Happy 149th Birthday to Yellowstone National Park!

On March 1, 1872, Yellowstone National Park became the world's first national park when Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone Park Act.

The act stated it would "set apart a certain tract of land lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. . . the headwaters of the Yellowstone River … is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale … and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”

The boundary of the park has actually been adjusted over time. In 1932, President Hoover issued an executive order that added more than 7,000 acres between the north boundary and the Yellowstone River, west of Gardiner. Overall the park welcomes over 4 million people every year. In 2020, visitation was down slightly due to COVID-19 with 3,806,305 visits.

Want to know more about Yellowstone? Here are 6 things you may not know about Yellowstone National Park.

Currently, at Yellowstone National Park, the roads in will begin to close to oversnow travel beginning March 7 and all oversnow travel will end for the season March 15th. Weather-permitting, some park roads will reopen to automobile travel on April 16 at 8 a.m.

Road closures are expected as follows:

• March 7, Mammoth Hot Springs to Norris
• March 9, Norris to Madison, Norris to Canyon Village
• March 14, Canyon Village to Fishing Bridge
• March 15, all remaining groomed road

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