National Park Service officials say flood-damaged sections of Yellowstone National Park’s northern loop road could reopen in early July, thanks to $60 million in federal emergency funding that will help expedite the start of a long and potentially expensive recovery from what the U.S. Geologic Survey estimates was a 500-year flood event earlier this month.
After initially expressing uncertainty about Yellowstone’s immediate future following the rain- and snowmelt-driven floods, NPS subsequently issued a more optimistic forecast for the remainder of the park’s prime tourist season, which typically peaks in July with nearly one million visitors. Along with reopening Yellowstone’s largely undamaged southern loop road on June 22, the agency said in a statement that the northern loop road was expected to reopen “in two weeks or less following completion of clean-up, repairs and final inspection” of the area’s infrastructure, restoring visitor access to approximately 80% of the park.