Yellowstone reopening scheduled for Wednesday

Visitors will be able to enter the park’s southern loop starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, the National Park Service said in an announcement Saturday. That loop can be accessed from the east, west, and south entrances and includes sites like Old Faithful.

The northern part of the park is expected to remain closed for the rest of the summer, if not longer. Because only part of the park will be available to visitors, park officials have devised a plan to address capacity issues on the southern loop.

The provisional visitor plan will use a license plate system to determine entrance to the park. Visitors will be able to enter the even or odd days of the calendar corresponding to the last digit of their license plate.

“It is impossible to reopen just one loop in the summer without putting in place some sort of system to manage visitation,” Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholley said in a statement. “My thanks to our gateway partners and others for helping us find an acceptable temporary solution for the southern loop as we continue our efforts to reopen the northern loop.

“As we move through the reopening process, we will monitor the effectiveness of the system and work together to make any adjustments that may be necessary,” he continued. “We will also be reopening new sections of the park as repairs continue.”

The license plate system is being used as Yellowstone develops a new reservation system.

Under the alternate plate system:

• public vehicles will be allowed based on whether the last numerical digit on a license plate is odd or even;
• entry will be granted based on odd/even calendar days;
• the last odd digits of the plates can enter on the odd days of the month;
• the last even digits (including zero) on the plates can enter on the even days of the month;
• personalized plates will fall into the “strange” category for entry purposes;
• license plates with a combination of letters and numbers but ending with a letter (for example, YELL4EVR) will still use the last numeric digit of the license plate to determine days of entry;

The park said gate staff will turn away any car that tries to enter on days not allowed by its license plate.

There are a few exceptions to the new system, including:

• Current commercial use operators with active commercial use permits will be able to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes trade tours and stock groups;
• visitors with proof of reservations to spend the night in the park will be able to enter regardless of badge number. This includes hotel reservations, camping and rural areas.
• Commercial coaches will be allowed to enter regardless of license plate number.
• Biker groups can enter only on even dates.

The park closed Monday after catastrophic flooding caused widespread damage to roads, bridges and other infrastructure. The northern part of Yellowstone was the hardest hit. Despite extensive damage, no one was injured or killed.