Repair of the badly damaged road between Slough Creek and Silver Gate in Yellowstone National Park should begin soon. This section of road has several places that were gouged out by the Lamar River, Soda Butte Creek and Pebble Creek during June flooding. The extensive damage has left Cooke City, Silver Gate and Gardiner at virtual dead-ends, since tourists can no longer access Yellowstone from the North and Northeast entrances. The repair work is designed to be done by this fall so that snowmobilers and skiers can once again travel across the park to Cooke City, as well as to allow Cooke City residents a way to connect to Montana in winter. The road between Cooke and Gardiner is the only route in Yellowstone open in the winter. The fix will only be temporary until the Park Service comes up with an entirely new and permanent repair, which could take three to five years. On Wednesday, the agency did announce it is allowing anglers, hikers and bikers to travel from Tower to Slough Creek (note accompanying story on this website). And the Montana Department of Transportation announced the Beartooth Highway is repaired and will be reopened to traffic from south of Red Lodge over the pass on to Cooke City on Friday, July 22, at 5 p.m. For more on the flood repairs, check out my story at https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/yellowstone-road-repairs-to-begin-soon-at-both-ends/article_29de038c-0853-11ed-ab55-e3357c315d76.html.
Written by Brett French | Outdoors Editor for the Billings Gazette
