Do Cell Phones Work in Yellowstone? Is There WiFi?

We’d like to encourage you to detach from electronics and enjoy nature while at the park. However, we realize that cell phone coverage and WiFi can provide emergency assistance, and also the convenience of booking lodging and transportation online.

Yellowstone Cell Phone Reception

Cell phone service is available in over 50 percent of the park. Coverage is currently provided by five low towers inside the park, servicing Old Faithful, Mammoth, Grant Village, Canyon, and Tower-Roosevelt, as well as along the road corridor between Mammoth and Gardiner, Montana.

You may also get cell phone reception near the North Entrance (Gardiner), the West Entrance (West Yellowstone) and the South Entrance from cell phone towers outside the park.

The recent renovation of the Lake Hotel in 2014 added cell phone coverage, hard-wired internet in hotel rooms, and a business center with internet-enabled computers for visitor usage. The cell phone coverage was also increased in the Fishing Bridge area of Yellowstone Lake.

Verizon has the strongest signal. AT&T and Union Wireless also have coverage.

Cell Phone Driving Tours

Most phone apps that provide narrated tours use your phone’s GPS, not your data plan or WiFi. Such apps should work in most areas of the park.

WiFi in Yellowstone

Currently, there is no free wireless internet within Yellowstone National Park. At the Mammoth Dining Lounge, the Lake Hotel, and in the rooms at Grant Village, WiFi is available for purchase.

Yellowstone Communications Plan

In 2009, Yellowstone completed a plan for wireless communications in the park. The plan dictates that cell phone and wifi will only be allowed for visitor safety and to enhance park operations. It restricts towers, antennas, and wireless services to a few limited locations in the park, in order to protect park resources and limit the impact on park visitors.