OT - Yellowstone

[TaleofTwoDogs]

We are traveling to Yellowstone for a week of R&R in mid October and will have a car. Any helpful hints for this first time tourist to the park besides me wearing my best Hawaiian shirt and chasing bison. Thought we might take a side trip to the Little Bighorn Battlefield park. Is it worth the drive? We do have a full day guided tour lined up in Yellowstone.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Drop by the Duttons. They're a welcoming bunch.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

If Rip offers you a ride to the train station, decline. That's all I got.

 

[MStateU]

We stayed in Jackson and drove up mid October about 10 years ago and several of the roads and part of the main loop (I think) were already closed because of the roads. Just pay attention to what's going on with that. We spent time hiking in the Tetons early morning with elk bugling and really enjoyed that. Get's busy during the day but early mornings we about had some of the trails to ourselves.

 

[Faustdog]

We are traveling to Yellowstone for a week of R&R in mid October and will have a car. Any helpful hints for this first time tourist to the park besides me wearing my best Hawaiian shirt and chasing bison. Thought we might take a side trip to the Little Bighorn Battlefield park. Is it worth the drive? We do have a full day guided tour lined up in Yellowstone.

It’s going to be cold up there that time of year. We went end of September last year. Morning temps were in the teens with highs in the 40’s and 50’s.

Great time to go though as far as smaller crowds. I personally love the Tetons as much as Yellowstone. Just a beautiful place. Spend some time there and do a hike or two in the Jenny Lake / String Lake area.

In Yellowstone, do the whole Old Faithful loop and not just Old Faithful. Old Faithful is really the least interesting thing on the loop. There are some other really cool pools and geysers on the loop.

Grand Prismatic and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone are both worth it.

Mammoth Hot Springs are cool but you can really see every bit of it from your car.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

We have been to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone probably 20 times. I wish that I lived out there. Mid October is getting a bit late to be visiting the park. A lot of the services start to shutdown in the park by the end of September however some stuff stays open later. Just depends. Snow is likely. Infact they are probably going to get a little snow next week during the first week of elk season. Have been to little big horn too. Very interesting side trip but it is a LONG drive from Yellowstone, like 7 or 8 hours. If you would like, shoot me a PM and I will be glad to get on the phone and help you in anyway possible. If you have never been, you will be blown away by the beautiful landscape in every direction.

 

[The Peeper]

Not sure you can really stay busy for a week that time of year, a little late to be going.......

 

[She Mate Me]

My helpful hint. Bison are meant to be observed from a pretty fair distance if you like your bones unbroken.

 

[HomeBoyDawg]

If you're renting a car, I'd suggest 4WD/all-wheel drive. As far as that goes, if you're driving your car, I'd suggest 4WD/all-wheel drive. I was there second week of October 2021 and we got about 6 inches of snow. I had rented a 2WD Nissan Rogue and not only could I not get around Yellowstone (they actually closed the Park or most of it), I was afraid I was not going to get out of the area!

 

[Car Ramrod.sixpack]

October can be a gamble depending on if they get snow in the park. Most of the seasonal workers are gone by the end of September. I would second the notion to get a 4WD SUV. You don't need any thing extreme with a 4-LO transfer case but a crossover SUV will be fine.

Where is your base camp for your time there?

 

[TaleofTwoDogs]

October can be a gamble depending on if they get snow in the park. Most of the seasonal workers are gone by the end of September. I would second the notion to get a 4WD SUV. You don't need any thing extreme with a 4-LO transfer case but a crossover SUV will be fine.

Where is your base camp for your time there?

We will be staying in West Yellowstone and our guided tour starts there also. We are retired so physical hiking and stuff will be minimal, we are going for the sights & sounds more than anything.

 

[Car Ramrod.sixpack]

We will be staying in West Yellowstone and our guided tour starts there also. We are retired so physical hiking and stuff will be minimal, we are going for the sights & sounds more than anything.

I would recommend spending at least 2 days in Yellowstone. Pay attention to road closures about a week out and plan around that. You can do the northern loop in one day then Old Faithful and Artist point the second. Take as many side roads as possible along the way to fill up the days.

The drive out to Little Bighorn can make for a long day to and from West Yellowstone. I would recommend Grand Teton NP and Jackson Hole for another day trip. If you want a good small town MT trip make a run over to Ennis and Virginia City. Livingston, MT is becoming what Bozeman was 15 years ago and worth a stop if you are in the area.

 

[ezsoil]

We paid to have a guide and got to see a lot of once in lifetime stuff .... got to see a wolf feasting on a ram ....spent Time with a guy who was on a federal grant tracking wolves ....and he was able to show how the wolves they are tracking are leaving the park and eating local livestock but the government denies it

 

[bolddogge]

It goes without saying to hit old faithful and grand canyon of the yellowstone. I can't add much to what else has already been mentioned other than Lamar valley was awesome when I visited this summer. I considered skipping it, but I'm glad I didn't. Bring a spotting scope and small tripod if at all possible. Stop where you see a bunch of people pulled over, because someone has spotted something worth watching and will be glad to fill you in. I watched a pack of wolves try to take down a bison there. Some real life nat geo going on! If you don't yet have all your lodging figured out, try to stay a night in the old original portion of the Old Faithful Inn. It's a very unique historic place to stay. Check the prices for all the days that you could stay there. The rates fluctuate wildly for reasons that are unknown to me. The predawn walk out to old faithful popping of at sunrise without the crowds was a pretty cool benefit.

 

[hatfieldms]

We are traveling to Yellowstone for a week of R&R in mid October and will have a car. Any helpful hints for this first time tourist to the park besides me wearing my best Hawaiian shirt and chasing bison. Thought we might take a side trip to the Little Bighorn Battlefield park. Is it worth the drive? We do have a full day guided tour lined up in Yellowstone.

Keep going south to the Tetons

 

[dawglurker]

October is a wonderful time to go. Typically we go a few times throughout the summer, however last year we did spend a few days up there in October. It's great because the crowds have died down quite a bit.

Plan to drive a lot. Depending on where you are staying, especially outside of the park, you will drive a lot. Both loops (north and south) have their own unique features. South loop is by far the most popular due to more features. I like to describe the park as a lazy man's park. Most of the features are accessible by car with a parking lot. We don't typically hike there. There are better parks for hiking. However, if you are wanting to stretch your legs, do the boardwalk at Old Faithful. Go all the way to Morning Glory Pool. Walk the observation view to see Grand Prismatic. Mud Volcanoes (Dragons Mouth, Black Dragon Caldron) is an easy loop. Artist Paintpots is a flat walk. Both sides of the canyon offer some great views with short walks. My favorite is Brink of the Upper Falls.

With you being there a week, definitely plan to spend time in the valleys (Lamar and Hayden). Those are the prime animal watching locations. Best times being early morning (sunrise) and late evening. You'll see people setting up spotting scopes to watch for wolves and grizzly. We've seen the big animals in both. Our last trip we saw wolves in Hayden and watched a grizzly scavenge for a few hours in Lamar. I recommend a spotting scope if you have one but at the least a good pair of binoculars. If you see a large crowd of vehicles (20+) stopped, it usually means a predator animal.

Traffic typically gets bad in Hayden valley because bison are constantly crossing the road. This time of year, it should be lighter.

Expect facilities to be closed. The only thing open in Canyon was the visitor center. Old Faithful will keep more open.

Take the side roads. Firehole Lake Dr, Firehole Canyon Rd, Blacktail Plateau Dr. Those are often skipped but have some good views and fun stuff to see without many people.

Drop down into Tetons as well. It's been our favorite park.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

October is a wonderful time to go. Typically we go a few times throughout the summer, however last year we did spend a few days up there in October. It's great because the crowds have died down quite a bit.

Plan to drive a lot. Depending on where you are staying, especially outside of the park, you will drive a lot. Both loops (north and south) have their own unique features. South loop is by far the most popular due to more features. I like to describe the park as a lazy man's park. Most of the features are accessible by car with a parking lot. We don't typically hike there. There are better parks for hiking. However, if you are wanting to stretch your legs, do the boardwalk at Old Faithful. Go all the way to Morning Glory Pool. Walk the observation view to see Grand Prismatic. Mud Volcanoes (Dragons Mouth, Black Dragon Caldron) is an easy loop. Artist Paintpots is a flat walk. Both sides of the canyon offer some great views with short walks. My favorite is Brink of the Upper Falls.

With you being there a week, definitely plan to spend time in the valleys (Lamar and Hayden). Those are the prime animal watching locations. Best times being early morning (sunrise) and late evening. You'll see people setting up spotting scopes to watch for wolves and grizzly. We've seen the big animals in both. Our last trip we saw wolves in Hayden and watched a grizzly scavenge for a few hours in Lamar. I recommend a spotting scope if you have one but at the least a good pair of binoculars. If you see a large crowd of vehicles (20+) stopped, it usually means a predator animal.

Traffic typically gets bad in Hayden valley because bison are constantly crossing the road. This time of year, it should be lighter.

Expect facilities to be closed. The only thing open in Canyon was the visitor center. Old Faithful will keep more open.

Take the side roads. Firehole Lake Dr, Firehole Canyon Rd, Blacktail Plateau Dr. Those are often skipped but have some good views and fun stuff to see without many people.

Drop down into Tetons as well. It's been our favorite park.

Excellent information. You have obviously been there a lot too. If they want to see moose, I recommend the Moose-Wilson road in the Tetons. Turn into the park at Moose and then go South on the Moose-Wisson road, which is mostly a gravel road. After a couple of miles these is a slough on the left. Late in almost every afternoon you will see cars parked on the left so park and when you can see over the hump you will find the people watching moose wading and feeding in the slough. We have also seen elk and black bear in this area. Lots of excellent restaurants in Jackson. Wish I was there now. I would drive out there just to eat breakfast at the Virginian. Ranch combo #1 thank you very much! Merry Piglets for Mexican, The Gun Barrel for the Buffalo short ribs, and the White Buffalo as my favorite steak house on earth. You need a reservation for that one, even in October. Lots of good places to see elk up in Yellowstone. Obviously lots of them around Mamouth, but lots down around the lake too. One of the best spots, and a spot where the magazine guys get a lot of great pictures, is around the 7 mile bridge between Madison and West Yellowstone. The Lamar Valley for wolves and Buffalo (bison). Grizzly are just wherever they want to be! October is getting a little late, but if you are a fly fisherman, take your rod. More famous trout streams than you can fish in a lifetime. I have very few real regrets in life, but if I had it to do over I would have moved out there after I got grown and never come back. East of Yellowstone is Cody. That’s a great town. The Buffalo Bill Museum, home to over 7,000 guns plus other exhibits. Old trail town is really interesting. Also the location of Jeremiah Johnson’s grave. The Irma Hotel, built by Buffalo Bill and named after his daughter. Don’t miss it. Have the prime rib buffet and just look around the room and think about all those famous cowboys and explorers that have been there. Wow.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

We are traveling to Yellowstone for a week of R&R in mid October and will have a car. Any helpful hints for this first time tourist to the park besides me wearing my best Hawaiian shirt and chasing bison. Thought we might take a side trip to the Little Bighorn Battlefield park. Is it worth the drive? We do have a full day guided tour lined up in Yellowstone.

That's a long drive it's pretty though through bear tooth pass but it might be closed by that time. Honestly not much to see at the battlefield the big horn cayon area south of there is pretty though. Great fly fishing.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

It’s going to be cold up there that time of year. We went end of September last year. Morning temps were in the teens with highs in the 40’s and 50’s.

Great time to go though as far as smaller crowds. I personally love the Tetons as much as Yellowstone. Just a beautiful place. Spend some time there and do a hike or two in the Jenny Lake / String Lake area.

In Yellowstone, do the whole Old Faithful loop and not just Old Faithful. Old Faithful is really the least interesting thing on the loop. There are some other really cool pools and geysers on the loop.

Grand Prismatic and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone are both worth it.

Mammoth Hot Springs are cool but you can really see every bit of it from your car.

Second the grand cayon and grand prismatic spent a couple weeks in the area every summer.
Really depends on where you stay. October is out is out of season so it won't be crowded but many things will be closed already.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Ironically we were looking at a bunch of slides yesterday we took on our honeymoon out there a looong time ago. We camped in the park for a week and loved it. I don't have any advice to add but hope yall have a great trip. Definitely the most beautiful place in the country IMO.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

We will be staying in West Yellowstone and our guided tour starts there also. We are retired so physical hiking and stuff will be minimal, we are going for the sights & sounds more than anything.

West yellow stone is tourist trap place by the prices almost as bad as Jackson Wyoming. Be prepared for every meal to be higher than you would expect. Good part of the park to be in as it should have access. The lake is a beautiful area so recommend eating a packed lunch out there one day. Make the trip down through Tetons.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

We love to watch the animals. We usually pack sandwiches end such for dinner. In the afternoons I usually work the fly rod for awhile, we eat on a pull out by a stream, and then ride and look for animals until dark. You might see stuff anywhere and anytime but just like hunting, they are really out very early and very late. If you enjoy riding horses, book a week with someone like the Triangle X Ranch and spend your days riding in the mountains. Great people and a great place. I highly recommend them. They also do hunting trips and are top notch.

 

[60sdog]

We are traveling to Yellowstone for a week of R&R in mid October and will have a car. Any helpful hints for this first time tourist to the park besides me wearing my best Hawaiian shirt and chasing bison. Thought we might take a side trip to the Little Bighorn Battlefield park. Is it worth the drive? We do have a full day guided tour lined up in Yellowstone.

That is too late to be going to Yellowstone. It will be problematical with the weather.

 

[Mjoelner]

We are traveling to Yellowstone for a week of R&R in mid October and will have a car. Any helpful hints for this first time tourist to the park besides me wearing my best Hawaiian shirt and chasing bison. Thought we might take a side trip to the Little Bighorn Battlefield park. Is it worth the drive? We do have a full day guided tour lined up in Yellowstone.

When we went, we flew into Rapid City and rented a car. Did Mt. Rushmore, spent the night in the KOA at Devils Tower then headed to Cody. If you go through the east gate, stop at the Buffalo Bill museum in Cody. Allow some time for the museum. Lots of cool stuff there and a HUGE firearm collection. A worker told me that some people come and spend 2 days just in the firearm section. On the way back, we exited the north gate and stopped through Little Bighorn. We were lucky enough to get a night in the old original section of the Old Faithful Inn and then stayed in a cabin for a couple of nights at Mammoth Hot Springs while we were in the park.
We're planning the same trip next summer and adding a night in Deadwood. Also getting a B&B at Devils Tower this time instead of the KOA and cabin at Old Faithful as the Inn prices we saw have tripled from what we paid just a couple of years ago.

ETA: The "October" thing flew right by me. I don't know what to tell you about that. We were there mid-August and the temp was getting down into the upper 30's at night.

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

Good for you @TaleofTwoDogs..Listen to @dawglurker and @Pilgrimdawg... lots of people that don't know much about this part of the world seem to think you're going to get snowed in or freeze to death or something. Services close because most of the workers are seasonal and leave in August and September, not because winter arrives in October... I worked there one summer as a kid and I remember our dorm closed completely in early September at Tower Falls because the kids had to go back to school and the olds had to get back to their park models in Arizona.

Most years it barely snows in October. Maybe a foot for the month, but the ground and streets are super warm and it melts off really fast. Perma snow comes right before Thanksgiving. You'll be able to drive pretty much everywhere in October in a front wheel drive sedan.The smaller attractions will close gift shops and restaurants etc because of staffing. Hard to keep the college kids there a month or two after fall semester starts.

I myself am pulling the kids out of school and we're going to Yellowstone the first week of October in our RV with a couple of other families. It's the best time to see the wildlife and avoid the crowds. The kids will all be sleeping in tents. Temps will likely be in the 50's-60's for highs and 20's to 30's for lows. Maybe 10° colder if a crazy front whips through. It's not bad, just grab a few layers.

If you want to come a week earlier, let me know and I'll bring you an extra fly rod. We are going to be lighting up the fall browns on the Firehole and Madison...



Like Dawglurker, I'm lucky enough to live within daily driving distance of Yellowstone. We're going in October this year because every single person who goes that time of year will tell you it's the most incredible time to see the park.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

You guys are making me so jealous. I wish I was going. We are missing it this fall for the first time since 2017.

 

[dorndawg]

Great thread, I'm headed to Jellystone and Tetons myself right about that time. I've never been & am really looking forward. Thanks to all for the stuff to look at.