Yellowstone National Park is proposing new opening and closure dates for the East Entrance for the winter season. Currently, the Cody entrance to the national park opens in mid-December and closes in the beginning of March.
The current dates were implemented for avalanche safety on Sylvan Pass, which provides access to the park through the East Entrance. The road climbs more than 8,000 feet in elevation.
Yellowstone National Park spokesperson Linda Veress said avalanche safety shouldn't be a problem anymore.
"With many years of implementation, the National Park Service now has the operational capacity and expertise to safely open the pass on December 15 [and] to keep it open until March 15," said Veress.
Veress said the new dates would allow the park to utilize all 110 transportation events per day. This means only 110 over snow vehicles can enter the park daily.
"That number will not increase. What change will occur will be during the current closure of the East Entrance, we are not utilizing what is allocated to the East Entrance," said Veress. "And so, by making these changes, it would allow for the full maximum of 110 transportation events per day throughout the park."
Currently, only five over snow vehicles per day are allowed through the East Entrance during the winter season. The public can comment on this proposal until October 29.
