YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Brand new bridge alert!
Yellowstone National Park shared photos of a pristine new bridge span over the Yellowstone River in the Lamar Valley. The bridge replacement project began in 2022 and is expected to be fully wrapped in 2026. Yellowstone’s public affairs office told Buckrail “there is still work to be done” but that the bridge is open to vehicles. Next steps include removal of the old bridge and rehabilitation of the area.
Photos: Jacob W. Frank // National Park Service
The $134 million project was funded by the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund. The original bridge built in 1963 is 604 feet long and 70 feet high. The new bridge, constructed upstream of the existing bridge along the Northeast Entrance Road near Tower Junction, is 1,175 feet long and 162 feet high.
The project also includes the modernization of 3.5 miles of roadway, pullouts and ancillary facilities, relocation of the junction, construction of the new Yellowstone River Overlook Trailhead Parking Area and expansion of the Yellowstone River Picnic Area, the park shared.
Yellowstone’s only road open to vehicles year-round connects the North Entrance in Gardiner, Montana, to the Northeast Entrance in Cooke City, Montana (via Tower Junction).
See more photos of how the project has progressed over the years here.
