NPR News

Yellowstone National Park has reopened an entrance devastated by June floods

Published October 16, 2022 at 11:44 AM EDT

GARDINER, MONTANA - JUNE 19: Sections of Northeast Entrance Road are washed out due to damage from Soda Butte Creek following historic flooding in Yellowstone National Park that forced it to shut down last week, June 19, 2022 in Gardiner, Montana. Parts of the park will reopen to visitors Wednesday morning, according to published reports. (Photo by Samuel Wilson-Pool/Getty Images)

Yellowstone National Park has reopened an entrance in one of the areas most heavily damaged by historic flooding four months ago.

The park began allowing regular visitor vehicle traffic along the Northeast Entrance Road starting Saturday for the first time since it closed the gate in June in response to severe weather.

"We are very pleased to be restoring public access to the northeast corridor just four months after the June flood event," Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement.

"I commend the collective efforts of the National Park Service, the Federal Highway Administration and Oftedal Construction, Inc. to complete this monumental task in such a short amount of time," Sholly added.

Yellowstone experienced record-breaking flooding during a June storm that sent rivers swelling to "unprecedented" levels, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm left visitors and residents stranded, damaged buildings and washed out several roads, cutting off access to some areas of the park, which is mostly in Wyoming, but also includes parts of Montana and Idaho.

With the Northeast Entrance Road now accessible, park officials said that effectively reopens 99% of Yellowstone's roads.

Crews are continuing to pave and install guardrails along the four-mile-long Old Gardiner Road, which is expected to reopen no later than Nov. 1.