North Entrance Road Historic District

The district comprises Yellowstone National Park's former North Entrance Road from Gardiner, Montana to the park headquarters in Mammoth, Wyoming, a distance of a little over five miles (8.0 km). This original North Entrance Road was the first major road in the park, necessary to join the U.S. Army station at Fort Yellowstone to the Northern Pacific Railroad station at Gardiner. The majority of the road runs along the Gardner River. The road/district includes the Roosevelt Arch at the northern boundary of the park and winds through rolling terrain before crossing the Gardner River (twice) and joining the Grand Loop Road.^[2]

The road was planned in 1883 by Lieutenant Dan Kingman of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and later on improved by Captain Hiram M. Chittenden of the Corps.^[3][4] It replaced the old Gardiner High Road which went from behind the Mammoth Hotel north over the ridges west of the river to the town of Gardiner. The first permanent entrance station to house rangers checking vehicle entering the park was constructed in 1921. It replaced temporary tents used by rangers at the Roosevelt Arch.^[5]

The road was destroyed in the 2022 Montana floods.^[6] Most of the road was washed away by the river.^[7] On October 30, 2022, Old Gardiner Road was opened to regular visitor traffic between Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs, to bypass the damaged former North Entrance Road.^[8] Subsequently, the National Park Service designated Old Gardiner Road as the "North Entrance Road".^[9] The two North Entrance Roads have a short concurrency at both ends.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Yellowstone National Park
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Park County, Montana
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Park County, Wyoming
• Fort Yellowstone
• Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District