Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park received historic flooding earlier this summer. There have been a lot of effects on things like roads, tourism and infrastructure, causing the landscape to change dramatically. But what about other things - like earthquakes and eruptions? Yellowstone is one of the most seismically active areas in the country. Wyoming Public Radio's Caitlin Tan spoke with Mike Poland, the scientist-in-charge for the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, to find out.

Yellowstone National Park rebounded quickly after historic flooding in June, reopening all of its gates except two just a couple of weeks after. Now the park has opening dates for the Gardiner and Cooke City entrances.

After historic flooding in Yellowstone National Park, officials say they received a lot of inquiries regarding whether the flooding impacted things like earthquakes and eruptions.Yellowstone National Park is one of the most seismically active areas in the country. There are up to 3,000 earthquakes that occur each year in the area.

Yellowstone National Park saw visitation decrease by almost half last month compared to summer 2021, and one gateway community is feeling the slump too.Last year in June, Yellowstone saw 938,845 visits, and this year it had 536,601 visits. According to a park press release, this is largely because of the historic flooding that shut down the park in early June.

Many are calling the flooding in Yellowstone National Park a once-in-500 years event. The water was so high and rapid it washed away roads and buildings and completely changed the landscape of the park.Meanwhile, much of the region is experiencing a historic lack of water. Erin Whorton, a water supply specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Services, said it is possible for there to be flooding even when an area is in a drought.

How can there be historic flooding when there is also a historic lack of water?

The recent flooding around Yellowstone National Park also created challenges for gateway towns like Gardner, Red Lodge and Cooke City in Montana. That includes lost homes and possibly lost livelihoods. For travelers who can no longer access the park through those towns, there’s another Montana entrance: West Yellowstone, the most popular gateway to the park.

The Cody Country Chamber of Commerce is asking all Bighorn Basin businesses to fill out a survey about how the Yellowstone National Park flooding has impacted them.Back in 2020, the park closed because of the pandemic and recently it closed for a couple of weeks due to historic flooding that ruined roads and bridges.

Yellowstone National Park’s northern loop reopens on Saturday, July 2. The park initially said it may not open at all this season due to major destruction to roads and bridges from a historic flood. The park is also dropping its alternating license plate entry system that it put in mid-June. This means that 93 percent of the park will be open to the public.

Yellowstone National Park was closed for a little over a week due to historic flooding but the southern loop reopened this week. As Wyoming's most well known attraction, gateway communities are nervous about how this will impact the state's second biggest industry. Wyoming Public Radio's Kamila Kudelska asked the Wyoming Office of Tourism's executive director Diane Shober how the closing mid-season impacted the industry.