Yellowstone National Park
Visitor Services
All park facilities are open from mid-June to late August. Before and after those dates, services are limited at some locations. Check the park newspaper or www.nps.gov/yell for current dates and hours of operation.
Banking Services
Automated teller machines are located at Old Faithful Inn, Old Faithful Snow Lodge, Lake Yellowstone Hotel, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, Grant Village, Canyon Lodge and general stores throughout the park. There are banks in Gardiner and West Yellowstone in Montana, and in Jackson and Cody in Wyoming.
Camping Supplies
Yellowstone General Stores has camping and fishing equipment, film, groceries, sundries and souvenirs. The Mammoth Hot Springs store is generally open year-round. The Fishing Bridge RV Park also carries a limited stock of RV supplies. For general information about camping, see pages 66—67.
Dining and Lodging
Xanterra's park hotels, restaurants, cafeterias and quick service outlets, as well as Yellowstone General Stores, offer food service. While visiting the park, ask for a free Dining and Shopping Guide at any Xanterra Parks & Resorts® facility. This guide features a park map with the picnic areas marked, as well as locations of gift shops and restaurants. Kids Activity Books are also available at all Xanterra Parks & Resorts® dining rooms. This book is full of Yellowstone games and puzzles, and valuable coupons for parents!
Emergencies and Medical Service
Dial 911 for emergency, fire, medical or ranger assistance or to report accidents or injuries. To contact a park ranger, call (307) 344-7381. The NPS emergency medical technicians and park medics are on duty 24 hours a day, year-round.
Medcor, Inc. operates three patient-care facilities within the park. Patients requiring advanced medical care are transported to area hospitals or medical centers.
The Mammoth Hot Springs Clinic is open weekdays, year-round and seven days a week from June to September. Please call (307) 344-7965 for more information. The Old Faithful Clinic is open from early May to mid-October, and periodically during the winter season. For appointments or assistance, please call (307) 545-7325. Lake Clinic, located at the north end of Yellowstone Lake, is open during the summer. For more information, call (307) 242-7241.
Gift Shops
Unique gift shops are located throughout the park at all lodging facilities and at Yellowstone General Stores. Xanterra's Fred Harvey Trading Company stores, located in the hotels, sell apparel, a wide array of distinctive gifts and Yellowstone souvenirs. Inspired by nature and shaped by history, exclusive products reflect the park's rich heritage. Convenience items such as film, videos, sundries and regional books are also available.
Regional items, including pottery, carvings, gourmet foods and art prints, focus on the Yellowstone lifestyle. At Old Faithful locations, artists-in- residence display their work, which is available for purchase.
Book signings, food tastings and artist demonstrations are scheduled at various locations throughout the summer. Visit a Fred Harvey gift shop and take home your own special memory of Yellowstone. Pick up a Dining and Shopping Guide for a list of stores and their locations in Yellowstone.
Lost and Found
You can turn in or trace lost and found articles at any visitor center or ranger station. Call (307) 344-5387 to report or retrieve items lost in lodging facilities; call (307) 344-2109 to report or retrieve items lost in other parts of the park.
Postal Services
The park's main post office, a historic 1930s building, is located at Mammoth Hot Springs. During the summer, post office facilities are also available at Old Faithful, Lake Village, Canyon Village and Grant Village.
Public Showers and Laundry
During the summer, Grant Village Campground, Fishing Bridge RV Park, Canyon Village Campground and the Old Faithful area have coin laundries and pay showers. Lake Lodge and Old Faithful Snow Lodge have laundry facilities only and Old Faithful Lodge and Mammoth Hot Springs have showers only. During the winter, Old Faithful Snow Lodge offers guest laundry facilities.
Religious Services
Religious services are held at numerous in-park locations as well as in neighboring communities during the summer and on religious holidays. For times and locations of in-park services, check at visitor centers or lodging front desks.
Service Stations
The Yellowstone Park Service Stations, Inc. operates seven full- service gas stations and four auto- towing and repair shops in the park. Gas, auto accessories, tire repairs, oil changes and routine maintenance are available only during summer. LP propane gas bottle-filling plants are located at Grant Village and Fishing Bridge. Towing and repair facilities are located at Old Faithful, Grant Village, Fishing Bridge and Canyon Village. Call (406) 848-7333 or (307) 344-7381.
Special Services -
Pick up a free brochure listing facilities, scenic areas and features accessible to guests with disabilities at any entrance station or visitor center. For trip planning information, contact the Park Accessibility Coordinator, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190; (307) 344-2017.
Yellowstone In Depth
News from the Parks
Denali National Park Goes Greener With New Hybrid Commercial Bus From IC Bus
July 18, 2008 - 12:55pm
DENALI, Alaska, July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, one of the largest protected intact ecosystems in the world, will now have the opportunity to explore the park with the aid of an environmentally friendly vehicle -- a fuel-efficient and emissions-reducing hybrid bus. IC Bus, North America's largest school bus and commercial bus manufacturer, is delivering the Park's first hybrid bus on July 17.
July 18, 2008 - 12:55pm
DENALI, Alaska, July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, one of the largest protected intact ecosystems in the world, will now have the opportunity to explore the park with the aid of an environmentally friendly vehicle -- a fuel-efficient and emissions-reducing hybrid bus. IC Bus, North America's largest school bus and commercial bus manufacturer, is delivering the Park's first hybrid bus on July 17.
Canyoneering Heaven At Zion National Park
July 18, 2008 - 10:17am
Lee and Brian are loaded like sherpas, each hauling an end of the 700-foot-long rope and moving in lockstep as they hike down a dry creek bed through a ponderosa pine forest atop a mesa about 6,000 feet above sea level. Behind us, at the end of a wretched logging road that almost made a couple of people in our group sick, is Lee's truck, which we'll come back for the next day. Ahead of us is . . . one big drop. The creek bed ends at a sheer cliff that plunges into what looks like an enormous hole. Walking to the edge, I peer over and can't see the bottom. This is the start of Engelstead Canyon.
July 18, 2008 - 10:17am
Lee and Brian are loaded like sherpas, each hauling an end of the 700-foot-long rope and moving in lockstep as they hike down a dry creek bed through a ponderosa pine forest atop a mesa about 6,000 feet above sea level. Behind us, at the end of a wretched logging road that almost made a couple of people in our group sick, is Lee's truck, which we'll come back for the next day. Ahead of us is . . . one big drop. The creek bed ends at a sheer cliff that plunges into what looks like an enormous hole. Walking to the edge, I peer over and can't see the bottom. This is the start of Engelstead Canyon.
Shenandoah National Park Launches Multimedia Tour Inviting Visitors to Experience the Blue Ridge Mountains Like Never Before
July 18, 2008 - 9:30am
Austin, Texas - Greta Miller, Executive Director of the Shenandoah National Park Association announced today the launch of a new interpretive tool, the GPS Ranger™, for visitors at Shenandoah National Park. Visitors to the park can experience the Blue Ridge Mountains and learn more about the park’s unique history, land, plants, and animals with the assistance of the multimedia GPS Ranger™ tour guide system. Informative and educational ranger-narrated videos automatically play as guests hike.
July 18, 2008 - 9:30am
Austin, Texas - Greta Miller, Executive Director of the Shenandoah National Park Association announced today the launch of a new interpretive tool, the GPS Ranger™, for visitors at Shenandoah National Park. Visitors to the park can experience the Blue Ridge Mountains and learn more about the park’s unique history, land, plants, and animals with the assistance of the multimedia GPS Ranger™ tour guide system. Informative and educational ranger-narrated videos automatically play as guests hike.
Hiker tackles every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
July 18, 2008 - 9:28am
Sixty-three year old Diane Scarbrough loves to spend time in the Smoky Mountains. "Anybody that can be out there for any length of time," she says. "It's uplifting." Diane's passion for hiking turned into a mission to hike every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "We call it the 900 mile club. Actually it comes out to be 845, but I think they round that off because it takes a long time to get to a trail. We may hike 4 miles to get to the trail we are hiking on," Diane explains.
July 18, 2008 - 9:28am
Sixty-three year old Diane Scarbrough loves to spend time in the Smoky Mountains. "Anybody that can be out there for any length of time," she says. "It's uplifting." Diane's passion for hiking turned into a mission to hike every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "We call it the 900 mile club. Actually it comes out to be 845, but I think they round that off because it takes a long time to get to a trail. We may hike 4 miles to get to the trail we are hiking on," Diane explains.
Rabid bat in Olympic National Park puts visitor, three employees in treatment
July 18, 2008 - 9:25am
The Olympic National Park's first possible case of rabies since 1977 has struck a woman who was in the Ozette campground late last week. The 55-year-old woman is getting rabies prevention treatment after a bat scratched her in the Ozette campground. Three Olympic National Park employees who responded to the incident are also receiving treatment. The bat approached the woman at her campsite. She knocked the bat to the ground and got scratched. The stunned bat remained on the ground until the next morning. Park employees removed the bat for rabies testing. The rabies virus was found in the bat. The only other known case of rabies in Olympic National Park was recorded 33 years ago in July 1975, when a child was bitten by a bat in the Elwha Valley.
July 18, 2008 - 9:25am
The Olympic National Park's first possible case of rabies since 1977 has struck a woman who was in the Ozette campground late last week. The 55-year-old woman is getting rabies prevention treatment after a bat scratched her in the Ozette campground. Three Olympic National Park employees who responded to the incident are also receiving treatment. The bat approached the woman at her campsite. She knocked the bat to the ground and got scratched. The stunned bat remained on the ground until the next morning. Park employees removed the bat for rabies testing. The rabies virus was found in the bat. The only other known case of rabies in Olympic National Park was recorded 33 years ago in July 1975, when a child was bitten by a bat in the Elwha Valley.
