After nearly six months of snow-covered roads, motorists will be able to enter Yellowstone National Park through the South Entrance on Friday.

Rangers will open the gate and the summer season at 8 a.m.

Plowing progress is on schedule and no snags are anticipated, Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said.

The roads between the South Gate, Old Faithful and Fishing Bridge are some of the last stretches to open in Yellowstone park. The last major Yellowstone road to open, which closes the northern loop and goes over Dunraven Pass, is scheduled to open for the season May 23.

Services in the park are still limited. Many public facilities at Lake Village, Grant Village, Fishing Bridge and Old Faithful won’t open for another week or two.

Park spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said that even after the South Entrance opens, the crowds are always thin in the first few weeks.

“It takes a while for people to start showing up,” she said. “May is not typically a busy month.”

Though much snow remains, Bartlett said the attraction is that wildlife, especially bears and bison, are easier to see because they’re nearer the roads than during the busier summer tourism months.

She warned that bad weather can hit suddenly, and visitors should be ready for cold and snow, road plowing and repairs.

More information is available at NPS.gov/yell/planyourvisit/ocd_locale.htm.

This article appeared in the Jackson Hole News & Guide on May 8, 2014.