YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — One year has passed since Yellowstone National Park received unprecedented amounts of rainfall that caused substantial flooding, rockslides and mudslides resulting in what the park now calls a “500-year flood event.”
On the morning of June 13, 2022, historic water levels caused severe damage to roads, water and wastewater systems, power lines and other critical park infrastructure.
According to YNP, northern parts of the park received a combined 7.5 to 9.5 inches of rain and snowmelt in a 24-hour period. The flood destroyed several sections of the North Entrance Road between Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, and Gardiner, Montana, and three sections of the Northeast Entrance Road between Lamar Valley and Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana.
Within 36 hours of the event, the park evacuated all visitors in developed areas and conducted initial damage assessments.
Impacts of the park’s closure trickled into Jackson where local officials opened up the Teton County Fairgrounds as a temporary self-contained camping site for those who had plans to camp in Yellowstone by way of Jackson.
The south loop of the park reopened on June 22, 2022, nine days after the flood. Additional sections of road and backcountry trails opened throughout the summer as repairs continued.
During the flood event, high water notably destroyed the Northeast Entrance Road in three places and threatened lane collapse in two additional places. The Northeast Entrance Road serves as a year-round traffic route in the park and provides winter access to the communities of Cooke City/Silver Gate in Montana and to Lamar Valley, a main attraction in the park.
On July 26, 2022, a contract was awarded to Oftedal Construction, INC. and work began on Aug. 8, 2022 to repair the road. Jacobs Engineering Group worked on design while Oftedal teams completed repairs. To date, the project cost is $25 million.
The road opened to public travel on Oct.15, 2022. Efforts continue in the spring of 2023 to finalize road sections in Lamar River Canyon and near the Trout Lake Trailhead.
The public can read more about flood recovery and operations in Yellowstone National Park here.
