Visitors line up to visit Yellowstone hours before park re-opens

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. – After a week and a half of being closed, Yellowstone National Park partially reopens to new guests.

“We’re about to have a blast. Yeah, it’s awesome,” said Rock Ross, who is visiting the park.

Guests from Utah and across the county lined up at the park entrance at 6:45 a.m.

The line was a mile long, and the park didn’t open until 8 a.m., but that wait was short for Ross.

“Yeah, and we extended it by two days so we could be here for this park,” Ross said.

Last week, floods, rockslides, and mudslides forced Yellowstone to shut down.

Here is some updated video of the damage at @YellowstoneNPS as seen from Chopper 5. We’ll have a live report updating the situation coming up tonight on @KSL5TV at 10. #ksltv #Yellowstoneflood #Yellowstone pic.twitter.com/Tf9emyJuHV

— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) June 14, 2022

During the weekend, park officials announced that the southern loop of the park will reopen but will only allow certain guests in on certain days – all based on the park’s odd/even license plate system.

“It’s our 150th anniversary, so it would’ve been a shame if we couldn’t have opened some of the park, and I’m seeing lots of happy faces,” said Linda Veress, spokesperson for Yellowstone.

And visitors are excited to see the natural sights.

“This is so special,” said Tracy Schmidt, visiting with her family from Minnesota. “It’s so cool to be able to do this as a family and to be able to give them this experience.”

Waiting a couple of extra days doesn’t compare to their initial wait.

“We were supposed to come two years ago, and the park got closed because of covid,” Schmidt said.

While the park’s northern portion remains closed, the Yellowstone superintendent told KSL-TV that another section could reopen in a couple of weeks.

However, for some visitors like Schmidt’s family – what is open is worth the trip.

“For them to be able to see this stuff is awesome,” Schmidt said.