Operating Hours
Summer: mid-April to late-October. Winter: mid-December to mid-March.

Visitation
Highest in June, July, and August.

Permits
Backcountry permit required. Must obtain in person, from most ranger stations & visitor centers, no more than 48 hours before your trip. May reserve specific backcountry campsites, booked on a first-come, first-served basis, by submitting reservation requests by mail or in person, with $15. Yellowstone boating & fishing permits required.

Visitors Center and Programs
Visitor Center: Yellowstone has 8 Visitor Centers: Mammoth, Norris, Madison, Old Faithful, West Thumb & Grant Village, Lake & Bridge Bay & Fishing Bridge, Canyon, Tower-Roosevelt. Exhibits cover a wide range of natural and cultural history subjects. Visitor Centers will provide current information on ranger-led activities, road closures, weather forecasts, park regulations, and permits. The non-profit Yellowstone Association operates book stores in all visitor centers.

Programs: A variety of interpretive programs and ranger-led activities will educate and entertain Yellowstone's visitors.

Food Supplies and Concessions
Food/Supplies: Supplies and groceries are available at the 13 Hamilton Stores, located throughout the park. There are restaurants, cafeterias, and/or fast-food grills at all major visitor hubs.

Concessions: General stores, gift shops, restaurants, boat rentals (Bridge Bay Marina), horse rides (Mammoth, Tower-Roosevelt, and Canyon), and service stations (Old Faithful, Canyon, Grant, Mammoth, Fishing Bridge and Tower). In the winter services include evening programs, snow-coach tours, guided ski and snow-shoe tours, guided snowmobile tours, and wildlife bus tours.

Visitor Impact
Keep a safe distance from all wildlife (especially bison and bears are unpredictable and dangerous) Feeding wildlife is unlawful.

Pets are permitted within 25 feet of roads, parking lots, and campgrounds but must be kept crated, caged or restrained on a leash not to exceed 6 feet in length. Pets are prohibited in the backcountry, in thermal areas, and on trails and boardwalks.

All bikes are prohibited on backcountry trails and boardwalks.

Swimming, bathing, or wading in thermal features, or in streams whose waters flow from thermal features, is illegal.

Additional Information
Roads: In the summer (mid-April to late-October), once an entrance/road opens it is open 24 hours. Due to high levels of visitation, travel through the park can be slow, during July and August. In the winter (mid-December to mid-March), only the road for the North Entrance at Gardiner, MT to the Northeast Entrance at Cooke City, MT is open to wheeled-vehicle use. On other park roads, only over-snow vehicles are allowed.

Yellowstone Park Medical Services provides facilities at Mammoth Clinic, Lake Hospital, Old Faithful Clinic. Emergency medical services are provided by rangers on duty.