Park travelers can expect quieter roads, endless ski, hike or snowshoe options and unique wildlife-viewing opportunities.
By Sophie Tsairis MONTANA FREE PRESS
Yellowstone National Park welcomed 4.7 million visitors in 2024, the second busiest year on record. Most, however, arrived during the summer months. While park visitation continues to trend upward overall, winter brings a reliably marked slowdown compared to the busy summer tourist season.
In 2024, recreation visitors from January to March numbered between 30,000 and 50,000 per month, according to the National Park Service, while many days in the heart of winter saw fewer than a few thousand people exploring Yellowstone.
This time of year, park travelers can expect quieter roads, endless ski, hike or snowshoe options, unique wildlife-viewing opportunities, and a host of logistical differences in amenities and access. And this winter, questions remain as the federal government sets a new record length for its current shutdown, though Congress appeared poised Wednesday to vote to send a bill to reopen the government to President Donald Trump’s desk soon.
ACCESS AND CLOSURES
Most Yellowstone roads are closed to regular traffic from mid-November through April, limiting access to the interior of the park to oversnow travel by snowmobile, snowcoach or on foot. The only road open year-round to regular vehicles, according to the Park Service, runs from Gardiner, Montana, through the park to Cooke City via Tower Junction.
Dan Wenk, who worked for the Park Service for more than 40 years and served as Yellowstone’s superintendent from 2011-2018 has spent countless winters in and around the park.
Wenk told Mountain Journal that winters today are often milder than he remembers them from the late 1970s and early 1980s. And while Yellowstone still sees the occasional big snow years, it’s clear things are shifting. “Most people agree there’s less snow and conditions are less harsh,” he said. Despite these shifts, Wenk says winter visitor expectations haven’t changed much. The park still anticipates a December-to-April season with groomed snow roads normally maintained by the park, though the government shutdown could have influenced those plans this winter.
Once enough snow accumulates — usually by mid-December — access to Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and other popular areas can only be reached by guided snowmobile or snowcoach, or through the Non-Commercially Guided Snowmobile Access Program. Up to four noncommercially guided groups are allowed to enter the park daily, one from each entrance, with permits issued through a lottery system.
In past decades, snowmobiles dominated interior travel, but over the last 10 years snowcoaches have become the primary means of access, according to Wenk. The vehicles are outfitted with tracks or low-pressure, 4-foot-tall tires that allow visitation to continue even as the park sees up to 600 inches of snowfall each year.
During winter months, Yellowstone’s Northern Range is the only area accessible by vehicle. Most facilities in the park are closed, though some key sites like the Old Faithful and Canyon visitor centers stay open with reduced hours. Lodging and dining at Mammoth Hot Springs typically run through early March, and Old Faithful Snow Lodge (accessible only by oversnow travel) remains open until mid-March. Camping is first-come, first-served at Mammoth Campground, the park’s only year-round site.
In terms of employees, the pickings can be slim, even in a year not waylaid by a government shutdown. Staffing is minimal and consists of mostly permanent employees rather than the many seasonal workers one sees in summer. Despite fewer staff, concessioners and maintenance crews known as “winterkeepers” maintain facilities, groom roads and ensure infrastructure weathers the season.
WHAT TO DO
With fewer vehicles and visitors, wildlife viewing often improves in winter. Frost-covered bison move through meadows foraging through snow, wolves hunt in the Lamar Valley, and although some species, including some bison and a portion of the park’s elk population, migrate out of Yellowstone, those that remain are easier to spot against the snow and with fewer crowds. Keep in mind that Lamar Valley — a popular spot for wildlife viewing — is only accessible through the park’s North Entrance in Gardiner, Montana.
While some ungulates leave the park’s interior in the fall and spend the winter north of the park in Paradise Valley, sightings of bison, wolves, coyotes and other smaller animals are more commonplace.
Visitors who brave the cold have access to cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and the mesmerizing contrast of geothermal basins framed by frost and steam. Although only a handful of trails are groomed, all unplowed roads and trails are open to human-powered travel. Those exploring beyond developed areas should be prepared for wildlife encounters, shifting weather conditions and avalanche terrain.
Just inside the North Entrance, Mammoth Hot Springs is an easy-to-get-to destination, and the boardwalks through both the Lower and Upper Terraces stay open all winter. For those looking to explore the interior but forgo the foot-travel, snowcoach tours are available daily from West Yellowstone and Gardiner.
Doug Madsen, a retired Yellowstone ranger and landscape architect who spent 27 years working in the park, says winter was one of the most memorable times to work and explore.
“I enjoyed getting into the interior by snowmobile and seeing the park without as many visitors,” he said. “You’d meet herds of bison on the road, lean over your machine, let them go by, and they’d pass within feet of you.”
After the workday ended, Madsen recalls skiing the Upper Terrace, the Blacktail Plateau or Indian Creek Trail. “The daylight’s short, and the season can feel long,” he said, “but there’s a beauty and quiet in winter that’s different from the summer season.”
SHUTDOWN
As winter creeps around the corner, park employees and local businesses faced renewed uncertainty as a federal government shutdown dragged on. It appeared on Wednesday that an end was in sight as the House prepared to vote on a bill to reopen.
In an email earlier this month, a public affairs spokesperson from the National Park Service said national parks would remain open and “as accessible as possible during the lapse in appropriations” during the federal government shutdown, including critical functions that “protect life, property, and public health,” and that “essential staff” remain on duty to support public safety and basic operations.
“We are extremely proud of the dedicated employees and partners who continue to serve the public during this challenging time,” NPS wrote. “Our team is working hard to keep Yellowstone National Park accessible and safe for visitors.”
Wenk, who led the park through multiple shutdowns — including the full closure in 2013 and the partial shutdown that lasted 35 days during 2019’s winter season, said the hardest part is not knowing the “rules.” He says it’s difficult for park staff and leadership to plan without knowing, for example, if they will be able to groom roads or whether snowcoach operations can continue. Without grooming, oversnow travel quickly becomes impossible.
Communities like West Yellowstone, Gardiner, Cody and Jackson Hole depend on winter tourism, and even a brief shutdown can have severe economic ripple effects. Wenk recalls that partial openings in past shutdowns — where visitors could enter but the park was unstaffed — led to vandalism, property damage and wildlife harassment, problems that occur much less frequently under normal operations.
Inside the park, concessioners are waiting for clarity. Erica Hutchings, office manager for Yellowstone Expeditions, which depends on groomed roads to operate snowcoaches and transport clients into the park’s interior, says the uncertainty is already causing stress.
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen,” she said. “That’s a topic we haven’t really talked about here — we’re just hoping the government gets settled.”
SAFETY
As much as winter offers a uniquely different experience from summer in the park, it demands more preparation. Recognizing the risks of snow-packed roads, icy boardwalks and fragile hydrothermal terrain, the Park Service advises visitors to pack for extremes with proper layers, insulated clothing and disaster-ready gear.
Wildlife remain active throughout the winter, and park officials urge visitors to keep a safe distance — at least 25 yards from bison, elk and other large animals, and 100 yards from bears and wolves. The Park Service notes that maintaining proper distance helps protect both visitors and the wildlife that define Yellowstone.
If the government shutdown endures, it will likely affect staffing, grooming and possibly shuttle services, shifting safety responsibility more onto visitors. The Park Service says to check road statuses and weather conditions before entry, to drive cautiously on winter routes, and to always use pullouts rather than stopping in traffic lanes.
Last weekend, YNP staff responded to more than 30 vehicle-related accidents across the park, prompting road closures everywhere south of Mammoth.
