The southern loop of Yellowstone National Park still plans to open next week, but with restricted access.
Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly told Jackson business leaders that he’s concerned about the impact of the normal amount of visitors using a smaller area of the park.
“We can’t fit a million people per month in half of the park. So there’s going to need to be some coordination and some things that we’re going to need to work on to get that southern loop opened safely and not overwhelm the infrastructure and operations down there,” said Sholly.
He added that the park may eventually go to a reservation system, but until that happens they might try a simpler approach. Sholly said those with odd numbered license plates could come one day and those with even numbered plates the next day. They will also limit the numbers who can stay overnight inside the park in the short term.
The northern part of the park is likely closed for the rest of the summer season due to damage from historic flooding earlier this week.
