Yellowstone preparing for winter season

By MICHAEL BECKER Chronicle Staff Writer

With the first big snowstorms of the season likely not far away, Yellowstone National Park is preparing for its quieter winter season.

Beginning Sunday, Nov. 4, most roads in the southern portion of the park will close to wheeled traffic, said National Park Service spokesman Al Nash.

Only the road south from Gardiner to Mammoth Hot Springs, then east through the Lamar Valley to Cooke City, will remain open to wheeled traffic, Nash said.

“That is the only stretch of road that is open year-round in the park,” Nash said.

All other park roads will remain closed until Dec. 19 to allow them to be groomed for snowmobile and snowcoach travel through the winter, according to the park's Web site. Those roads will reopen to wheeled vehicles beginning March 2, though all dates are subject to change.

Along with the road closures, only limited park services will operate during the winter season, which runs from mid-December through March.

The visitor center at Old Faithful will close on Nov. 4, and the Albright Visitor Center at Mammoth Hot Springs will operate with different hours starting that day, the NPS said in a news release.

Gasoline will be available by credit card only at the Old Faithful, Canyon and Fishing Bridge service stations.

“In the other areas of the park, what you'll find are warming huts, a place to get out of the elements and maybe a snack,” Nash said.

Two hotels in the park will stay open for the winter, said Rick Hoeninghausen, director of sales and marketing for Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which operates lodgings in the park.

The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and the Old Faithful Snow Lodge will remain open all winter, Hoeninghausen said. However, the Old Faithful lodge will only be reachable by over-snow vehicles.

Yellowstone, which opened in 1872 as the country's first national park, was traditionally open only in the summer, until advances in snow travel technology in the 1950s and 1960s made limited winter travel possible, Nash said.

Hoeninghausen said the seasonal transition is something Xanterra expects each year, so the reduced number of park tourists doesn't have a hugely negative impact on the company.

“We have a regular winter season operation, so there is impact but it's all built in to how we operate anyway,” he said. “It's just how we do business in the winter.”

About 3 million people visit the park each year.

Michael Becker is at mbecker@dailychronicle.com

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