PHayden

My husband & I would like to spend 10-11 days in Yellowstone in September 2009. We spent part of our honeymoon 31 years ago camping out in the Tetons & in Yellowstone in the summer & want to go back and see it again.
How is the weather in September? What recommendations do you have for places to stay? We don't want to camp out this time! And what sites would you recommend? We like the outdoors, moderate to easy hiking and wildlife.

sueoz

My husband and I went to Yellowstone and Grand Teton about 4 years ago. We love to hike, kayak, and search for wildlife. We spent 3 nights each at 4 different areas. The first was in the Old Faithful area. This was a good place to start - more touristy- but still fun and interesting. Doing it again I would only stay there 2 nights. Mammoth area was next. Good access to Lamar Valley from there - our favorite area for wildlife. We brought a spotting scope and it was great. We were up at dawn and still out at dusk. Next was canyon area. Really beautiful with some great hiking. Lastly we spent 3 nights in Grand Teton at the Signal Mt. Lodge. I highly recommend this lodge. We hiked here but also did an awesome kayak on the oxbow bend in the snake river. Gliding by moose - otters, beavers, birds and more.

We arrived on Labor Day weekend and were there for the whole next week. It was a great time of year to be there. Our weather was great, the bears were after the rose-hips, and other than a little busyness on Labor Day weekend, the crowds were gone. This was one of our favorite vacations.

Accommodations vary greatly in the park - look at what you can afford. We stayed in the mid range and were perfectly happy.

have fun planning,
sue

utahtea

We spent 12 days in Yellowstone from the 5th to the 16th of September this year. We ran the gambit of weather. The first day was beautiful, then the next day it was cold enought to snow in the high elevations and had some rain on and off in Mammoth and Canyon area for the next 4 days. It really didn't keep us from doing the things we wanted to do. It would rain, we'd wait for the sun to come out...do our hike and make it back before the next storm hit. The last week was the most perfect warm (bordering on hot) and sunny weather. Each day was beautiful!

We camped in a motorhome, so can't help with lodging. With 10 - 11 days, you will have plenty of time to see all of the park, but I would recommond staying in two or three locations. We spent 6 nights in Madison Campground to concentrate those days on the geyser basins.

We've been to Yellowstone a dozen times now...and this was the first time we ever went to Lone Star Geyser. It's a 5 mile round trip hike. Mostly level hiking...and well worth the hike and even 1 1/2 hr wait for the geyser to go off.

Utahtea

PHayden

Thanks Sueoz & Utahtea for your posting. I will start planning an itenerary now as I want to make sure we can stay a couple of nights in Old Faithful lodge & I know it gets booked up early.
Sueoz, where did you book the kayaking? I have never kayaked but my husband has and I think it would be great to add that to our trip.

spirobulldog

There are two types of Kayaking both very different. Sea-Kayaking which is done on lakes and in the ocean and then Kayaking in a river or stream.

I liked the Roosevelt Lodge Cabins, and Old Faithful Inn the best for lodging in Yellowstone. Those are our two favorite areas. With Roosevelt you are close to Canyon area as well. Lake area and Mammoth area were OK with us, but not nearly as exciting to us as Old Faithful area and canyon area.

We also like the cabins in Colter Bay Village in Tetons. There is a ton of lodging options there as well. With 10 days I imagine you will have plenty of time to see a lot of everything no matter where you stay.

Our favorite geyser is Castle Geyser. It only goes twice per day, but is predictable. You may be waiting on it for 2-4 hours, but it is worth it. There was less than 10 people when it went off with us, and it lasted for a good 20 minutes then went into a serious steamphase. You can get pretty close to it.

spirobulldog

http://www.photoworks.com/members/Spirobulldog

here is some pics from our trip. you may have to click "view all" and then click on Yellowstone

HowardR

September is a great month to visit Yellowstone and the Tetons...beautiful weather, much less crowded than during the summer and the foliage makes a majestic area even more majestic! From experience, we think it's the best time to to there.
Just remember to dress in layers and you'll be okay. I vividly remember taking an early morning float trip wearing gloves....and then donning shorts later in the same day! And, oh yes, it snowed the day we left, which was September 11.

utahtea

I guess fall colors differ from year to year. We saw very little fall color in Wyoming. A week later in Utah we saw a lot.

spirobulldog, I loved your pictures. You lucked into more wildlife than we did in Yellowsonte. Where did you spot the moose in Yellowstone? If the dates are correct on your albums you just missed us in Zion. We also went to Death Valley in April of this year.

Utahtea

spirobulldog

Utahtea, we were in Zion Oct 16,17,18. a lot of the other dates are wrong. We were in Death Valley on Jan 1, 2008. Of all the National Parks I have been to DV suprised me the most on how much we enjoyed. We weren't expecting much, but were pleasantly suprised. We had seen a moose in Yellowstone not far from Mammoth area from a distance. We had about 2 hours before catching our plane and I asked a park ranger where to go. She told me It was Moose Drive or Moose Road or something like that. Anyway, we hadn't gone 2 miles and this one was feeding in a pond. My daughter luckily spotted him. He was almost totally shielded from the line of site from the road by trees. We had him/her all to ourselves for several minutes before anyone else noticed. It wasn't to far from the new visitor ctr right at the entrance. We saw a ton of wildlife and lots of babies. We didn't see any wolves. But hey, we have those here in Oklahoma occasionaly.

utahtea

My appologies to PHayden for hijacking her thread.

spriobulldog,

We left Zion on Oct. 11th. This was our second time to Death Valley, but it had been a whopping 30+ years between visits. We won't let that happen again. We kept asking the rangers were to see moose in Yellowstone..and they kept telling us Grand Tetons...oh well. Glad you were lucky there!

Utahtea

spirobulldog

PHayden

Be sure and see Hayden Valley, with a name that matches you are bound to see a ton of wildlife.

PHayden

Spirobulldog- loved the pictures.
We definitely will visit Hayden valley! Thanks so much for all the feedback. We are really looking forward to going back to Wyoming. After having seen it 31 years ago I know so much has changed especially Yellowstone after the fire that was there after we visited.
Utahtea, feel free to hijack this thread all you want. Our only daughter is grown, married & on her own and we can now afford to travel each year and see the sights. We love the National Parks and love to hear about different areas.
Last year & this year we went to Ireland, Scotland, Wales & England. Next year we will be in Wyoming and then in 2010 we will head to Alaska. After that, we will watch Fodor's for other places that look interesting.

RedRock

Another place to visit is the Lamar Valley leading to the NE entrance, its home to several wolf packs. You have a good chance of seeing most of the Yellowstone critters during an early morning or late evening watch there... Fewer people venture into this area of the park so its not as crowded even during the busier months.. psssst don't tell anyone.

jayne1973

Make sure you book the Old Faithful Inn (not lodge) if you want to stay in the famous (and wonderful) landmark.

PHayden

Has anyone been to a Roosevelt Rendezvous where there is a 4 day educational experience by Yellowstone Assocation Institute and it includes a cabin at Roosevelt Lodge, all meals and choices of trips led by park experts? I would love to stay in Roosevelt Lodge but this is the only way to stay there after Sept. 7th and I did not know if it was worth the approx $600 per person. This is the link:
http://www.yellowstoneassociation.or...il.aspx?cid=59

spirobulldog

I'm sure it would be good, but you would be tied down doing what they want to do. I clicked on the itenary and it just depends on what you like to do. I am not into bird watching, for instance, and I like to do what,when, where, and at my pace too much. Now you are going to be there 10 days, so this might be perfect for 4 days. It is probably very interesting. I don't think it would be the same as if you were staying at the lodge on your own. I like to eat when and what I want to eat. maybe you'll get lucky with a cancellation. Hopefully, someone who has done this will post back.

http://www.yellowstone.net/forums/

an interesting board all about yellowstone. you might find something on there about it

PHayden

Thanks spirobulldog, I think I would prefer to go at our own pace too so I will just book us at Mammoth instead. By the way, I am checking out your Alaska pictures too since we plan on going there in 2010.

spirobulldog

I sometime get on youtube and type in somewhere I am going. there is a lot on there as well. lots of different geysers and wildlife from Yellowstone on there.

swisshiker

We were in Yellowstone / GTNP this past late September for 2 full weeks. Terrific time to be there, IMHO.

We had booked reservations later than we normally do, so at first we got a mishmash of reservations. But I continued to monitor for cancellations.

Little by little, rooms became available. A month or so before our arrival, the final puzzle pieces fell into place.

I would check their online service but also call them. Sometimes they had rooms that the online service didn't.

Happy travels!