Flooding in Yellowstone National Park and Adjacent Areas of Montana Today June 13, 2022

[Bob]

Park site ....... scroll thru most pics towards the end.

News Media

Photos for the news media.

www.flickr.com

 

[b.stark]

Crazy what water can do! It reminds me of the damage done in my area by a bomb cyclone a few years back. Heavy rain on wet snow makes for tons of runoff in such a short time.

 

[SteveR]

Will have to check on how things progress over the summer, as we were thinking of a quick re-visit to Yellowstone on our way south to the desert in the fall. We dodged a similar bullet this week in southern Alberta, with up to 150 mm of rain in 30 hours, and an unusual amount of snow remaining in the mountains after a deep snowpack winter and a late spring. Fortunately it was a cold storm that didn't accelerate the melt, and actually left up to 45 cm of new snow in places, so there was minimal flooding. Outside of the mountains things had been very dry, with agriculture threatened by a second year of drought, so the deluge was a good thing for sure. The storm came with high winds though, so it's back to carrying a folding saw on mtb rides- I've cleared roughly 20 over the last two days while biking.

 

[Jackson]

The Gardiner - Mammoth road is looking as though it's "not repairable," so they will be looking at establishing a new route. In the meantime, they're working hard to make improvements to the Old Gardiner Road to facilitate transport of personnel and supplies.

I was wondering how they were going to repair that damage without it being a monumental undertaking. It'll be an interesting place to be able to walk and look at the damage in the future, kind of like the spots where you can see the old highway near Quake Lake and Hebgen Lake.

I wonder if they'll end up paving the old dirt road.

 

[Rockskipper]

I wonder if they'll end up paving the old dirt road.

According to the Gardiner FB community page, they're already graveling it and putting in culverts.

 

[Outdoor_Fool]

I wonder if they'll end up paving the old dirt road.

Might be a historic road so paving may not be an option but upgrading it with new culverts, gravel is usually OK.

 

[Bob]

Southern Loop scheduled to reopen June 22 with alternating license plate last number system. Even number ...even days, odd and letters on odd days. Backcountry scheduled to reopen July 1st. Meanwhile ....... more data:

 

[Jon Carbaugh]

6/20 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.

 

[Jackson]

North loop to open within a couple of weeks!

6/20 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.

Wow that's awesome to hear. Pretty cool they're likely going to even get some amount of limited visitor access through Gardiner this year.

 

[Bob]

Key words ... Is expected.... Not for sure.

 

[zionsky]

That is good news but , as someone who has worked in public works for over 30 years, $50 million will not go far in fixing the damage they have sustained.
I'm sure federal disaster declarations will be forthcoming but that takes time. I was planning a christmas vacation to YNP in 2023 but now I'm thinking I may move it back another year.

 

[Rockskipper]

This link has a nice vid of the old road to Gardiner.

Yellowstone's North Loop Road May Re-Open—Partially For Now—After All

Park Supt. Cam Sholly and National Park Service Director Chuck Sams push to have guided tourism restored to northern parts of Yellowstone. South Loop opens Wednesday

mountainjournal.org

 

[Jon Carbaugh]

Nice video. Passed what looks like a bighorn on the hill just before the 3 minute mark. That would be a little scary for 2 way traffic in some areas, especially trucks carrying supplies. Yikes!

 

[Jackson]

Check out the traffic to get in today. Backed up a little over 4 miles on US 20 in West Yellowstone.

And a bit over 5 miles for the south entrance.

 

[Jon Carbaugh]

Insane! Has anyone heard if they are opening all the campgrounds and Hotels and honoring prior reservations?

 

[Rockskipper]

And this is just the even-numbered plates - yikes!

 

[Outdoor_Fool]

I wonder how long the lines will be when the supervolcano goes off and people can't access the park for 2000 years?

 

[Rockskipper]

Wouldn't want to be the Supt. then, think of the cost to fix everything! And logistics...they'll have to figure out where Old Faithful relocated to.

 

[Jackson]

I wonder how long the lines will be when the supervolcano goes off and people can't access the park for 2000 years?

There will be a ton of 1-star reviews of the park, written by people who had to cancel their vacation plans and won't get to see any wildlife.

 

[Bob]

And this is just the even-numbered plates - yikes!

Maybe .. there will be ones that haven't heard and ones them at try to get in anyway ... I'm sure that is a partial contributor for slowing things down