Road work lessens, visitors increase in YNP

Jun 21, 2015

Roosevelt Arch NE YNP — The Roosevelt Arch is located at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana. Its cornerstone was laid down by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. The top of the arch is inscribed with a quote from the legislation that created the park. It reads “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.” (NPS photo)

YNP new release

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Visitation to the world’s oldest national park is up more than 24 percent compared to the same time period (January through May) in 2014. Some of that increase could be attributed to a new after-hours counter at the West Entrance and a mild winter and early spring also played a role in drawing people to the park.

Theodore Roosevelt, often called "the conservation president," impacted the National Park System well beyond his term in office. He doubled the number of sites within the National Park system. As President from 1901 to 1909, he signed legislation establishing five new national parks. — Theodore Roosevelt, often called “the conservation president,” impacted the National Park System well beyond his term in office. He doubled the number of sites within the National Park system. As president from 1901 to 1909, he signed legislation establishing five new national parks.

Visitation to the world’s first national park usually begins to pick up in May as weather improves and interior roads and visitor facilities open to the public. Some completed road construction project may also have contributed to the increase as fewer restrictions and delays were a welcome addition to visitor’s ease of access.

Yellowstone National Park (NPS image) — Most of the road construction in Yellowstone National Park is complete, but there is still work going on in the west and north areas.It is still a good idea to check with park officials regarding road work and delays. (NPS image)

Other road improvement projects continue on a 5.4 mile stretch of road between the Norris Campground and Mammoth Hot Springs (April 17 to October 1), as well as the bridge over the Gardner River. There is still construction activity around Gardiner as crews enhance access to the park’s North Entrance.

Excavation work continues along the North entrance road through Gardiner. Businesses are open and traffic is being diverted for new alignments. Visitors are still able to stop at Roosevelt Arch using the flagger escort.

According to Wikipedia, “he Roosevelt Arch is a rusticated triumphal arch at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana.

Constructed under the supervision of the U.S. Army at Fort Yellowstone, its cornerstone was laid down by President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. The top of the arch is inscribed with a quote from the Organic Act of 1872, the legislation which created Yellowstone, which reads “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.”

Visitors can also expect traffic delays up to 30 minutes on the road from Old Faithful to West Thumb from now through September 10.

More and more people are visiting popular attraction such as Old Faithful, but a short drive away there is quiet and solitude. (J. Schmidt photo) — More and more people are visiting popular attraction such as Old Faithful, but a short drive away park visitors can find quiet and solitude. (J. Schmidt photo)

General road construction information

Road construction is perennial in Yellowstone National Park. In general, park roads have either been recently repaired or reconstructed, or are scheduled for such. Approximately 80 percent of main park roads (about 185 miles) are in a structurally deficient state, with poor quality road bases failing under the weight, speed and the current traffic volume they were not designed to handle.

For more information on Yellowstone’s roads go to http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/parkroads.htm

You can also get current road information by calling 307-344-2117.

Visitor by the numbers

Yellowstone saw 383,670 recreational visits in May and a total of 515,693 for the first five months of 2015. That compares to 310,039 recreational visits for May 2014 and 415,185 recreational visits for January through May 2014.

	Recreational Visits2015	Recreational Visits2014	Change
January	28,091	26,778	+ 4.90 %
February	34,343	28,233	+ 21.64 %
March	22,989	18,778	+ 22.43 %
April	46,600	31,356	+ 48.61 %
May	383,670	310,039	+ 23.75 %
Total Year-To-Date	515,693	415,185	+ 24.21 %

The nine visitor centers, museums and contact stations in the park showed 624,710 visits from March 16-June 13 this year, which is a 22.6 percent increase from 2014 totals.

Visitation statistics are calculated by taking the actual number of wheeled vehicles entering the park gates, and using a person-per-vehicle multiplier to calculate the number of monthly recreational visitors.

July is typically the park’s peak visitation month, followed in order by August, June, September and May.