RMNP & YNP

I would tend to agree with most on the August dates being preferable for your purposes, but be aware of the summer "monsoon season" up here as well. During August, we have frequent afternoon thunderstorms that only last a few minutes, but you definitely do not want to be on an exposed mountain face in a thunderstorm.....

For Rocky Mountain National Park--consider staying on the west side in Grand Lake instead of the more commercial Estes Park at the eastern entrance. There are fewer amenities in Grand Lake, but similar activities--and FAR fewer people. Plus, there is a great hike up to the headwaters of the Colorado River on that side of the park. Estes Park is still an easy day trip over Trail Ridge Road right through the park, so you can still spend a day over there as well.

This past summer I stayed at the Elk Creek Campground in Grand Lake, and it was basic, but very nice. There were also moose wandering through the campground, so you do have to be careful about that.

Last fall I made my first trip ever up to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. I stayed at the Grand Teton Park RV Resort at Moran Junction, and the park itself was nice, but I was not thrilled with the location. Moran Junction really doesn't have anything OTHER than an entrance station for the national parks and a couple of campgrounds, so although it was a central location, it really wasn't CONVENIENT to anything. The nearest town was Jackson, WY, which is about 30 miles away--not the most convenient for a quick grocery store run. I think the next time I go up there, I will probably spend part of the time in the Jackson area to visit GTNP, and then maybe move to a campground in some place like West Yellowstone, MT, to visit Yellowstone. I just ran into an issue with the parks being SOOOO spread out that it made for a lot of driving. The day I went up to Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner, MT, I realized at about 4pm that I still had about a 3-4 hour drive (NOT including stops) to get back to my camper at Moran Junction. It put a bit of a damper on the idea of stopping to take in the sights on the way back to the campground......

Lived in Estes for 8 years and would not recommend staying on Grand Lake side... all the Park activities (well, 98% of them) are on the Estes side. Just a few hiking trails on the west side - very limited.

I would suggest Aug as well and also making reservations.

Grand Teton. We LOVE Colter Bay Campground. Nuf said. Yellowstone we stayed at Grizzly in West Glacier - nice place.

Enjoy.

The reason we said either June or August because in Sept. of 2013 we were out west and visited Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, capital reef and sand dunes park in Colorado. WE had nice weather maybe one day cause it rained all the time all day. It was the same time when all the bad flooding was happening in estes park. The first time ever on any vacation we had that bad of weather. Never did get to see the bottom of grand canyon,very dissapponited. Anyway that is why we thought sept must be monsoon season but if aug is to then im not sure what the best month would be.We usually always vacation in sept cause of the crowds.Your thoughts please.

We have always gone in September, sometimes spilling over to October.It can still be crowded. Make reservations at Yellowstone.

I would say that you'd have a better chance of drier days in September rather than August. But...as your last year's experience shows, you just can't count on the weather. We like the end of August through Sept. for visiting those parks.

SouthParkSteve wrote:
For Rocky Mountain National Park--consider staying on the west side in Grand Lake instead of the more commercial Estes Park at the eastern entrance. There are fewer amenities in Grand Lake, but similar activities--and FAR fewer people. Plus, there is a great hike up to the headwaters of the Colorado River on that side of the park. Estes Park is still an easy day trip over Trail Ridge Road right through the park, so you can still spend a day over there as well.

Most of the hikes on the west side are longer with big elevation gains. The west side is not as spectacular due to less glacial activity.

The west side of the park has been hit very hard over the last 5-10 years with bark beetles. Timber Creek campgrounds which use to be heavily treed is mostly bare. Better views but its not pretty anymore.

We were shooting a DVD for the Park Service this summer and could not find a place on the west side showing expansive views that included green trees. Nearly everything is dead and grey. At least most the needles have fallen so the trees aren't red/orange anymore. Park Service told us commercial videographers had complained of the same problem.

For Estes Park and RMNP, June is historically a drier month, in comparison to other months. Showers in May give way to a transition in June, with the monsoons coming in during late July/early August, and sometimes lasting until mid-September.

There have been 3 historical floods in the region, 2 described as a "500 year flood". The first Big Thompson Flood was in July 1976. The 2nd Big Thompson Flood was in September 2013. And there was the Lawn Lake Dam Break Flood in July 1982. These were anomalies and not a part of what one could consider a typical weather pattern for the region.

Whenever one travels in the mountains, whether in Colorado or elsewhere, there's always going to be a chance for adverse weather, sometimes extreme. It's like taking a cruise or visiting islands in the Caribbean during September or October...great time of year for it, but taking a chance on weather/hurricanes.