Yellowstone and Glacier in May

[Heavenbound]

I've been doing a lot of reading and searching but I'm not finding the answers I'm looking for. (maybe I'm just not finding the answers I want) My family (4 kids wife and I) are planning a trip from SE PA to Yellowstone and beyond. We have set aside a little over 3 weeks (5-4 to 5-27) for the trip. This time works well for us because we home school so our kids finish early and we can travel and avoid all the crowds. My concern is being so early in the season what in Yellowstone and Glacier will we be able to see or do? YNP and GNP are the "main" parks we have on our list but also on the list are Badlands, Rushmore, Custer, Wind cave, Tetons, Jackson, Crater lake, Yosemite, and Sequoia. Yes i know that some of those are in Cali.
One of my thoughts is to do the southern part of the trip first and then head north for the other parks? maybe catch better conditions?
I know its a lot of driving and miles, we did a 3 week 6300 mile trip last May to Texas then Grand Canyon, up into Utah for the mighty five, into Colorado, and across back home. Did numerous 700 mile days. Not looking to do that everyday but we can handle a few. Nothing is set in stone, just a basic idea of what we would like to see. We prefer not to make reservations ahead of time. We find campgrounds along the way.
thanks in advance for you input, you guys really are a wealth of knowledge! I used this site a lot for our last trip.

We are traveling in a 1990 Coachmen Catalina 28' class C

[RGar974417]

Yes,more things will be open in August. But we were there in May and it was great. As other have said,you're trying to pack too much into 3 weeks. If possible,break it into 2 vacations. Do 2 weeks in May at Yellowstone and 2 weeks in August at Glacier and include the Black Hills.

[4runnerguy]

Heavenbound wrote:
After hearing what you all had to say would it be better to go in August? August is wide open for us. September could be done but it conflicts with some classes my girls will be taking.
BTW my kids are 3 girls 15,13,10 and one boy 9.

Far more will be open in August. There's been good snowfall in MT and WY this year, so it may take a while to melt out. My mother used to work at Hamilton Store near Old Faithful and she had pictures of the store in mid May with 6'-8' drifts they plowed through to get into the store. Also, many school districts now start in late August so the crowds begin to abate by that time.

While one can get along well w/o reservations at Grand Teton and Glacier, you should really consider getting them at Yellowstone. A very busy park and the non-reservable CG's can be filled before 8:00 a.m.

As noted, one needs a fair amount of time in Yellowstone. We went there again last summer and spent a week and still had a lot more we wanted to do. And we've been there four times before. Driving through the park is slow, not only because of the speed limits, but because there will be traffic jams caused by bears, moose, elk, bison, etc.

Be aware that a large swath of the forest on the west side of Glacier burned last summer so you'll see miles and miles of blackened trees.

Personally, I wouldn't try to add California/Oregon to this trip. Sure, you can drive it, but wouldn't your kids get a lot more out of the vacation if they spent time actually seeing the sights rather than being cooped up in the MH for many hours and many days. By the time you add in the Black Hills along with Grand Teton and places in between, you're already looking at a very rushed three weeks from PA. Last summer from CO, we took 2 1/2 weeks for Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier NPs.

[agesilaus]

Maybe but you won't dodge many crowds from what I hear.

[Heavenbound]

Tha
nks for all the responses. After hearing what you all had to say would it be better to go in August? August is wide open for us. September could be done but it conflicts with some classes my girls will be taking.
BTW my kids are 3 girls 15,13,10 and one boy 9.

[garyp4951]

I spent 3 weeks in 2017 at YS, and started on May 18th in the Tetons, camping at Colter Bay, and had to wait a few extra days for the south entrance to open to take short cut to West YS at Grizzly rv park.
In 2018 I did 3 weeks at the Black Hills, so what I'm saying is, you will be just driving by places that you would enjoy by taking more time to check out.
I agree with you departure date since the shoulder seasons are the best for me too.

[greyhook]

We did a 6500 mile 3 week Southwest trip a couple years ago in our C. Yeah, there were a few 750 miles "travel days" but it was so worth it. We're from Buffalo NY area, went all the way to Malibu beach. Hit 10 NP's. Epic trip.
Our 1st big trip was very similar to what you're planning; the SD attractions you mentioned, YNP, Craters of the Moon and circled back down to GTNP. That was in late July/early August. Yeah there are crowds but the weather was perfect. Last year we went and did that trip again in early June-much different. It was in the upper 70's one day and then it snowed the next. We were planning to visit Glacier this time but Going to the Sun Road was still snowed in. I think for the time of year you're planning, snow/weather will be a significant factor. Yeah, crowds can be a downer but we were able to deal with them. Just a side note---do you know that YNP's biggest CG(Fishing Bridge)will be closed this year? Impact may be lessened by your travel dates but I'd check....

[RGar974417]

We went in May 2016. Daytime temps were high 50's low 60's. At night it got into the high 30's. We had no snow although there was snow on the ground in some places with higher elevations. Not everything was open but there was still plenty to see. We stayed in Madison Campground. No hookups but you can run a generator during the day. We came across a mother grizzly and 3 cubs right on the road going from Norris to Canyon. Crowds are light that time of year. We live near Reading,Pa so you will probably take a similar route. We went I 70. In Illinois we took I-74 to Missouri Rt 36 which runs across the whole state. It is 4 lanes and 65mph. Pershing State park is right off Rt 36. We paid $23 a night in 2016 with electric hookup. Then we hit I-29 north to Nebraska Rt 6 to I-80. Yellowstone's southern entrance wasn't open when we arrived so wen went in through West Yellowstone. South entrance was open when we left. If you like old cars, trucks, tractors,motorcycles or history in general,I would suggest the Harold Warp Museum in Minden, Nebraska. They have a campground and if you stay overnight, you get one fee ticket to the museum Plan to spend several hours there. On the way back we stayed at Buck Creek Lake State Park in Ohio. It;s about 10 miles north of I-70 but very nice with electric hookups. It was $26 a night at that time.

[bukhrn]

Besides the weather, you've already heard "Too Much", that's because you can spend a full week at Yellowstone alone, Glacier is another 4-5 days, Badlands, Custer, Rushmore, and Wind Cave (plus Jewel Cave), another week, Tetons/ Jackson Hole, another 4-5 days, Crater Lake 1-2 days depending on what you want to do, Yosemite, 3-5 days, depending, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, 3 days, of course None of this includes drive time. Now, I know some here will say you can see all this in less time, but I can tell you if you try to rush through this list you're not going to see much or enjoy it very much, ie: I read on here one time that one guy said he did Yellowstone in 1 Day !!!:S
After being there for 10 days I can tell you for a fact, he didn't see much of anything. If you don't want to do anything, or see everything, YES, you can spend a lot less time at each of them.

[TenOC]

I went to Tetons May 15 the first day GV campground open.



Stayed 2 weeks move to YS for 2 weeks then to Glacier. YS can get snow any time of year but in the spring melts after a few hours.



Note date on Photos.

Glacier was open but Going to Sun road was close at the top of mountian on the west side.

Go for it.

[BB_TX]

There is lots of visitor info available with a quick google search. Here is info on planned YNP road openings for 2019.

2019 Spring Opening Dates

Conditions permitting, roads will open to regular (public) vehicles at 8:00 am on the following dates:

April 19: West Entrance to Madison Junction, Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful, Norris to Canyon Village.
May 3: East Entrance to Lake Village (Sylvan Pass), Canyon Village to Lake Village.
May 10: South Entrance to West Thumb, Lake Village to West Thumb, West Thumb to Old Faithful (Craig Pass), Tower Junction to Tower Fall.
May 24: Tower Fall to Canyon Village (Dunraven Pass)
May 24: Beartooth Highway

[agesilaus]

YNP and Glacier will be snowed in, Glacier may not fully open until mid-July.

Badlands,
Rushmore,
Both do-able in May. May be darned cold tho depending on the current weather.

Custer,
Wind cave,

See above

Tetons,
Jackson,

Since you don't actually drive into the mountains these should be OK, don't know if the ferry across the lake will be running.

Crater lake,

Was mostly snowed in with 10-15 foot snow banks in July when we were last there.

Yosemite, and
Sequoia.

Will be partly open from the west but Tioga Pass and Toulumne will be snowed in in Yosemite. The Valley will be open but may be snow covered. You do know about the Yosemite lottery? You are already too late for May valley reservations, that ran on Jan 15th.

May is just too early for the high altitude parks especially since this is shaping up to be a snowy winter.

You left Devils Tower off your list which is just a 4 hour stop to hike around the Tower and visit the prairie dogs. Unless you are a photographer and want to catch the sunset and early morning light. There is a KOA right there but it is very expensive. Custer Battlefield in south west Montana right off I-15 is actually a lot more interesting than I expected so maybe a couple of hours there. Oh and have you done Mammoth Cave?

I'd go south if your time frame is set. There are a number of parks in New Mexico and Arizona, there is Great Sand Dunes in CO which would be very popular with the girls, Rocky Mountains will be snowed in probably at least partially.

[Dick_B]

When we were sailors we figured the weather in Chicago area would not be warm enough until after Memorial Day.
Ditto too much too soon. There is so much to see/do in the area where you live to put your family thru that trip.
For suggestions do a Google search for `______ tourism' and put the city, state, or area in the blank space.
Then follow the `Northeast Trip Help' post in this Forum.

[Busskipper]

Heavenbound wrote:
I've been doing a lot of reading and searching but I'm not finding the answers I'm looking for. (maybe I'm just not finding the answers I want)

My family (4 kids wife and I) are planning a trip from SE PA to Yellowstone and beyond. We have set aside a little over 3 weeks (5-4 to 5-27) for the trip.

This time works well for us because we homeschool so our kids finish early and we can travel and avoid all the crowds.

My concern is being so early in the season what in Yellowstone and Glacier will we be able to see or do?

YNP and GNP are the "main" parks we have on our list

but also on the list are
Badlands,
Rushmore,
Custer,
Wind cave,
Tetons,
Jackson,
Crater lake,
Yosemite, and
Sequoia.

Yes I know that some of those are in Cali.

One of my thoughts is to do the southern part of the trip first and then head north for the other parks? maybe catch better conditions?

I know its a lot of driving and miles,

we did a 3 week 6300 mile trip last May to
Texas then
Grand Canyon, up into
Utah for the mighty five, into
Colorado, and across back home.

Did numerous 700 mile days.

Not looking to do that everyday but we can handle a few.

Nothing is set in stone, just a basic idea of what we would like to see.

We prefer not to make reservations ahead of time.

We find campgrounds along the way.

thanks in advance for you input, you guys really are a wealth of knowledge!

I used this site a lot for our last trip.

We are traveling in a 1990 Coachmen Catalina 28' class C

Simply Put - Too Early and Too Much

Rockies, Yellowstone and Glacier - if you want to enjoy without crowds and when they are Beautiful you should think about September first Week of October - JMHO.

Cali is a whole separate trip - IMHO - you could easily spend next year there, and just there.

Lets just see if you've already done a few of the things that are often missed on these trips;

Beartooth
Chief Joseph Hwy
Wind River Canyon
Cody
Thermopolis
Shoshoni
Flaming Gorge
Dino NM
Steamboat
West Side of RMNP

Glacier if you want to see and enjoy it is still frozen over till 4th of July - and - you will want to add the Canadian side when you go - so a few more days along with all the lakes and other sights in the Area.

Not try to "Preach to You" but you did ask.

If you could ID the kids - ages and sex it might help - I had two Boys and now have 6 Granddaughters, so while they are similar they are truly very different in what THEY ENJOY, doing and seeing. 🙂

Here are a couple of sites that might help in the planning -

Family that did this every year and now has moved to the West Coast.

Stan Parker's Album is great in exposing locations you never knew were there.

Why September and first week of October are the time to be in the Rockies.

Yes you can Do It - and Yes more time would be Great BUT not likely to Happen, so Divide it into more manageable pieces and then GO.

You will be a Hero to your Kids forever - they will not remember the Long days in the Car/Truck/Coach but they will remember the Water the Rocks and the Sky.

Post more - argue some - share your itinerary - Maybe even post on irv2.com - and I'm sure you will get info that will help,

Best of Luck,

[Ivylog]

Well, there will not be any crowds in Ystone or Glacier...might be a reason besides most kids still being in school. The south entrance between the Tetons and Ystone will not be open and possibly the East. Even at the end of May many CGs will still be closed...again for a reason. Unless you can go later I would head to CA as that would be much warmer.