Yellowstone and vicinity

[TomD1]

My wife and I are thinking of taking a trip the end of next summer or early fall to Yellowstone. I have read that the best time to go to go is September / October. We are thinking of leaving SC the 1st of September, going to Rapid City then Yellowstone and to take a southern return route. My question is how is the weather there the middle of September? We are planning on taking about 10 days to get to Rapid City, a week there then a couple of days to get to Yellowstone. From you folks that are familiar with the area is that to late to visit the area, I notice CG's seem to close the beginning of Sept. Should I think about leaving the middle of Aug. and arriving the 1st of Sept.?

Thanks :confused:

[sourdough]

I think the question will be at what temp and weather do you become uncomfortable? We always made our trips to Yellowstone and that area in August - early part. We made it later, and earlier, a couple of times but it was just so iffy that we opted for going when it was more or less predictable. During the earlier times the weather is warmer and lets you enjoy some of the water if you want to. Mid summer times though will bring the non stop crowds.

Others will have experience at this and will have different likes and expectations than we do so stay tuned.

[ChuckS]

We stay at YNP twice a year and have for the last 20 years... Sept coming in from the East entrance side from Cody can be iffy... we’ve seen snow and iced roads as early as Sep 3... On the east side... Usually they clear and keep that road into east entrance open ...

The campgrounds inside the park may not suit your size length depending on what you’ve got...

Plus side is... traffic congestion is considerably less than summer months, the larger animals are coming back down from higher elevations and elk are in the rut and bugling

Pic is east entrance road into park May 12, 2016.... This year east entrance didn’t see any snow while we were there for 10 days mid Sep...

[DocWMB]

We are looking at recreating our Honeymoon trip next August and have been looking at spending more time in Yellowstone that we were able to 40 years ago tent camping from the Ford Pinto. Be aware that the current infomation available has Fishing Bridge Campground (the only one with hookups to my research) closed through the 2020 season. We're looking at 4-5 nights in Gardiner and 4-5 nights in Grand Teton (Gros ventre Campground) with forays from those places to explore.

[notanlines]

We also have visited many times, at a number of different times. We would NOT visit while school is out. We like the third/fourth week of May and most any time in October, however we found that all RV parks in Cody or West Yellowstone sort of roll up for the winter the first to middle of October. This was taken 10-16-2016, 8" fell at ol' Faithful. This my good friend from Apache Junction....nothing bothers him!

[Steve/]

The park sits on the Yellowstone Plateau, at an average elevation of 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level.
That has a lot to do with weather and early snow fall.

[Steve's 70-5]

The wife and I where in Yellowstone from September 13th thru 20th of this year. Was a belated honeymoon, married in March. We flew out and stayed in a motel in the park, could not do the camper because I only had a weeks vacation.



My recommendations.

I would stay outside the park, we drove thru some of the campsite in the park and they where very basic. I don't know if you cook all you food or eat out. The restaurant select in the park is very limited. Outside the park there are restaurants. When you tour the park, you drive every where, so staying out side the park is just a little more driving. The time we where there, we drove a little over 1,000 miles. We did go to the Grand Titans, Jackson Wyoming twice and West Yellowstone.

I would stay in West Yellowstone, it is right outside one of the gates. Cody is where we flew into and it was about a hour or so drive to get to the gate and then drive more before you will see some sites. If you use the east gate, you will go though the road construction in the park, before Fishing Bridge. They are putting a new bridge in and I would think, with the scope of the job, they will still be working on this road project next year. I am sure they will shut down because of winter. You can sit for 15-20 minutes or more to get though the construction area.

The weather was nice, a few mornings we woke up there was frost on the car windows. You would leave with a jacket on and by the end of the day would just be in your shirt. We checked out a day early and spent the night in Cody because they where calling for a snow storm that Friday. Did not want to take a chance of missing our flight home because of weather. There where things to do in Cody, go to the "Old Town" and there was a Walmart there.

When in Yellowstone, plan on a day in Lamar Valley, a lot of wild life to view. Best to to get there early. When we where there, we would leave about 8 in the morning and would not get back till 8-9 that night.

When driving around the park, watch your speed, it varies from 25 MPH to 45MPH. If there is any wild life to be seen, people will be parked on the side of the road, watch for this.

[roadglide]

It appears I’m to late reserving a site in the National park at Wyoming or Montana reservations started May 1, 2019. I am planning a trip to Sturgis South Dakota and would Like to spend some time at Rainbow point Montana or anything near Yellowstone. It appears all the sites are taken for July and August 2020. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

[JRTJH]

Jerry,

You may find an open site to reserve at the KOA in West Yellowstone. It's "almost downtown" but seems "in the woods" with pretty good facilities. It's no "resort" but is comfortable and usually has an opening if you call early enough.

[TomD1]

Thanks for all of your help! How is route 20 from Cody to West Yellowstone. RV trip wizard has me going that way but good Sam trip planner has me going from Cody up to 90 then down to West Yellowstone. Would 20 be difficult with a 37 ft 5th wheel? Don't want to be hung up on a tight turn some place but I am sure the scenery on 20 would be better.

[notanlines]

Tom, what is route 20?
Edit, i found it.

[dmorgan64]

We have been there in August and had snow at the Fishing Bridge campground. A dusting but nevertheless snow! Have a good time on your trip!

[JRTJH]

We camped at Steamboat Lake State Park (before it was a state park) back in the early 70's. One year we were snowed in on our "July 4th weekend" trip. We had to leave the trailer, "4 wheel" out and come back the next week to get the trailer. Elevation is 8100' (about the same as Fishing Bridge Campground) and 200 miles further south....

So.... Although not typical of every year, consider that "anything's possible with the weather that high up".....

[KCSA75]

Thanks for all of your help! How is route 20 from Cody to West Yellowstone. RV trip wizard has me going that way but good Sam trip planner has me going from Cody up to 90 then down to West Yellowstone. Would 20 be difficult with a 37 ft 5th wheel? Don't want to be hung up on a tight turn some place but I am sure the scenery on 20 would be better.

US 14 goes west from Cody, WY into the park. Were it me, when you get to Fishing Bridge, I would head north to Canyon then across to US 89 south to Madison Junction then west to West Yellowstone.

US 20 goes south from Fishing bridge around the lake then up past Old Faithful to Madison.


You're going to run into some traffic either way, but no reason you can't drag your fiver. on either route. It's probably a 6 one way, half-dozen the other but either way are going to be better than I-90 IMO.

[ctbruce]

Really liked Yellowstone's Edge. Highly recommended. The ice cream stand in Livingston was awesome.

[bbells]

I always liked Yellowstone in the early Spring and late fall. Fewer people. IN October I have hit some snow, but I like snow. I usually stayed in Gardner instead of the park so I can have full service and internet. My now deceased wife needed it for her work.

[Robert Campbell]

My wife and I left North Carolina on Sept 16, 2017 to make a similar trip. We took a northern route and planned to camp at KOA west of Yellowstone. When we got to South Dakota and checked the weather there was already a foot of snow at Yellowstone and it was still snowing. We changed our plans and stayed in South Dakota a couple of extra days then headed to Utah and stayed there 3 extra days. I am sorry we missed Yellowstone BUT it allowed us to see more of SD and UT, both of which were beautiful. We then headed to the Grand Canyon and took the southern route back to NC. It gives us another reason to head back out west but this time a little earlier in the season.