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Spring Bicycling Season Opens In Yellowstone

Spring bicycling in Yellowstone
Todd Kipfer - Yellowstone National Park
Spring bicycling in Yellowstone

In Yellowstone National Park, bicycle season begins today. 49 miles of park roads from the West Entrance at West Yellowstone to Mammoth Hot Springs are open to cyclists.

Yellowstone National Park Spokeswoman Amy Bartlett says spring bicycling in the park isn’t for everybody.

Spring bicycling in Yellowstone
Credit Todd Kipfer - Yellowstone National Park
Spring bicycling in Yellowstone

“Spring bicycling is definitely not something that someone should take lightly. They need to come prepared, there’s no services offered along these roadways, cellphone coverage is extremely sparse along the roadways that are going to be open. And there’s not a lot of people out on these roadways, so they need to be prepared to self-rescue, to make repairs, be out in severe weather conditions."

Bicyclists are required to ride single file and follow all other rules of the road. They should be prepared to encounter bears, bison, elk, wolves, and other wildlife at any time.

Bartlett says bicyclists should be on the lookout for icy parts of the road.

There is no bicycle access to Old Faithful or Canyon until the first interior park roads open to cars on Friday, April 15.

Visit Yellowstone's website for more information on spring bicycling in Yellowstone.

Copyright 2020 Montana Public Radio. To see more, visit Montana Public Radio.

Sean Robb is a senior at University of Montana studying journalism. He hails from Southern California and can be heard hosting the MTPR evening news some week nights.