Yellowstone Opening Montana Gates on Monday 6/1
It's been a wild news week (massive understatement). Trump's feud with social media is reaching new levels, Minneapolis has erupted into chaos after a video was released of a cop choking an unarmed man to death and - oh yeah - there's still that pesky COVID-19 situation with a death toll in the US hitting the 100,000 mark.
That's a lot of heavy stuff to digest in a four-day workweek. Of course, everyone in your social media news feed seems to have very strong opinions about all the topics in the headlines this week. Please. Step away from the keyboard. Put down the phone. Stop arguing with people you've never met. You won't change their mind and they won't change yours. It's not healthy and I feel like it's tearing Americans apart.
The best piece of news I saw this week came yesterday (5/29) when Governor Bullock announced that Yellowstone National Park will be open from the Montana side starting Monday. YNP is a great place to get away from the news cycle. You can't get cell service in most of the park. I wish our Governor and Wyoming's could have coordinated a little bit better on the opening plan. It was pretty dumb to have one side open and the other closed. Anyway, that ends on Monday when the gates in Cooke City, Gardiner and West Yellowstone are opened up.
Yellowstone National Park says in a press release that the park is day-use only at this time and that nearly all of the Grand Loop roadway is open for travel (with the exception of the road from Tower to Village).
According to the park's phased reopening, here is what visitors can expect regarding park amenities:
Visitors will be able to access Phase 1 services/facilities (including restrooms, self-service gas stations, trails/boardwalks, limited stores, entrance stations, medical clinics, approved tours) and a few services/facilities as outlined in Phase 2 (including takeout food service, boating, and fishing). The park will remain day-use only. Limited overnight accommodations will begin reopening later in June.
Campgrounds, visitor centers, and other facilities are still closed until health conditions allow for reopening. Visiting a place where there is limited cell service could be exactly what a lot of us need right now.