When does Yellowstone open and close in 2024?
With the summer season quickly approaching in Yellowstone, it’s time to gather all those dates of when Yellowstone is open or closed for 2024.
While technically Yellowstone is open year-round, you can’t always get to Old Faithful or other interior locations. Mammoth to Cooke City is open all year so that the residents of Cooke City have access to the outside world, as the road connecting to the Beartooth Highway (to Red Lodge, MT) and the Chief Joseph Highway (to Cody, WY) is not plowed in the winter to allow for snowmobiling access to this incredible area. Locals refer to this as “The Plug.”
Each spring, the Park slowly opens up services, is briefly completely open and then closes down slowly, starting in late summer. Yellowstone is only fully open for two months: July and August.
In this article, I’ll summarize the major areas’ opening and closing dates for 2024.
APRIL OPENINGS
APRIL 19: Opening Day for North and West Entrances to the interior of the Park. Canyon and Old Faithful visitor centers are open. Food is available at the Old Faithful Geyser Grill. This is a time to be very self-sufficient. If your car breaks down, no service stations, wreckers, or medical clinics are yet open in the interior. Drive carefully.
APRIL 26: Services at Mammoth and Old Faithful begin to open. The Mammoth Hotel and Old Faithful Snow Lodge open, as does the general store at Old Faithful. There is now wrecker service at Canyon.
MAY OPENINGS
May 3: The East Entrance opens (and Cody celebrates). Madison Campground and the Old Faithful Inn open. Old Faithful starts wrecker service, and one of the gas stations there opens. If you want to get to Old Faithful this week, you need to go around through Norris, as access to Craig Pass between West Thumb and Old Faithful is not yet open.
May 10: The South Entrance opens, and there’s now access to Craig Pass to reach Old Faithful from the East Entrance. Lake Hotel opens for the season. You can get ice cream at Old Faithful (the good stuff) because the Old Faithful Lodge opens up. Fishing Bridge RV park and its service station open, but the store has yet to open.
May 17: Canyon opens, Bridge Bay Campground opens, and the Fishing Bridge General Store opens (ice cream!).
May 24-27: Memorial Day weekend! The road between Canyon and Tower Fall (Dunraven Pass) opens, and the Beartooth Highway is also scheduled to open, but that’s never guaranteed. Cody celebrates having easier access to the Lamar Valley, while Cooke City residents celebrate being able to access shopping and medical services in Cody. Fishing Bridge opens up more with the Visitor Center opening, and Norris Museum is now open. Starting the following week, Mammoth Clinic is open seven days a week.
May 31: Grant Village opens up, and Canyon Campground is ready to start the season. Geyser Gazers rejoice that the lower General Store finally opens (ice cream and burgers).
JUNE OPENINGS
June 7-15: Bridge Bay opens, as does Grant Village Campground (those pesky bears are moving out). Roosevelt opens for lodging and horseback and stagecoach rides. It’s unknown yet what’s happening with the horseback rides at Canyon. Indian Creek Campground opens, as does Lewis Lake and Slough Creek.
June 30: The last facility opens for the season, the Museum of the National Park Ranger. It will also be the first to close on August 31.
JULY – AUGUST
JULY AND AUGUST: All services are open in Yellowstone.
SEPTEMBER CLOSINGS
September 1: The two months to close things down begins on Labor Day Weekend with Bridge Bay Campground and Marina Store closing. Roosevelt closes their doors as well as Lake Hotel. Car repairs close at Fishing Bridge and Old Faithful (but the wrecker services continue in these locations for a bit longer.
September 7-8: Grant Village Campground and Indian Creek Campground close, and Bridge Bay closes all its services.
September 11-15: Canyon closes down the ice creamery, and Canyon Campground closes. The general stores at Lake and the lower store at Old Faithful also close.
September 22-23: Grant Village general store and gas station close (though you can always pay at the pump). Fishing Bridge closes down its wrecker service.
OCTOBER CLOSINGS
October 2-8: Canyon closes further, as do Grant Village, Lake Lodge, Lake Hotel, and Old Faithful cabins.
October 12-15: This is the end of major services in the Park, and it’s time for more self-sufficiency. Fishing Bridge wraps up the season with the closing of the Visitor Center, RV park, General Store, and Service Station. Grant Visitor Center and Madison and West Thumb stores also close. Canyon closes up, as does the Old Faithful Inn and Mammoth. Lewis Lake and Slough Creek Campgrounds also close. It’s about this time of year that the Beartooth Highway also closes.
October 19-20: Madison Campground and the Upper General Store and Service Station at Old Faithful close.
October 27-31: The season wraps up on these final days to drive into the interior with Old Faithful Snow Lodge closing and the Old Faithful and Canyon Visitor Centers. All roads to the interior close on October 31.
See a calendar view of the dates Yellowstone is open and closed in 2024.
See a location based view of the dates Yellowstone is open and closed in 2024.
(This post was originally published on Cody Journal and was lightly edited for Yellowstone Naturalist).