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Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is the flagship of the National ParkService and a favorite to millions of visitors each year. The park is amajor destination for all members of the family. By driving thegrand loop road, visitors can view the park from the comfort of theirvehicle and also take a rest at one of the many roadside picnicareas. For the active visitor, the park has thousands of miles oftrails from dayhikes to backcountry explorations. The mainattractions are all located on the grand loop road and here are someof the top reasons to visit the park. This site has a lot of theinformation you need for your trip and you may also consider ourdvd "The Wonders of Yellowstone" to help you plan your visit.

* World's First National Park* 2,219,789 acres (Larger than Rhode Island and Delawarecombined)* Wildlife - 7 species of ungulates (bison, moose, elk, pronghorn), 2species of bear and 67 other mammals, 322 species of birds, 16species of fish and of course the gray wolf.* Plants - There are over 1,100 species of native plants, more than200 species of exotic plants and over 400 species of thermopholes.* Geology - The park is home to one of the world's largest calderas

with over 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers. Ithas one of the world's largest petrifiied forests. It has over 290waterfalls with the 308' Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River as it'sshowpiece.* Yellowstone Lake is the largest (132 sq. mi.) high altitude (7,732')lake in north america.* 9 visitor centers* 12 campgrounds (over 2,000 campsites)

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How to get to Yellowstone

North Entrance - Near the gateway community of Gardiner, MT,the North Entrance is the only park entrance open to wheeledvehicles all year. November through April, the North Entranceprovides the only access to Cooke City, MT. US Highway 212 east ofCooke City is closed to wheeled vehicles November through April.The road from Mammoth to Norris is open to wheeled vehicles fromthe third Friday in April through the first Sunday in November, andto commercially guided, tracked oversnow vehicles usually fromabout December 15 to the Monday of the first full week in March(weather and snowpack permitting). Closest airline service isBozeman, MT. See the Operating Hours and Seasons for moreinformation. Services are available year around.

West Entrance - Adjacent to the town of West Yellowstone, MT,the West Entrance is open to wheeled vehicles from the third Fridayin April through the first Sunday in November, and to commerciallyguided, tracked oversnow vehicles from December 15 to March 15,weather and snowpack permitting. Closest airline service is WestYellowstone, MT, Bozeman, MT, Idaho Falls, ID, and Salt Lake City,UT. See the Operating Hours and Seasons for more information.Services are available year around.

South Entrance - Open to wheeled vehicles from the second Friday

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of May through the first Sunday in November, and to commerciallyguided, tracked oversnow vehicles from December 15 to March 15,weather and snowpack permitting. Limited services are availablenear the South Entrance. Closest airline service to the SouthEntrance is Jackson, WY. See the Operating Hours and Seasons for

more information.

East Entrance - Open to wheeled vehicles from the first Friday ofMay through the first Sunday in November, and to commerciallyguided, tracked oversnow vehicles from December 22 to March 1,weather, snowpack, and avalanche conditions permitting. Limitedservices are available near the East Entrances. Closest airlineservice to the East Entrance is Cody, WY. See the Operating Hoursand Seasons page for more information and the Road ConstructionSchedule for information about possible delays.

Northeast Entrance - Near the gateway communities of SilverGate and Cooke City, MT, this entrance is open year around forwheeled vehicle access to Cooke City through Gardiner, MT and theNorth Entrance. Opening dates for roads east of Cooke City varyfrom year to year, depending on the weather. The BeartoothHighway is open from late May/early June (weather dependent) tomid October. Storms occasionally temporarily close the BeartoothHighway during this "open" period. See the Operating Hours andSeasons and Road Construction Schedule for more information.

Closest airline service is Billings, MT. Services are available yeararound.

Airline and Bus Transportation

Commercial airlines serve the following airports near YellowstoneNational Park all year: Cody and Jackson, WY; Bozeman andBillings, MT, and Idaho Falls, ID. The West Yellowstone, MT airportis serviced from June to early September from Salt Lake City, UT.

Bus service from Bozeman, MT to West Yellowstone, MT viaHighway 191 is available all year. Bus service directly from Idaho toWest Yellowstone is limited to the summer months. Commercialtransportation from Bozeman, MT to Gardiner, MT is availableduring the winter and summer seasons. Commercial transportationto the park from Cody and Jackson, WY is available during thesummer season.

Train service is not available to Yellowstone National Park. Thenearest train depots are in southeast Idaho, Salt Lake City, Utahand northern Montana. Contact Amtrak for specific schedules.

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