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Record crowds push Yellowstone managers to plan for 2016

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Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk has been making the rounds to gateway communities to discuss the ups and downs of the park's record summer visitation. The good news is that more people are coming to Yellowstone than ever. Which is also the bad news. Or more specifically, that so many autos and buses are rolling through the park. "We saw more vehicles in Yellowstone National Park than we've ever seen before," Wenk said last week in Cody during an informal meeting with tourism industry leaders. Wenk has also met with similar groups as part of what he called "listening sessions" in the Montana towns of Gardiner, West Yellowstone and Cooke City, as well as in developed areas in the park. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gateway Towns, Yellowstone, crowds, dan wenk, tourism, traffic, travel, visitation

Where is Yellowstone National Park?

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Yellowstone National Park roads and distances.

Once you've entered the park from one of the five gates, it's important to keep in mind how truly vast Yellowstone is. The world's first national park is 2.2 million acres, or more than 3,400 square miles. That's bigger than the countries of Luxembourg and Singapore combined, or larger than the U.S. states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. It's not a park you can see all of on foot, or even by car, in a single day or even a week. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Plan Your Visit, Yellowstone, roads, travel, trip planning, where is yellowstone, where is yellowstone national park, yellowstone

Yellowstone roads, Grand Teton pathways open for start of summer travel season

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Bicyclists pedal through a mix of snow and freezing rain south of Moose Wednesday on a newly opened segment of the multipurpose pathway in Grand Teton National Park. (Ruffin Prevost/Yellowstone Gate - click to enlarge)

A newly completed extension of the Grand Teton pathway system opened Wednesday, and Yellowstone roads throughout the park are open — all in time for the traditional Memorial Day weekend start of the 2012 summer travel season. Construction workers have wrapped up efforts on the 6-mile pathway that parallels Highway 26/89/191 from the Gros Ventre River to Moose Junction in Grand Teton National Park, and the new segment opened Wednesday to bicyclists, joggers and others for the first time. Meanwhile, scant snow along Yellowstone roads, including high mountain passes like Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone National Park and Beartooth Pass on the Beartooth Highway should make for relatively easy early season travel starting Friday, May 25. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Grand Teton, Yellowstone, grand teton pathways, memorial day, roads, travel, yellowstone roads

Yellowstone gateway businesses join effort to highlight Montana tourism industry

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Livingston, Mont. and other gateway towns around Yellowstone National Park rely heavily on tourism to drive their local economies. (Montana Office of Tourism - click to enlarge)

As Memorial Day approaches, and with it the start of the summer travel season, members of the tourism industry around Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks are pushing to make sure legislators are aware of their economic clout. In towns across Montana last week, including in the Yellowstone National Park gateway communities of Gardiner and Livingston, tourism industry professionals hosted open houses and special events with legislators and candidates as part of a National Tourism Week event. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gateway Towns, hotels in montana, lodging tax, policy, tourism, travel, yellowstone

While Yellowstone and Grand Teton thrive, visits to most national parks declining

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Yellowstone Gate readers have earned the first-ever Promi Prize from the National Parks Promotion Council for their Parked for a Day first-hand accounts of activities in Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks.

A national parks and travel industry insider has hailed the work of Yellowstone Gate readers in sharing information about Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, but cautions that visitation is declining at most parks over the long term. John Poimiroo, CEO of the National Parks Promotion Council, has awarded Yellowstone Gate with the first "Promi Prize" for the Parked for a Day series of first-hand accounts of activities in Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Commentary, john pimiroo, national parks promotion council, promotion, tourism, travel