Vacation-Yellowstone:UPDATE

[EJDXT21]

Going to be in Yellowstone July 1-5. Anyone on here gonna be there by chance? Would love to meet up and talk hunting. This will be our first time up there, the kids are excited. And maybe it was a good excuse to test out a lot of the new gear I bought for this years Elk hunt...shhhh don't tell the wife. We'll be tent camping at Mammoth, should be a fun time. Hopefully we will get to see some Elk and Bison and Bears oh my!

 

[ClearCreek]

You will see elk and bison for sure, and there is a good chance you will see bears, especially if you have good optics. Also a chance you will see wolves if you spend some time in the Lamar or Hayden Valleys.

You could have elk and/or bison walk through the campground at Mammoth.

ClearCreek

 

[bobr1]

You'll also see a lot of people... there are some fires going on near there as well. If you want to see popular sites try to get to them very early, way less people up and about before 8 to 9 am. Except some of the thermal features like grand prismatic. It's still in the 30s in the mornings right now and the hot water makes thick condensation in the morning. So better to look at them later in the day or evening when the air has warmed up.

 

[Steve O]

Not sure if the route you will take but we always stopped at Mt. Rushmore on our way to Yellowstone from Michigan. Seeing them lower the flag and do fireworks will stay with our family forever.

 

[Brooks]

Yellowstone is a beautiful place and you will see a lot of animals but in July the place is wall to wall with people.

 

[wesfromky]

As others have said, it will be super crowded. The best way to beat the crowds is to be up early, out later, and get a couple hundred yards away from a road/parking area.

Also, many of the animals will be a bit higher up this time of year, so places like Mt Washborn might be good.

If you head out of the NE enterence, there is a little town with some decent food/drink, and you can do a trip up the Beartooth hwy.

The Tetons are also a great stop, and you may have better chances to see some bears down that way, and there are some amazing hikes there as well.

 

[Werty]

Do the beartooth hwy and chief Joseph hwy. Both are NE Yellowstone

 

[EJDXT21]

Thanks for the input. We have definitely been warned about the people so I'm sure we will be up early some of the days. We likely will only do 3 full days worth of Yellowstone, then we also wanted to do the Tetons and maybe go into Bozeman and look around. We are coming from the Houston area, have a night reserved at Trinidad State park in Colorado, then will be staying the next night at an Airbnb in greybull. So on the 1st we will be coming in from that direction. But I'm going to look at the map, and see exactly where the beartooth and chief joseph highways are, maybe we can do that.

 

[bradb]

I got back from there 2 weeks ago. Elk were all over by Mammoth, yo can see all the bison you want. We saw 2 sow grizz both with 2 cubs. As you were told early and late are best for as there will be lots of people. Old Faithful was a zoo. Very neat stuff to see, but I prefer the Tetons and much easier to go on longer hikes away from people. I have skied Jackson Hole a lot and just love the tetons. I would do the Beartooth highway very nice scenic drive with big open country. We saw 10 or so moose in the Bighorns and the only sheep we saw were in the Badlands. But a lot of running around and not really any glassing for game

 

[davidsapp]

The Junior Ranger and Junior Scientist programs were fun for my kids in the Tetons and Yellowstone. We all thought that the evening ranger talks were interesting, and all free. If you camp in the Tetons, Gros Ventre campground in the south end isn’t bad, nice river near camp to fish and my kids build some sand/rock castles on the sandbars.

 

[davidsapp]

Also, it’s fun to take the ski tram to the top of the mountain in the JH ski area, the wildflowers are really great this time of year, windy on top but great hiking trails.

 

[Red Letters]

bookmark

 

[thinhorn_AK]

The crowds of people really thin out if you head out for the tougher hikes. There was t anybody on avalanche peak or the thunderer while I was there a few years ago. I also did some good fly fishing there. We saw elk, bear, Buffalo, bighorn sheep and moose there.

 

[PDob]

Like others have said, Early and late knocks down the crowds. We did it a couple of years ago in mid-June so a little earlier in the year, but plenty of people. We saw elk, bison, bears, bighorn sheep, and moose. We flew in and drove a rental for the Teton, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore tour which saved us a couple of days on the trip from Houston. Early days at Grand Prismatic and Old Faithful were definitely good decisions with the crowds being smaller than later times when we passed the parking areas.

 

[ClearCreek]

Also, many of the animals will be a bit higher up this time of year, so places like Mt Washborn might be good.

The road from Canyon to Tower Junction is closed for the 2021 season to complete major road construction so accessing the Mt. Washborn trail is not possible this summer/fall.

ClearCreek

 

[def90]

Prepare yourself for the traffic jams!

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Like others have said, Early and late knocks down the crowds. We did it a couple of years ago in mid-June so a little earlier in the year, but plenty of people. We saw elk, bison, bears, bighorn sheep, and moose. We flew in and drove a rental for the Teton, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore tour which saved us a couple of days on the trip from Houston. Early days at Grand Prismatic and Old Faithful were definitely good decisions with the crowds being smaller than later times when we passed the parking areas.

It’s tough to find parking for the overlook at grand prismatic and honestly that’s the best part, you can’t see much down on the ground level but from the overlook you can see how cool it is.

 

[Razz]

Crowds are here, that has become a given factor. If you venture to Grand Teton NP and want to do any hiking, plan to be at the trailhead very early. Parking has become an issue. FYI, saw a suggestion to ride the Tram at Jackson Hole...it is not running this year, major renovation on it all summer.

 

[def90]

Crowds are here, that has become a given factor. If you venture to Grand Teton NP and want to do any hiking, plan to be at the trailhead very early. Parking has become an issue. FYI, saw a suggestion to ride the Tram at Jackson Hole...it is not running this year, major renovation on it all summer.

Really? They rebuilt the whole tram just a few years ago.

 

[bradb]

You can get ride the Gondola but that will leave a good hike to the top of where the tram would take you.