The entire park, which covers an area of over 9,000 square miles and includes the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will remain closed to visitors, including those who have booked lodging and camping, until at least Wednesday as officials investigate damage to roads, bridges and others buildings. All five entrances to the park are currently closed. It had only happened once in history, in June 1988, due to a series of devastating chain fires caused by lightning.
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The latest bulletin released by the reserve managers reads: “At the moment there are no injuries or deaths. The northern portion of Yellowstone National Park is likely to be closed for an extended period due to badly damaged infrastructure. The National Park Service will be working hard to repair the roads as soon as possible. However, it is likely that road sections north of Yellowstone will not reopen this season.”
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The closures come as Yellowstone prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary and heavily tourism-dependent local communities are anticipating a recovery from Covid-19 travel restrictions over the past two summers.