You are here

Yellowstone National Park Crews Continue Work To Erase Illegal Trail Into Bechler Region

Share

As big as Yellowstone National Park is -- 63 miles north to south and 54 miles east to west -- perhaps it's not too surprising that someone not interested in driving to a trailhead in the park decided to make their own on the edge of the park. But by this fall, that trail should be erased as park crews finish the second of two years' work in removing signs of the illegal trail.

Work on rehabilitating the area started last summer, and is scheduled to conclude a bit later this year.

The trail that meanders into the Bechler region in the park's southwestern corner from U.S. Forest Service lands just west of Yellowstone was marked with blazes on trees, according to Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk.

"There was more or less an incursion from the Idaho side down near the Bechler area," said the superintendent. "They were parking on Forest Service land, they had blazed trails into the park. They had gone through some pretty sensitive areas, we thought, so we closed off those trails and are spending some energy and manpower trying to rehabilitate those trails. There was damage being done to the resources."

According to Superintendent Wenk, in some areas downed trees were being moved out of the way.

"We were trying to keep them on the established trails and we're rehabilitating that one," he said. ""They would connect up with other Bechler trails. It's somewhat an outgrowth of the very close quarters at Bechler and the high demand in that area. It was people looking for relief, looking for other ways to access the park. They were looking for the rivers and falls and the beauty of the Bechler area."

 

Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.