MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. — Yellowstone National Park (YNP) has invested $216 million into four major road improvement projects in 2023.

All four projects will cause delays for visitors to Old Faithful to West Thumb, Lewis River Bridge and the Northeast Entrance Road. The park’s North Entrance (Gardiner, Montana) and Northeast Entrance (Silver Gate and Cooke City, Montana) are open to all traffic with no restrictions. Both road corridors were repaired after last year’s historic flood event.  

The National Park Service (NPS) began the Old Faithful to West Thumb and Lewis River Bridge projects simultaneously in 2022 to complete both projects in a three-year window. Otherwise, impacts to visitors would have occurred over four to five years. Addressing the maintenance backlog is part of the NPS’s core mission to preserve the parks and provide a full visitor experience. YNP has an asset inventory of $4.1 billion, with an estimated $1 billion in deferred maintenance and repairs associated with this inventory. The park also has an estimated $54 million in annual routine maintenance requirements.

Lewis River Bridge

  • Construction time: Summer 2023-Fall 2024
  • Impacts: Expect up to 20-minute delays while roads are open to wheeled vehicles (May-Oct.31). Nearby pullouts and the trail to Lewis River Falls will be closed during construction.  
  • Improvements: The removal and replacement of the Lewis River Bridge.
  • The project includes additional parking and viewing opportunities.
  • The project costs $31 million and is funded through the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund. 

Old Faithful to West Thumb

  • Access: Summer 2023 until fall 2023.
  • Expect up to 30-minute delays along this segment of road while roads are open to wheeled vehicles (May-Oct.31).  
  • Improvements: The rehabilitation of 22 miles of the Grand Loop Road between Old Faithful and West Thumb.
  • Construction will include repaving the entire 30-foot-wide roadway segment, which was last repaved in 1987.
  • Guardrails, culverts and other drainage structures will be replaced to enhance visitor safety.
  • This project costs $43 million and is funded through the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund. 

Yellowstone River Bridge

  • Access: Summer 2023 until fall 2026, expect occasional and short traffic delays.
  • The Northeast Entrance Road is open year-round to wheeled vehicles. Hiking trails in the area may temporarily close during the project’s duration.
  • Improvements: The project includes replacing the structurally deficient Yellowstone River Bridge built in 1963.
  • A new 1,285-foot-long, 175-foot-high steel girder bridge upstream will replace the existing 604-foot-long bridge to preserve year-round access to/from the Northeast Entrance and Silver Gate and Cooke City communities, Montana.
  • New pullouts, paved parking areas and a dedicated route across the bridge will increase access to trails, fishing and viewpoints.
  • This project costs $118 million and is funded through the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund. 

Northeast Entrance Road (Flood Recovery)

  • Access: Early summer 2023 to Fall. Expect up to 30-minute delays.
  • The Northeast Entrance Road is open year-round to wheeled vehicles. Night work will occur (without overnight closures).  
  • Improvements: The project includes the completion of work to address flood-damaged areas of the road between Lamar Canyon and the Northeast Entrance.
  • Construction will include the paving of a two-lane realignment in Lamar Canyon and paving a second lift north of the Trout Lake Trailhead, stabilization of streambanks adjacent to the road, work in the Pebble Creek Campground and Warm Creek Picnic Area.
  • This project costs $25 million and is funded through the Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads Fund. 

For more information on YNP park road conditions, click here.