US Highway ends at the
East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park
Highway
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Approx. time period
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US 20
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1926-present
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US 14
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1935-present
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US 16
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1965-present
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Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical
road atlases, much of the info on this page is based on the research of Robert
Droz; click here to view
his site. Photo credits: Chris
Elbert
The east entrance of Yellowstone National Park has been served by a US route
since 1926 - the year federal highways were first commissioned. Then (as today),
US 20 began in Boston, but its west end was at Yellowstone. In 1940 the US 20
designation was extended to the west coast at Newport OR via an implied route
through Yellowstone... but technically, since there are no US routes within
the Park boundaries, there are two separate segments of US 20: one on each side
of Yellowstone. So in other words, the east entrance still marks the west end
of the east leg of US 20 (get that?) Meanwhile, in about 1935, the US 14 designation
was co-signed with US 20 west from Cody WY to Yellowstone's east entrance. And
in 1965, the US 16 designation was extended too: co-signed with US 20 west from
Worland. Ever since then, the three routes have shared a common terminus at
the Park boundary. Below is the first trailblazer heading eastward from there:
Elbert, summer 2003
Heading the opposite direction, the park entrance marks the east end of US
14, US 16,
and "eastern" US
20...
Elbert, summer 2003
...although US 20 has an implied route through the Park to West
Yellowstone, where it resumes again (you can view photos from there on this
page).
Page created 20 August 2003; last updated 23 August 2005.
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