Building Boardwalks In Yellowstone Isn’t As Easy As You’d Think

I was watching a video on Yellowstone National Park's Facebook page about the park's boardwalks. There are 15 miles of them all around the park. You've probably noticed them the most when you're checking out the geyser basins.

The boardwalks are an integral tool used by tourists, rangers, and sometimes even animals to travel through the park so they can see all of the amazing features of the park, avoid damaging the fragile ground, and stay safe.

These boardwalks are not stationary either. It's predicted that around 2,000 ft. of boardwalk is moved, replaced, or rebuilt each year. This has to happen because of the ever-changing ground, maintenance to ensure safe boardwalks, or due to a 2,000-pound bison deciding to walk on it.

READ MORE: Jumbo Bison Crushes Boardwalk in Yellowstone.

One thing I learned is that building or repairing a boardwalk isn't easy. There are a lot of steps, and different departments that need to approve the project. If you're going to build a deck at your house, you have to get the proper permits, buy the materials, and get to work.

In Yellowstone, there are multiple levels of the planning stage. 

First, geologists use cameras and infrared imagery to detect and map safe areas away from hot spots.

Botanists survey the proposed boardwalk area and route to ensure plants will not be harmed during construction.

Archaeologists will need to inspect the area to ensure there aren't any artifacts that could be disturbed.

Once the information has been received from each of those departments, then the planners will map out the safest and most practical route.

Then the building process begins and can take quite a while to complete due to things like project size, weather, and whether it's a new project or a repair. A repair may only take a couple of days, but a new project could take a full season.

It's an interesting video that you can watch right here: