My husband and I visit a National Park each year for our Anniversary, May 27th. We usually take a week either before or after. This coming year we will both have more vacation time so we plan to make the road trip from OH to WY over two weeks.
We had planned to camp but I noticed that the campgrounds are closed until June 1. Does that include backcountry camping too? I'm not familiar at all with this park.
Yellowstone in Late May--Where to Stay
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You will find a lot of things closed that early and pretty good chance some roads will be closed too.
We were there June 15 in 2008 or 2009 and parts of the road had just opened the day we arrived. If there is a chance you could go 2 or 3 weeks later- it would be better. There still could be a lot of snow at the end of May. Having visited about 30 of our National Parks I would rank it as my 2nd favorite and it is easily my wife and daughter very favorite. You are in for a treat.
I would for sure stay at Old Faithful Inn for a couple of nights. Plan on spending a full day geyser gazing. We liked Old Faithful, of course. But we our favorites are Castle Geyser and Riverside. There are of course many of them that we didn't see go- so they might be even better.
Then we liked Lake Hotel and Roosevelt Cabins.
Mammoth Hotel is ok. Lots of Elk. It is my least favorite area of the park though.
I hope you plan on staying a few days in the Tetons too.
I think the minimum for Yellowstone is 4 days and 2 days for the Tetons. Of course, more time would even be better.
Take a look at www.nps.gov/yell for more information about Yellowstone. Much of the park doesn't start to open until the end of May. We were there in June 2010; there was still snow on the ground in many places and lodging in the Tower/Roosevelt area hadn't opened for the season.
If you do make this trip, add at least a couple of days for Grand Teton NP, which is about an hour south of Yellostone. www.nps.gov/grte
Lee Ann
Reediejr, I will pile on for spending time in the Grand Tetons. My wife and I just visited Yellowstone/Tetons in late May of 2011, we stayed at the Old Faithful Inn. It does not open until the middle of May. When we go back to Yellowstone, we are going to stay in rooms 150-154. They are in a quiet hallway next to two huge bathrooms with clawfoot bathtubs. There was lots of snow, lots of trails closed, but it was still an awe-inspiring experience. There are many trip reports to read if you type in Yellowstone trip reports in the search the forums box. When you make reservations, call the hotel directly or make sure you are booking directly with the hotel online and not through some middleman. I think xanterra owns the booking rights, but someone else will know for sure if you ask. Enjoy your trip, ziggypop.
I totally agree with everything mentioned. I'd like to add that you should request a higher floor than the 1st. The hotel gets lots of tourists, even late at night and it can be very noisy. We learned this the hard way.
There are basically two types of rooms. The central section of the hotel is called the Old House and the rooms are very basic and rustic. They have a sink but no bathroom. There are bathrooms on the 2nd floor (not sure about 3rd floor) with several showers and toilets. The outer wings are more modern rooms with their own bathrooms. Early in the season, the rooms without bathrooms can be pretty inexpensive. If you are campers like us, we are used to having to go to a bath house and we enjoyed the rustic feel of the log walls and pegs for clothes hanging--it just added to the experience for us.
Thanks all. I should mention we do plan to stay at Grand Tetons for at least 2 days. I'm ok with some snow and some road closures if it means fewer people! Would major sites be open? We're typically not "those people" who look at the most popular places and run but we don't have tons of time and there's a lot of ground to cover.
Reediejr, just a little tip. Make a mental list of what you want to see and remember that you have to remain flexable depending on the weather. We were snowed in at the Inn one day so we went on the historic tour of the Inn, very rewarding. Thats when I remembered somone on Fodors mentioning the soaking tubs so I asked our tour guide where they were located. There are many sites that are located within 150 yards of the road. I think it takes 3-4 hours to go from the north to the south end of the park.
>I think it takes 3-4 hours to go from the north to the south end of the park.<<
Without stopping. But who can drive through that area without pulling over for a scenic view every half mile?? Also factor in involuntary stops for bison herds crossing the road. We drove only about 100-130 miles per day on our Yellowstone-Tetons trip, and it always took about 6 hours.
Mammoth campground is open all year. Madison Campground opens in early May.
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/camping-in-yellowstone.htm
We've arrived on June 1st, 2000 and all the roads were open. Much will depend on the winter snows and the spring weather.
Utahtea
We've gone at that time of year a couple of times and the weather was totally different both times and you won't really know what roads are open, etc. sometimes until you are there. I don't know how many nights you are planning to spend in Yellowstone, but I would split them between staying in the southern loop and the northern loop. Canyon usually doesn't open until after memorial day usually but is our favorite location for going both to the upper and lower loops. Late May, early June is our favorite time to go -- the best time to see animals in our opinion. It isn't the best hiking time because trails can be impassable because of snow, closings because of bear activity, etc. but you probably won't be doing much of that anyway on a first visit. All the major areas will be open. (except for probably beartooth highway and maybe Dunraven Pass). You will have plenty to do and see and crowds are still present (at animal sightings especially) but way less than in the summer months.
Along with the .gov web site above another one which is fun to read, especially right before you go, is yellowstone.net/forums. People write trip reports and you have an idea where the good animal sightings are for that year.
Xanterra has all the concessions inside the park. People make reservations a year ahead of time, but you can cancel them before you go without a fee, so accommodations open up constantly. I've made them online when they had what I wanted available and also called. It is best to call if you are checking to see if something is available (especially closer to when you go -- for example a room in a certain area in OFI).
Best way to visit these parks is to plan, but not overplan and have a plan A, B and C because many things can change your day. Our first couple of times we just set out in a different direction and stopped at the different sites. A good book to take is Janet Chapple's Yellowstone Treasures. We went to Yellowstone once to check it off our list and it became our favorite park and we have gone back many times. Live in Ohio also so it isn't as convenient to go to the National Parks out west, but so worth it Have fun planning!