• Visitors stand on the boardwalk of Grand Prismatic, the park's largest hot spring which is ringed with orange, brown and yellow runoff channels.

    Yellowstone

    National Park ID,MT,WY

Winter Use in Yellowstone National Park

A group of visitors stands in front of the snow-covered scenery of Firehole Falls.

Visitors at Firehole Falls

NPS

The enjoyment of Yellowstone and its unique resources during the wintertime has drawn deep and passionate interest in the park for nearly 80 years. The following Web pages and numerous links within them have been assembled in sequence to help those interested better understand the past, present and possible future of winter operations in America's first national park. This virtual "toolbox" of information contains glimpses of the various visions - ours as well as yours - that are continually influenced and informed by the vast amounts of history, science, legislation, legal decisions and other winter-use related information that planning efforts throughout the past two decades have generated. This library begins with an overview of Yellowstone in winter, followed by a comprehensive history and background of winter use, current status of operations and planning, and a wealth of supporting technical documents, legal and scientific data. At the bottom of each page is a link to return you to this main menu.

Enter here for current planning updates

 

♦ A Place of Magic… And Vulnerability
As remarkable as Yellowstone National Park is during the rest of the year, the park in winter is a truly magical place of earthly eruptions on a blank canvas of white, and of extremes wildlife must endure to survive in a frozen landscape. For park visitors, it is an experience totally unlike that of summer. The question is: How best for them to enjoy it? GO>>

♦ A History of Winter Use
The journey from the park's earliest, snow-shoed explorers to the thousands today who enjoy Yellowstone in so many more ways in winter is a long and captivating saga. GO>>

♦ Current Management and Planning
The National Park Service (NPS) continues to work on a long-term plan to guide winter use in Yellowstone. This section provides an overview of where winter use planning efforts stand today and the associated documents that are currently in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning process for the upcoming 2013-2014 winter season. GO>>

♦ Previous Management and Planning Archive
A collection of prior years' NEPA planning documents, public comment analysis and other supporting documents and information that have shaped winter use in Yellowstone for the past decade. GO>>

♦ Supporting Science & Technical Documents
There is a wealth of vital background information available to help those interested understand the technical aspects of winter use issues in Yellowstone. This section contains volumes of downloadable scientific studies, environmental monitoring reports, winter use histories, legal decisions and other supporting documents in PDF format. GO>>

Did You Know?

Bear Cubs

Even though the animals of Yellowstone seem tame they are still wild. Feeding the animals is not permitted in any way, and all visitors must keep 100 yards away from wolves and bears, and 25 yards from other animals.