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JohnandDonna · 07-19-2021, 06:49 AM

Hi everyone, my wife and I are heading to Yellowstone next Saturday. We live in Northern Illinois. On the way there we are taking I94 through Fargo. Staying at a campground just north of West Yellowstone. Coming back taking I90 with a stop in the Black Hills and Badlands. Just wondering if anybody has gone either of those ways recently and if there is anything I need to watch out for or be aware of.
Also, how is it in Yellowstone itself, as well as the Grand Tetons? I know the grand loop road is closed between Canyon and Roosevelt.
We have had our reservations in place for almost a year now and are highly anticipating this trip. So any info provided is greatly appreciated.

GMFL · 07-19-2021, 06:57 AM

No info here but we will be heading there shortly behind you leaving AL Aug 23rd.

rodNamy · 07-20-2021, 02:57 PM

Just returned from 8 nights-Grant in yellowstone and 3 nights Gros Ventre in Tetons. Weather was warm during the day (mid 80's) but cool and wonderful nights (low 40's). Very crowded in the popular visiter attractions. Go early and be patient. Encourage taking the side roads and loops off the main road. Allowed us to escape the crowds and really enjoy the parks. Wildlife was in abundance during the early mornings or late evenings. Wolves woke us up one morning which was awesome! Park staffing was noticeably low with many positions not being filled so patience and showing appreciation for their hard work went a long way. Fuel was plentiful (and reasonably priced). Ice was hit and miss. Fires were permitted but may be restricted if moisture remains low. Worst part was the amount of smoke in the Tetons-could hardly see the mountains. Reservations made and looking forward to next year trip with our own airstream.

Brian R. · 07-20-2021, 04:50 PM

Visitation in Yellowstone National Park breaks June record

By Helena Dore Chronicle Staff Writer
Jul 15, 2021

Visitors walk around the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces in Yellowstone National Park on Wednesday, June 16, 2021.
Samuel Wilson/Chronicle/Report for America

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This June was Yellowstone National Park’s busiest on record, with recreation visits up 12% from the previous record in June 2016, officials announced on Thursday.

Park staff reported that there were nearly 939,000 recreation visits to Yellowstone in June 2021. It’s the first time the month has topped 900,000, and it’s a 64% jump from around 573,000 visits in June 2020.

It was a 20% increase from the approximately 782,000 visits in June 2019.

The National Park Service temporarily closed Yellowstone last May to visitors due to the pandemic. Entrances to the park gradually opened in the months following, as did visitation.

Then visitation began to spike. August was the park’s second-busiest on record, and September and October were the park’s busiest on record.

In 2021, Yellowstone has seen nearly 1.59 million recreation visits through the first half of the year — 17% more than in 2019 through the month of June, according to staff.

Early this June, the park rolled out two new automated shuttle in Canyon Village — the first in any national park. The low-speed, self-driving vehicles are part of a pilot project to test how the technology works in a national park setting.

Cam Sholly, superintendent of Yellowstone, said officials are trying to find ways to address the impacts of growing visitation on resources, staffing, infrastructure, visitor experiences and gateway towns. The pilot project is part of that effort.

“If you look at last year, even though we were closed, even though we were in the midst of a pandemic, we had the second-busiest August on record, we had the first-busiest September and October on record, and then this year we’ve already had the busiest April (on record),” Sholly said at the launch in June.

July is typically the park’s busiest month. In 2016, it came within 5,000 visits of topping 1 million for the month.

1StreamDream · 07-20-2021, 09:50 PM

We will also be in Yellowstone + Tetons late Aug early Sept, camping in both parks (have had reservations for a while now). For those of you that have been very recently, is the "daily reservation" system in place there ? We have heard from several that just to visit things like old faithful, you need an advance reservation for that. We already have confirmed campsites in a couple campgrounds, so we are staying inside the park, no daily park entry for us ... do we need additional reservations to go the popular spots inside the park too ?

rodNamy · 07-20-2021, 10:48 PM

No daily or additional reservations were required for entrance to Yellowstone or Tetons when we visited first two weeks of July. Admission is paid when you enter the parks. This fee is payable even with campground reservations. Highly recommend getting the America the Beautiful pass ahead of your visit. Just show your card and drivers and you are admitted. Make sure you sign your pass ahead of time. Can purchase on line.

Lines into the entrances were not long (except southern entrance to YSNP which was 15 minutes or so).

Old Faithful has very large parking lot. Grand Prismatic-Norris Basin-others have limited parking which was challenging at times. Jenny Lake in Tetons was very crowded as were some of the trail heads. Be prepared to walk a ways from the roadsides if you are not fortunate enough to get into the regular parking lots.

The crowds we experienced were concentrated in the popular-promoted areas. Both Parks are really large, so you can easily escape the crowds by exploring the side roads and trails-streams-lakes.

Keep in mind, the campgrounds inside the National Park do not have hook ups and the showers were closed due to CDC regulations. Fishing Bridge the only campground with hook ups is closed-they are making major improvements opening next year. We found the restrooms to be very clean at Yellowstone and marginal at Tetons. Dump stations had long lines during popular check out windows so manage accordingly if you have time pressures on your travel day.

SYC2Vette · 07-21-2021, 08:48 AM

We were there in June at Gros Ventre just outside west gate. Entering right at sunrise and late evening was key to avoiding heavy traffic. Definitely use the annual or lifetime pass to get through quickly.

drmox · 07-21-2021, 12:39 PM

We just got back a couple weeks ago. I know my profile doesn't reflect it, but I'm from the Chicagoland area, and we drove to Yellowstone/Tetons, and stopped in the Badlands on the way home.
Driving on I-90 is currently fraught with periods of single-lane each direction construction zones and reduced speed limits. Most of this was through Minnesota, but with a serious dose of luck, they may be finished by now.
We boondocked the Badlands, and that was an awesome experience. Highly recommend it.

WHUDS22 · 07-30-2021, 09:55 PM

Just got back, it was crowdwed at yellowstone, glacier not too bad.

turk123 · 07-30-2021, 10:37 PM

We are in South Dakoda right now and the visibility is 1 mile. Fire from Canada is causing very bad air quality. I would recommend you wear N95 masks throughout the area. Minnesota and South Dakota.

The amazing thing is, we are camped at Snake Campground recreational area and you can't even see the lake! Of course, many people in the campground are contributing to the bad air quality by having campfires. Looks like a very heavy fog throughout the state.

1StreamDream · 08-06-2021, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drmox

We just got back a couple weeks ago. I know my profile doesn't reflect it, but I'm from the Chicagoland area, and we drove to Yellowstone/Tetons, and stopped in the Badlands on the way home.
Driving on I-90 is currently fraught with periods of single-lane each direction construction zones and reduced speed limits. Most of this was through Minnesota, but with a serious dose of luck, they may be finished by now.
We boondocked the Badlands, and that was an awesome experience. Highly recommend it.

Thanks for the heads up about I90 construction. We hope to see devils tower on the way out, but we’re on the tail end of the sturgis rally and have no idea how much carryover crowd will still be around the badlands region. The campground at devils tower is first come first served, makes us a little uneasy about where we can stay. Can you share any additional specifics of where you boondocked ? BLM locations ?

n2916s · 08-06-2021, 09:54 AM

If you really want to see Devils Tower, and you are driving all that way, you might consider just staying at the KOA next to the entrance road. Not as cheap as the NPS campground but they do show “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” every night!

1StreamDream · 08-14-2021, 02:30 PM

We are leaving in a couple days, this will be a 3+ week excursion. For those who have been to Yellowstone/grand tetons, do you feel like it is worth it to pack bikes (we have folding have e-bikes) ? We don't have a rack, so they will take up valuable space in the truck bed, and we are not serious riders, only use them for convenience/casual fun. We have a range of experiences where we left them home and regretted that, and also packed them for trips and regretted that. We would most likely not ride any of the roads in the park, only ride internal to the campgrounds, unless it was a very short ride to a store or facility. Appreciate any perspectives from those who have been. This is our first trip to the region, and our primary focus heading into it is trail hiking in the parks.

Boondocker · 08-14-2021, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1StreamDream

We would most likely not ride any of the roads in the park, only ride internal to the campgrounds, unless it was a very short ride to a store or facility. Appreciate any perspectives from those who have been. This is our first trip to the region, and our primary focus heading into it is trail hiking in the parks.

Given your criteria, leave them at home.

JonDNC · 08-14-2021, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boondocker

Given your criteria, leave them at home.

Agreed

Piggy Bank · 08-14-2021, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1StreamDream

We are leaving in a couple days, this will be a 3+ week excursion. For those who have been to Yellowstone/grand tetons, do you feel like it is worth it to pack bikes (we have folding have e-bikes) ? We don't have a rack, so they will take up valuable space in the truck bed, and we are not serious riders, only use them for convenience/casual fun. We have a range of experiences where we left them home and regretted that, and also packed them for trips and regretted that. We would most likely not ride any of the roads in the park, only ride internal to the campgrounds, unless it was a very short ride to a store or facility. Appreciate any perspectives from those who have been. This is our first trip to the region, and our primary focus heading into it is trail hiking in the parks.

I would suggest you leave bikes at home. Campgrounds in the park are small enough that walking is easy. Not a lot of places to actually bicycle around any attractions. Roads are too busy and wildlife too much of a risk to recommend that.

But-since you asked about what to pack. Be sure to pack a swimsuit, water shoes and a beach towel. Especially if you are staying at Madison campground. You can cool off in the river there.

Also-anyone who needs to do laundry--I recommend the place in West Yellowstone called Little Ducklings.

D44 · 08-14-2021, 04:38 PM

The Tetons have a beautiful multipurpose pathway that runs parallel to the range and is a lovely bike ride. You are not riding on the park roads. We did have to stop at one point to let a herd of elk cross over -

rodNamy · 08-15-2021, 07:17 AM

We leave our bikes at home when traveling to Yellowstone-Tetons for the same reasons you indicated. Only place we would consider riding outside the campground is the multi purpose pathway in the Teton's and you can always rent a bike.

Piggy Bank · 08-15-2021, 07:54 AM

Ice Ice Baby--
I will say that there seemed to be a problem with the areas inside Yellowstone being completely out of ice for several days in a row when we were there a few weeks ago.

It was very hot, so that may have increased demand.

In any event, I suggest you arrive with your cooler topped off.

gypsydad · 08-15-2021, 08:12 AM

Just spent 8 days in Bakers Hole, outside W. Yellowstone and 4 days in Tetons. We venture into the parks each day (early 6am-ish) looking for animals before the crowds. (which there are many!!) Agree with earlier comments about biking. We left ours here in Star Valley...we saw several very scary bikers riding in Yellowstone with the extra heavy traffic competing on the highway. Tetons pathway by Jenny Lake is very safe and not too busy, IMHO. I would hike or rent bikes, but not ride in Yellowstone...way too much traffic with driving idiots more interested in wildlife then looking out for bikers!