Yellowstone Closes Buffalo Creek for a Week to Protect Its Native Fish
A tributary in the park's north is closed Aug. 31 through Sept. 7, 2026 to remove invasive fish. Here's what it means for your trip.
A small stretch of northern Yellowstone is going quiet in early September. The park has announced a temporary closure of Buffalo Creek, a tributary of Slough Creek, while crews carry out a species-management operation. In short, they'll be removing invasive fish that threaten the stream's native populations.
The dates are what matter most, because they're what affects your plans. The creek closes to the public starting Aug. 31, 2026. It's set to reopen on Sept. 7, 2026, a one-week window. Outside that stretch, nothing changes for this area.
The affected zone stays very contained. Buffalo Creek sits in the northern part of the park, in the Slough Creek drainage, a valley mostly visited by anglers and wildlife watchers. If you weren't planning to head out that far, this closure simply doesn't affect you. It doesn't touch access to the rest of Yellowstone, or to the big highlights like the geysers or the bison country.
If you were planning to fish or hike around Slough Creek that exact week, it's worth shifting a day or two, or aiming for another area until it reopens. The park runs this kind of work to protect its native fish, a long-term effort that explains these short, targeted closures.
If you're still piecing together your trip, take a minute to place this spot in the bigger picture. Our Yellowstone park guide helps you split your days between the wilder north and the geothermal basins in the center. And if Yellowstone is part of a longer trip, take a look at our road trip route that runs through the park, handy for pairing it with Grand Teton just to the south. A week-long closure on one tributary is nothing next to everything that stays open.