates with a mix of letters and numbers but that end with a letter (for example "YELL4EVR") will still use the last numerical digit on the plate to determine entrance days.
- Entrance station staff will turn away vehicles attempting to enter the park when the odd/even numerical digits do not correspond to the odd/even calendar date for entrance.

Exceptions
- Current commercial use operators with active commercial use permits will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes commercial tours and stock groups.
- Visitors with proof of overnight reservations in the park will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes hotels, campgrounds, and backcountry reservations.
- Commercial motorcoaches will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number.
- Motorcycle groups may enter on even dates only.
- Essential services like mail and deliver, employees and contractors may enter regardless of license plate number.

The interim license plate system will ensure that visitors have access to the park during this period of high demand. Park managers and staff will monitor the license plate system and impacts on resources, infrastructure, operations, and staffing, and may adjust or implement a reservation or timed entry system, if necessary, after three to four weeks.

View the most up-to-date information about the Alternating License Plate System, including a list of FAQ's on our website: go.nps.gov/YELLflood

After reviewing the FAQ's on the website above, we want to hear from you! What additional questions do you have? Let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to answer them!