DH dreading 2019 trip to Yellowstone.

[derouen6]

We have been to YNP 5 times, first in 2005 last 2016. My favorite park hands down , after the last visit, not so much for DH. Each visit has been arriving second week in September with a 2 week stay. I am asking for a return trip in 2019 for my birthday. DH has acquiesced reluctantly.
The crowds the last 2 trips were jaw dropping compared to years past. My question is if we wait until first 2weeks in October will there be a significant difference? I know it will never be light, maybe lighter. Opinions please.
Thank you,
Sherry

[Barbielab]

Didn’t read thru all the replies so don’t know if this has been suggested but we went this year in mid May and Teton and Yellowstone were awesome! We have been a couple times in summer and fall and LOVED spring! Lots of baby animals, reduced prices before all park facilities were open, no crowds, great weather and beautiful views of snow capped mountains.

[ppine]

I have been going there since 1955. I love the place. Unfortunatelly so do millions of others. Go in the off-season if you can. If you can't get out and walk and leave the tourists behind.

[Cali-MinnieWinn]

We have gone twice, once in May, and last year in September. Although we enjoyed both trips, we saw so many more animals in May. Can you go then, before the summer rush?

[Busskipper]

CharlesinGA wrote:

derouen6 wrote:
We have been to YNP 5 times, first in 2005 last 2016. My favorite park hands down, Sherry

Didn't feel like reading the whole thread but the quote above begs the question, why go again? There are 490 National Parks and Momuments in the US and lots of other scenic areas to visit, so why not take a trip somewhere else?

Charles

Just a Guess - You've never Been!

I've been a dozen or more times and see new and different things every time, every Season - It's The First Park - It is the Real Deal.

I'll admit that the first few times after the fire in 1988 it changed, I thought it might never recover - it was so different - but now I'm almost used to It, and it has recovered, been thirty years- Oh how Time flies.

But yes you are right there are many, Many options that could lead you to make another choice, and likely it too will be Great, How lucky we are,

Sorry for the aimless carrying on but no matter how often or how many times you visit it will inspire you each and every time, at least it has for me.

After every visit, As soon as I leave, I start trying to figure out how to get back.

JMHO,

[CharlesinGA]

derouen6 wrote:
We have been to YNP 5 times, first in 2005 last 2016. My favorite park hands down, Sherry

Didn't feel like reading the whole thread but the quote above begs the question, why go again? There are 490 National Parks and Momuments in the US and lots of other scenic areas to visit, so why not take a trip somewhere else?

Charles

[kknowlton]

Yellowstone in winter: watching Old Faithful erupt, in the company of perhaps 5 or 6 other people = priceless. 🙂

Floridafrances, late May and early June are usually pretty chilly, but delightful. I think it's my favorite time in the park - well, tied with mid- to late September if the aspens are in full color. 🙂

[Floridafrances]

Like you, Yellowstone is my favorite Park. Fortunately for me, it's my husband's, too.

We were in Yellowstone for our third trip in the second week of September 2011. Weather was beautiful, though a bit warmer than usual. Elk everywhere. Got a sleety rain one day crossing Dunraven. Pretty much like somebody threw a clear slushy on the windshield. Still very crowded, but nothing like our first trip which was, during my husbands teaching days, end of July/beginning of August.

Our second trip was February 2009 and I have to agree with those who say there is nothing like Yellowstone in winter. It's on my bucket list to do again now that we've both retired and can be gone longer. We walked the Old Faithful geyser basin and saw no one else. I rode a snow mobile for the first time and loved it. Crossing the continental divide on the bottom of the lower half of the figure 8 road, we shut off our 5 machines. The silence was amazing. No running water, no birds, only the occasional gentle sigh of wind in the evergreens. It looked like riding through a Christmas card.

Hope you get to go and enjoy your birthday trip.

We'll be there the first week of June 2019 to take our grandson on a trip he's been asking for since he was 3. So looking forward to seeing the baby animals and a different season.

[Rice]

Kavoom wrote:
We are Montanans and the above is true. Crowds may have been up, but just come in late July - August.

But July and August are the two most crowded months.

[Kavoom]

dedmiston wrote:
We stayed at the Lodge (not camping) in mid-October years ago. It was the last week before they closed for the season. The fall weather was gorgeous and the mood with all of the staff was like a carnival before they ended their season. I would absolutely go back at that time.

We are Montanans and the above is true. Crowds may have been up, but just come in late July - August. Until the Kids go back to school no Montanan goes. There is that two week window after the kids go back to school and before they shut down most of the facilities that is the best time to go. As noted, the staff are in good moods, the crowds and stress is sharply reduced and they put stuff on sale and a little xtra maybe in the drinks at the restaurants etc.

So, yes, it gets worse crowd wise every year as the rest of the world still comes (maybe that will change a bit)but it is 85% better in Sept to about the third weekend.

We were there a few years ago with our 100 lb Golden Retreiver "Amazon Blonde" (name: Yellowstone Wyoming) and I parked at a curb so the significant could run in to go to the bathroom and two buses showed up. One was full of Germans and the other one was Chinese. I was standing against the Suby with the dog on a leash and first the Germans came over. Meinem Grossvettern sind Deutch and so speak a bit and told them her name and like 20 people were trying to pet her (she loved it) and THEN the chinese people came over and I told the translator her name when she asked what was going on and they went nuts laughing and repeating her name and pointing to my license plat and so there were like 50 people trying to pet her speaking all different kinds of languages. She's so mellow she just sat there basking in the attention. My significant other couldn't even get to the car and the rangers came over and then laughed and scooted the people away from the road so I could leave. It all happened in like a minute. And this was the first week in Sept. Still too early...

Oh best time to go is mid winter to the north end. The campground is actually open at Mammoth and people are actually camping there in TT's and Class A's and C's. We stay in Gardiner or West Yellowstone and cross country ski and snow shoe. Yellowstone in Winter is beyond belief.

[kknowlton]

The last few years we have camped in West Yellowstone in late September to mid-October. We encountered overnight temperatures in the teens, which froze our waterline (part of it is unreachable above the tanks & we couldn't protect it). Weather is variable - we have had temps in the 70s in late September, and temps in the 40s in mid-September. You just never know.

Most campgrounds were closed by the first of October, especially inside the park. Posts mentioning the bus tours are right on; their numbers have exploded over the last decade or so, so even when traffic itself isn't bad, lines for food, bathrooms, etc. in the park can be almost as bad as summertime. Part of the problem is that the hotels, lodges, cabins and restaurants in the park start closing in early September, so by October the pickin's are slim. (Same with campsites, so advance reservations are strongly advised.)

If the cold weather and below-freezing overnight temps don't bother you, Cloud Driver has a good point about May. THis year, May attendance set all-time records (for that month) in Yellowstone, so it's probably being "discovered" now too, but May and very early June can be a beautiful time to visit the park. Usually there is still snow on the higher passes, and it may fall while you're there, but the babies are delightful. Just a thought.

[Busskipper]

ppine wrote:
I have seen 10 inches of snow by Sept 10-12. October can be winter at 8,200 feet. As long as you are ready for possible cold and snowy conditions you will have a great time.

Any long trip with the word dread associated needs to be looked at very carefully. It either needs to be modified or cancelled.

Sure,:) but it Melted when the sun came out.:S

We've been in a snow storm in Colorado in July...............Love those Rockies!:E

Best trip I ever had to Yellowstone and the Tetons was in late October early November, so just keep your options open, who knows what you will see till the time comes.

JMHO,

[ppine]

I have seen 10 inches of snow by Sept 10-12. October can be winter at 8,200 feet. As long as you are ready for possible cold and snowy conditions you will have a great time.

Any long trip with the word dread associated needs to be looked at very carefully. It either needs to be modified or cancelled.

[derouen6]

CloudDriver wrote:
I mentioned in my post way back in this thread that we were at Yellowstone in June 2016. I'm going to make a suggestion that you consider taking your birthday trip early, leaving home in time to get to Yellowstone by June 1st. We prefer to be in that area in the late May to late June time period for a number of reasons, including:

- In the Spring the grasses are green and the flowers are in bloom. Lots of new Bison calves around.

- In addition to Yellowstone, we like to spend time at Grand Teton NP and in June the mountains are still beautifully snow capped, rather than just gray rock. Also, the streams and waterfalls are running high due to the snow melt.

- Forest fires in the west are more prevalent in the Summer and Fall, with hazy smoky skies making for poor photo conditions.

- The Summer solstice is in June, so June has more hours of daylight than September, which contains the equinox. For example, the Google assistant on my phone says that the sun sets at 9:12 PM tonight in West Yellowstone. On September 15th the sun sets at 7:35 PM. In our experience the crowds in Yellowstone dissipate about dinner time when people head back to their lodging or campsites for the evening. Visiting in June provides an extra two hours of daylight to explore the Park when it is much less crowded than during midday.

Teton Mountains from Schwabacker Landing - mid-June 2005


Teton Mountains from Schwabacker Landing - mid-September 2007

We considered a May trip but our Louisiana weather is so lovely then before the brutal summer heat and humidity. We did an April trip this year to Lake Powell and Bryce Cyn NP. Weather at home was awesome , on trip not so much.
Hey, I get it, weather is only predictable to a point, sometimes that is what makes it fun, sometimes not so much.

[Durb]

We stayed at Fishing Bridge a couple of years ago up to September 20th when it closed for the season. We generally had good weather except snow over Dunraven. The last night was very heavy rain and snow mix, good for us as we weren't totally prepared for snow covered or icy roads. The East entrance was closed, something about four feet of snow. Another couple of degrees colder could have made our trip challenging. Had a great time.