Source: Jackson Hole News & Guide
Snowmobilers will be able to roam the roads of Yellowstone this winter without a guide for the first time in more than a decade.
But it will be a trickle and not a flood.
The re-emergence of private riding in the park, a component of a long-term plan Yellowstone National Park officials completed last year, will begin with just a few riders spread around the park.
Park spokesman Al Nash expects big demand for private permits, also called “noncommercially guided” permits. They are being distributed through a lottery that opened Wednesday.
“We would expect to see a significant number of applicants for the most popular dates, which would be the holiday periods,” Nash said. “I think your chances are better outside the holidays.”
Under the park’s winter-use plan, a maximum of one private snowmobiling group with a maximum of five snowmachines will be allowed to enter Yellowstone through each of its four winter entrances each day. Private Yellowstone trips can last up to three days, Nash said, and if they go longer than a day it will be counted as the quota for the gate they entered.
