Yellowstone Road Closures: Adjust Your Driving Plans

Yellowstone is getting ready for winter, and that directly affects your visit. Most park roads are closed to vehicles. If you planned to explore the park by car, you'll need to account for these closures. We recommend reviewing your stops before committing to an itinerary that requires driving several park roads.

If you're driving a regular vehicle, keep your route to the road between the North and Northeast entrances. This is the only road open to regular vehicles year-round. It won't give you a driving route through the rest of the road network that's currently closed. For help factoring this restriction into your plans, see our Yellowstone National Park guide.

The closures allow the park to prepare for winter trips led by commercial operators. These trips use snowcoaches and snowmobiles. They're scheduled to begin December 15, weather permitting. We recommend treating that as a tentative season opening and keeping the weather caveat in mind as you plan your stay.

You'll need to distinguish between two ways to visit Yellowstone. You can drive your own car along the open road, or plan a guided winter trip once the season can begin. The December 15 announcement applies to those guided trips. It doesn't mean roads will reopen to cars throughout the park.

If Yellowstone is part of a longer trip, review each stop on your itinerary. Our road trip itinerary through Yellowstone can help you fit the visit into your route. Above all, we recommend building your plans around the roads you can currently drive.