Pilot Parking Area/Cooke

Yes, there is a meeting at the lot on the 2nd at 11:00am
There are rocks placed that substantially limit parking.
The lot being open as normal is not a done deal. If that was the truth there would not be a meeting this week. We may have to compromise, only time will tell.
The road from the Jct. to Pilot along with the lot is plowed complimentary from Park County Wy. The county commissioners have been great allies for the snowmobile community.

Park County Montana or the businesses in Cooke pay absolutely nothing for plowing or maintenance of Pilot Parking, but they benefit the most.

Edit: sorry I haven’t responded. I’ve been sheep hunting. Looking for some answers today.

UYSC Cooke City said:

Hey everyone, I just got back from a meeting with USFS, Park County, WY, and others regarding the status of the Pilot Creek Parking area east of Cooke City. They are doing a land reclamation/restoration project with that area, and after concerns were voiced regarding some aspects of usability for the winter, concessions will be made in the next couple weeks to keep the lot open, available, and usable for the winter.
SO . . . no concerns for this winter or the foreseeable future. The restoration project will only be planting native grasses and phorbs. The only usability concern will be during the melt next spring, when the fill dirt area will become a mud bog. Mitigation with compaction next week will help minimize this.
PLEASE read and follow directional signage regarding parking, and try to park in an orderly fashion so the snow plow crews can keep the driving lanes open!

Don Taylor, Secretary
Upper Yellowstone Snowmobile Club
Cooke City, MT.

Click to expand...

Don,
Thank you for attending the meeting from Cooke City.

There are still concerns regarding the parking area. The lot will be relocated closer to the Pilot Parking entrance and the upper lot. The reclaimed area will not be used for parking(3/4 of the old lot).
Park County Wyoming has tentatively agreed to start work on Monday. It will consist of removing the rock barriers that were installed to limit access to the historic parking lot. Then reshaping and leveling the remainder of the unreclaimed area to get us through this season. I will personally be there on Monday.
After this season, if the State and the county can obtain approval, there will be a permanent parking area built. In my opinion a Permanent Special Use Permit should be obtained by State Trails so this doesn’t happen again. Since the late ‘90s this is the third time we have gone through this near loss of the parking area due to reclamation.
Funding is always an issue these days. Park County Wyoming shoulders all the plowing without any outside financial help. Thanks to the Park County Commissioners for their continued suppport of the Snowmobile Community.
If all goes as planned this season there will be a traffic flow pattern change along with user parking. Please adhere to the new pattern and pay attention to signage.
If you drive off into the existing reclaimed area, prepare to call for wrecker service. There is 1-3’ of mud and large rocks buried in the spoil.

Short and sweet.
I just left there.
Work was done at the lot today.
There is 3” of snow in the parking area.
The county did what they could.
We will have parking.

We should be close. There is a new configuration and flow pattern.
The flow pattern will take you through the upper lot(groomer and bathroom) into the lower lot(old lot). From there you will exit out to the highway on the original entry road.
There also has been an addition in plowing personnel with administration oversite. This should make the lots ingress/egress better than ever.??