Yellowstone Mountain Retreat

05/29/2024

We don't call it Moose Meadow for nothing!

04/24/2023

Last June, a 500-year flood in the Greater Yellowstone Area rocked the communities of Cooke City and Silver Gate, Montana. These amazing towns have persevered through the challenges of the last year and invite you to join for a special benefit event: arts and music in the mountains, August 18-19, at the inaugural Forget-Me-Knot Fest.

Nine critically acclaimed singer/songwriter bands from across the Northern Rockies perform at two venues between soaring peaks in these mountain towns. Don't miss it! Buy early bird tickets today!

Tickets   Buy your tickets now for your early bird discount. Prices jump after the first 500 sold! Friday Night Friday + Saturday Sunday Brunch

07/13/2022

⚠️ 7/12 FLOOD UPDATE ⚠️
Yellowstone will reopen Slough Creek for overnight backcountry use July 13. Located in the northern area of the park, Slough Creek is one of the park's most visited backcountry areas. In addition, bicycles will be allowed to enter the North and Northeast Entrance roads for a limited distance. The park closed immediately following a historic flood event in June and has rapidly reopened areas when safe to do so. Approximately 93% of paved roads and 88% of Yellowstone's backcountry will now be open!

Slough Creek
▪️Starting July 13, public access to Slough Creek from Tower Junction will be limited to overnight backcountry permit holders, stock outfitters, and approved commercial guides and operators.
▪️Park staff will coordinate directly with current backcountry permit holders and commercial operators to allow them to enter/exit the area during daylight hours.
▪️At this time, outside of permit holders allowed into the corridor (as described above), visitors will not be allowed on the 6-mile segment of road from Tower Junction to the Slough Creek Campground Road until further notice. This is largely due to limited traffic capacity on this section of road, the road closure after Slough Creek, construction traffic, and other factors that are being monitored as the road partially opens. The park will monitor use within this corridor and determine if expanded day use can occur at a later date.

Parkwide
▪️Currently 88% of Yellowstone’s backcountry is open to overnight and day use.
▪️Currently 88% of the 1,000 miles of park trails are open with 12% closed due to historic flooding. The majority of closed trails are in the northern portion of the park.
▪️Currently 88% of the 293 backcountry campsites in the park are open with 12% closed due to limited access, flood impacts, and high water.
▪️Crews are continuing to evaluate damage and make repairs throughout the park.

North and Northeast Entrances
▪️The North Entrance Road (Gardiner, MT to Mammoth Hot Springs) and Northeast Entrance Road (Cooke City/Silver Gate, MT to Tower-Roosevelt) remain closed to vehicular traffic while temporary repairs are completed.
▪️Visitors can now access the park on bicycles and by foot through these entrances.
👉From the North Entrance, cyclists can travel 1 mile to the Rescue Creek Trailhead.
👉From the Northeast Entrance, cyclists can travel 6 miles to the Barronette Meadows area.

Temporary and extremely limited access from the North Entrance to Mammoth Hot Springs
▪️A temporary and extremely limited access road (Old Gardiner Road) between the North Entrance and Mammoth Hot Springs is currently an active construction zone and being converted to two lanes before winter.
▪️At this time, ONLY approved personnel and limited commercial use authorization holders are allowed on the road.
▪️Normal visitor vehicular traffic, bicycles, pedestrians and horses are not allowed.
▪️Visitors may access the park through the North Entrance through approved guiding and outfitting services.

‼For more information, including details about backcountry access, ongoing flood recovery efforts, and FAQ's, visit: go.nps.gov/220613

07/07/2022

We just had a visit from the twins!

06/25/2022

Come stay with us! Provide proof of a hotel, motel, or short-term rental in Cooke or Silver Gate for Friday or Saturday night and you'll get free registration for the race!

The Beartooth Run: Cooke City Edition! is on Saturday July 9, 2022. It includes the following events: 10k and 5k.

06/20/2022

⚠️ 6/20 FLOOD UPDATE ⚠️

During a visit to Yellowstone National Park and Gardiner, Montana, on Sunday, June 19, National Park Service Director Chuck Sams with Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly announced $50 million to kick-start recovery efforts from record breaking floods.

They also announced that in addition to the park’s southern loop reopening on June 22, the park’s northern loop is expected to reopen in two weeks or less following completion of clean-up, repairs and final inspection of the northern loop infrastructure. This will allow visitors to access Dunraven Pass, Tower, Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris opening visitor access to approximately 80 percent of Yellowstone National Park. Additional details on access will be announced in the coming weeks.

The initial $50 million will be used to restore temporary access to Gardiner and Cooke City, Montana and other additional sites. Plans are being finalized for improving the Old Gardiner Road for temporary access between Yellowstone and Gardiner, Montana. In partnership with the Federal Highway Administration, road construction crews and materials that were already in the park for a previously scheduled road project to repair 22 miles of the Grand Loop Road between Old Faithful and West Thumb Geyser Basin will be diverted to the Old Gardiner Road project.

The NPS currently anticipates the Old Gardiner Road will be substantially improved over the upcoming months, ensuring that essential emergency services, food, supplies and other administrative needs will be available throughout the winter months. As work proceeds through the summer, the NPS will look for opportunities to restore limited visitor access at the park’s North Entrance. Emergency environmental and historic preservation compliance is underway in accordance with the National Historic Preservation and Environmental Policy Acts. Permanent reconstruction options are being developed and alternatives will be completed in the upcoming months.

In addition to plans to reopen Yellowstone’s northern loop much sooner than initially anticipated, the NPS is working with the Federal Highway Administration on a range of temporary and permanent options to restore access to Silver Gate and Cooke City at the park’s northeast entrance. Currently, the Northeast Entrance Road is impassible between Lamar Valley and Silver Gate. Cost, funding and timelines are not yet available for these short or long-term repairs to the Northeast Entrance Road but will be released as soon as possible.

Announced on June 18, Yellowstone will restore access to the southern loop of the park at 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, via the East (Cody), West (West Yellowstone), and South (Grand Teton/Jackson) entrances. Accessible areas include Madison, Old Faithful, Grant Village, Lake Village, Canyon Village and Norris. To balance the demand for visitor access, park resource protection and economic interests of the communities, the park will institute an interim visitor access plan based on license plate numbers. To learn more about the alternate license plate entry system, visit Yellowstone’s flood recovery webpage : go.nps.gov/YELLflood.

06/19/2022

⚠️6/18 FLOOD UPDATE⚠️
Yellowstone National Park’s south loop will reopen to the public on June 22; Visitors traveling to park in coming weeks must stay informed about the new interim visitor entry system

At 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, Yellowstone will begin allowing visitors to access the south loop of the park. The south loop is accessed from the East (Cody), West (West Yellowstone), and South (Grand Teton/Jackson) entrances. Accessible areas include Madison, Old Faithful, Grant Village, Lake Village, Canyon Village and Norris. As part of reopening planning, park staff have engaged over 1,000 business owners, park partners, commercial operators and residents in surrounding gateway communities to determine how to manage summer visitation while the north loop remains closed due to flood damage.

To balance the demand for visitor access, park resource protection and economic interests of the communities, the park will institute an interim visitor access plan. The interim plan, referred to as the Alternating License Plate System (ALPS), was suggested as a solution by gateway communities during major public engagement with the park this past week. Park managers and partners have agreed this system is the best interim solution to ensuring the south loop does not become overwhelmed by visitors. The National Park Service will actively monitor the license plate system and is concurrently building a new reservation system that will be ready for implementation, if needed.

Alternating License Plate System (ALPS)
- Public vehicle entry will be allowed based on whether the last numerical digit on a license plate is odd or even.
- Entrance will be granted based on odd/even days on the calendar.
- Odd-numbered last digits on license plates can enter on odd days of the month.
- Even-numbered last digits (including zero) on license plates can enter on even days of the month.
- Personalized plates (all letters, for example "YLWSTNE") will fall into the “odd” category for entrance purposes.
- Plates with a mix of letters and numbers but that end with a letter (for example "YELL4EVR") will still use the last numerical digit on the plate to determine entrance days.
- Entrance station staff will turn away vehicles attempting to enter the park when the odd/even numerical digits do not correspond to the odd/even calendar date for entrance.

Exceptions
- Current commercial use operators with active commercial use permits will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes commercial tours and stock groups.
- Visitors with proof of overnight reservations in the park will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number. This includes hotels, campgrounds, and backcountry reservations.
- Commercial motorcoaches will be permitted to enter regardless of license plate number.
- Motorcycle groups may enter on even dates only.
- Essential services like mail and deliver, employees and contractors may enter regardless of license plate number.

The interim license plate system will ensure that visitors have access to the park during this period of high demand. Park managers and staff will monitor the license plate system and impacts on resources, infrastructure, operations, and staffing, and may adjust or implement a reservation or timed entry system, if necessary, after three to four weeks.

View the most up-to-date information about the Alternating License Plate System, including a list of FAQ's on our website: go.nps.gov/YELLflood

After reviewing the FAQ's on the website above, we want to hear from you! What additional questions do you have? Let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to answer them!

06/18/2022

If you are looking to send funds to the coffee shop, here is our Venmo information.
Please make sure to specify whether you are donating to a “locals tab” for people who live and work in our town to eat and drink for free.
OR whether it is just a general donation for the coffee shop.

We can also sell our retail through Venmo. So if there is a book you know we have available, we can ship it to you!

06/16/2022

NewsLocal News Actions Facebook Tweet Email Cooke City rebounds after severe flooding, opens community for summer tourism By: Jackie Coffin Posted at 10:31 PM, Jun 15, 2022 and last updated 2022-06-16 10:42:49-04 COOKE CITY — Flood waters are beginning to recede in some areas hit early on by sever...