YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — A safety and accessibility project near the Golden Gate in Yellowstone National Park is being scaled back after costs soared and federal budgets were revised.
The original $22 million proposal called for a larger parking area, a stone-walled path leading to the overlook for Rustic Falls, road widening from 22 feet to 30 feet, and stone guardrails. The project was announced in 2024.
Park Superintendent Cam Sholly described the area at the time of the announcement.
"What I like most about that segment of road is that when you crest the top at Swan Lake Flat, you really get a full exposure to the Yellowstone landscape," Sholly said.
Rockfall onto the road has been an ongoing concern in the area.
WATCH: Yellowstone's Golden Gate safety project scaled back
"We've had a lot of rockfall over the past years directly onto that road. It's just a matter of time before some of those rocks hit cars. We've been very fortunate," Sholly said.
The Bunsen Peak Trailhead parking lot, just up the hill from the Golden Gate, is the closest lot with additional space. But the walk from there down to the waterfall views is treacherous. There is no separation between the trail and the road — visitors walk on a very narrow road that rounds a corner with a cliff on one side and a rock face on the other.
Joan Mooney of the Department of the Interior emphasized the importance of visitor safety when the project was announced in 2024.
"There are so many millions of visitors that come to the park, we want to make sure that the experience is the best, and starting with that is safety and security," Mooney said.
The original proposal was similar in design to improvements already built at Gibbon Falls, about 7 miles south of the Norris Geyser Basin on the same road. Project Manager Dan Rhodes described the scope of the original plan.
"So we'll be removing approximately 70,000 cubic yards, or 98,000 tons of rock," Rhodes said.
Sholly said the revised project will not be as ambitious as the original proposal, but details of the compromises to be made have not yet been announced. There is also no timeline for the revised plan.
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