Yellowstone News and Information

  News Release Most Yellowstone National Park Roads and Entrances Close Nov. 1, 2026, for Winter Season Oct. 31 is final day for visitors to drive most park roads A winter sunset at the North Entrance in Gardiner, Montana. NPS / Jacob W. Frank News Release Date:  October 21, 2026 Contact:   Yellowstone Public Affairs , (307) 344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo.  – As fall settles over Yellowstone National Park, most park roads and three entrances will close to regular vehicle traffic on Nov. 1 in preparation for winter. Each year, the park closes its West, South and East entrances, along with nearly all roads, to prepare for winter operations and the start of  snowmobile and snowcoach travel  season on Dec. 15.    As a result, Saturday, Oct. 31 will be the final day visitors can drive most of Yellowstone’s roads in 2026. The road from Tower Fall to Canyon Junction (Dunraven Pass) will remain open through Oct. 31, weather permitting.   Visitors traveling ...

  News Release Yellowstone National Park reports September 2026 visitation statistics News Release Date:  October 6, 2026 Contact:   Yellowstone Public Affairs , (307) 344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. –  Yellowstone National Park hosted 868,450 recreation visits in September 2026, up 3% from September 2025 (839,579 recreation visits). Visitation in September 2026 showed a 2% decrease from September 2021 (882,078 recreation visits), which was Yellowstone's record-breaking year with over 4.8 million recreation visits and the busiest September on record. So far in 2026, the park has hosted 4,360,300 recreation visits, down 1% from 2025 (4,387,546 recreation visits), and down 3% from 2021 (4,472,687 recreation visits). Views of Sunday Geyser from the boardwalk at Norris Geyser Basin. NPS / Jacob W. Frank The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through September): 2026 – 4,360,300 2025 – 4,387,546 2024 – 4,346,...

Baseball in a national park? We found 7 ball fields at Grand Teton and Yellowstone.

The Misplaced Pearl With new thermal features popping up frequently and old ones experiencing periods of activity and quiescence, have you ever wondered how Yellowstone National Park keeps it all straight? Sometimes it’s tricky!  Yellowstone  Caldera  Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week’s contribution is from Phillip Kondracki and Lauren Harrison in the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. Biscuit Basin has been in the media spotlight recently due to a hydrothermal explosion that occurred in July 2024 at Black Diamond Pool and smaller events that have occurred since. Unlike geysers, which release pressure through open, though constricted, vents, hydrothermal explosions occur when superheated water suddenly flashes to steam, shattering the confining rock. The result is abrupt and destructive, leaving craters, ejecta , and scars on the landscape. ...

  National Park Service finds no significant environmental impact for North Entrance Road reconstruction project in Yellowstone National Park   News Release Date: September 17, 2026 Contact: Yellowstone Public Affairs , (307) 344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. – The National Park Service (NPS) signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and associated Wetlands/Floodplains Statement of Findings (SOF) to reconstruct the North Entrance Road between Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, and Gardiner, Montana, in Yellowstone National Park. In January 2026, NPS, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, Western Federal Lands (FHWA-WFL), prepared an environmental assessment (EA) to assess potential impacts for proposed reconstruction of the North Entrance Road. The FONSI, approved by the NPS Regional Director, describes the selected action and establishes that there will be no significant impact on the environment. The preferred Alternative 2: Center Al...

  Yellowstone National Park reports August 2026 visitation statistics   News Release Date: September 15, 2026 Contact: Yellowstone Public Affairs , (307) 344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. – Yellowstone National Park hosted 856,467 recreation visits in August 2026, down 3% from August 2025 (881,936 recreation visits). Visitation in August 2026 showed a 7% decrease from August 2021 (921,844 recreation visits), which was Yellowstone's record-breaking year with over 4.8 million recreation visits and the busiest August on record. So far in 2026, the park has hosted 3,491,850 recreation visits, down 2% from 2025 (3,547,967 recreation visits), and down 3% from 2021 (3,590,609 recreation visits). The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last several years (through August): 2026 – 3,491,850 2025 – 3,547,967 2024 – 3,494,350 2023 – 3,308,924 2022 – 2,437,607 (The park was closed June 13 through June 21 due to the historic flood event...

I live in Yellowstone National Park for 96 dollars a month        Video Capture:  Zoe De La Paz - CNBC

Preparing for Departure: Migration, Fat, & Fall Strategy How multiple species - from birds to bears - prepare for winter through movement and energy storage. By Amanda Harper, Institute Field Educator 

Caps, trash, and other hydrothermal funky finds: 2026 edition Sources/Usage: Public Domain .  Hats collected by the Yellowstone National Park Geology Team and other park staff from hydrothermal areas during the summer 2026 season (Geology Team truck for scale). National Park Service photo by Margery Price, September 2026. ( See full article at this link for the complete story and more photos .)

  News Release Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly Departing Federal Service to Join the National Fish And Wildlife Foundation       Superintendent Cameron H. Sholly in Fort Yellowstone                                                          NPS / Jacob W. Frank News Release Date:  September 11, 2026 Contact:   Yellowstone Public Affairs , (307) 344-2015 WASHINGTON —  The Department of the Interior today announced that Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cameron “Cam” Sholly will conclude nearly three decades of federal service and almost eight years leading America’s first national park. Sholly will depart the National Park Service in late September and join the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) as chief operating officer. Chartered by Congress in 1984, NFWF is the nation’s largest conserva...

  Six new web camera links added to <i>Yellowstone Area Web Cams</i> page (above) NEW  Upper Geyser Basin Still Cam NEW  East Entrance (traffic into park) NEW   East Entrance (gate traffic looking into park)   NEW  Teton Range Live Webcam Streaming NEW  Teton Science School Kelly Campus Live Webcam NEW   Biscuit Basin Cam 2   Upper Geyser Basin Still Cam

  News Release Yellowstone National Park to remove invasive fish from Buffalo Creek Temporary creek closure Aug. 31 – Sept. 7 to protect native trout populations Biologist starts rotenone treatment NPS / Jacob W. Frank News Release Date:  August 25, 2026 Contact:   Yellowstone Public Affairs , (307) 344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo.  – Beginning Aug. 31, Yellowstone National Park will temporarily close Buffalo Creek, a tributary of Slough Creek in the northern part of the park, for treatment to remove invasive fish as part of ongoing conservation efforts to preserve native species. It will reopen to the public on Sept. 7. Buffalo Creek will be  closed to the public  from the northern park boundary downstream to its confluence with Slough Creek while biologists remove invasive rainbow trout by applying the EPA-approved piscicide rotenone. The treatment will not affect the potability of water at Slough Creek Campground and will be safe to drink. Signs w...

Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission takes middle ground on wolf hunting quotas  

  News Release Yellowstone visitation statistics for July 2026 People watching bison in Lamar Valley. NPS / Jacob W. Frank News Release Date: August 11, 2026 Contact: Yellowstone Public Affairs , (307) 344-2015 MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. – Yellowstone National Park hosted 958,706 recreation visits in July 2026, down 2% from July 2025 (975,109 recreation visits). Visitation in July 2026 showed an 11% decrease from July 2021 (1,080,767 recreation visits), which was Yellowstone's record-breaking year with over 4.8 million recreation visits and the busiest July on record. So far in 2026, the park has hosted 2,635,384 recreation visits, down 1% from 2025 (2,666,031 recreation visits), and down 1% from 2021 (2,668,765 recreation visits). The list below shows the year-to-date trend for recreation visits over the last severa...

  News Release Update: Yellowstone lifts fishing restrictions on most rivers and streams parkwide Closures still in effect for Firehole, Madison and Gibbon rivers Fly fishing near Biscuit Basin NPS / Jacob W. Frank News Release Date: August 12, 2026 Contact: Yellowstone Public Affairs , (307) 344-2015 Update: Yellowstone lifts fishing restrictions on most rivers and streams parkwide MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. – Beginning Aug. 12, Yellowstone National Park will lift the fishing restrictions on rivers and streams that went into effect on July 29. The restrictions were implemented because low water flows and high water temperatures can be lethal to fish. Cooling weather and water temperatures in the forecast allow for these restrictions to be lifted. Anglers will be able to fish on most park rivers, streams and lakes daily from sunrise to sunset as specified in the 2026 Fishing Regulations booklet . The existing full fishing closures on the Madison, F...