Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone, set aside on March 1, 1872, was the first national park in the United States. It covers about 2.2 million acres; roughly 96 percent of it lies in Wyoming, 3 percent in Montana and 1 percent in Idaho. Yet three of its five entrances are in Montana: the North Entrance at Gardiner, the West Entrance at West Yellowstone and the Northeast Entrance near Silver Gate and Cooke City. In 2025 the park recorded 4,762,988 recreation visits, its second-highest year after 2021.

From Gardiner you pass the Roosevelt Arch and follow the North Entrance Road up to Mammoth Hot Springs, about 15 minutes away. Mammoth, with its travertine terraces and the old army buildings of Fort Yellowstone that now house park headquarters, lies just across the state line in Wyoming. From Mammoth the road runs east by Tower-Roosevelt and through the Lamar Valley, known for wildlife watching, to the Northeast Entrance. This is the only road in the park open to ordinary cars all year. In winter it ends at Cooke City, because the Beartooth Highway beyond is closed.

The West Entrance leads to Madison Junction in about 30 minutes and on to Old Faithful and the geyser basins in another 35 to 45. In 2026 the roads from the West Entrance are open to regular vehicles until October 31. After that they close to cars, and from December 15, 2026 to March 15, 2027 they are open only to guided snowmobile and snowcoach trips. The Mammoth to Norris road closes to oversnow travel first, on March 7. Dunraven Pass is closed for the season, and the Beartooth Highway closed early on October 9, 2026.

Fees for 2026 are $35 per private vehicle for seven days, $30 per motorcycle and $20 per person on foot or bicycle; children under 16 enter free. A Yellowstone annual pass costs $70 and is for US citizens and residents; foreign visitors avoid the $100 surcharge with the $250 nonresident America the Beautiful pass. New in 2026, non-US residents aged 16 and over pay an extra $100 per person on top of the entrance fee, unless they hold an annual or America the Beautiful pass. The nonresident America the Beautiful pass costs $250 and the US-resident pass $80. Entrance stations take cash and cards, and digital passes are sold on Recreation.gov.

When open, park roads are never gated at night. Distances inside the park are long, so plan on several hours between entrances. Before setting out, check the live road status map or call 307-344-2117 for recorded road information.