Do I need reservations in Yellowstone area in mid Sept?
 

I'm starting to plan a 2 week trip to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and Glacier for next September (2017). I did get reservations for a couple of nights at Old Faithful Inn because I have always wanted to stay there, but otherwise I'm not that picky about whether we stay in the parks or in a nearby town. Would it be reasonable to expect to find a hotel without advance reservations? It would be wonderful to be able to spend as much time at each park as we wanted and not have to plan where we'll be each night, except for the reservation at OFI of course. But I'd hate to find everything was all booked up, too. I'm hoping the week or two after Labor Day might be less crowded, but I could be wrong.

Thanks for any advice.

Sept is still very popular
Get reservations.

It won't be quite as busy as summer, but some of the lodging and campgrounds will start to close right after Labor Day which will mean vacancies aren't easy to come by. You will want to make reservations.

https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/ocd_locale.htm

I just got back from 6 nighst in Yellowstone at the park inns. It was still very busy at all the inns/lodges. Each day the inns would put up on a board which inns had availability that night. Many were always full. There were several busloads of groups going through the park at that time and we saw them at most of the inns in the park.

Least favorite inn was Old Faithful Inn. So crowded, room was horrible for what you paid and the food in the dinning room was awful. Best place to see the geyser erupt is on the second floor balcony where the bar is located.

Loved Mammoth Hot Springs. Elk roamed all over the hotel grounds and area. The visitor's center there is the only place in the park that has free wifi. Could have stayed two nights here to also visit the Lamar Valley.

Lake Yellowstone Hotel was beautiful. Food was fabulous in the dining room.

Do note that after Labor Day many of the park's facilities (including places to eat) begin to close down. Reservations at the dining rooms are a must. At the Lake Yellowstone Hotel we asked if we could eat in the dining room that night. It had no reservations left for the entire night. We were forced to eat at the only other restaurant in the area which was the cafeteria at the Lake Lodge. Food was average for a cafeteria, but staff was grumpy.

Canyon Lodge just opened up several new lodges and check in area. All modern and beautiful. The village has several restaurants to choice from...dining room (first come first serve), deli and diner. It also as a fabulous visitor center.

We spend five days in Grand Teton NP. Much less crowded. I actually enjoyed it more. We stayed in a condo in Wilson and had a blast.

Remember to pack some warm clothes, it snowed the day we left Yellowstone. My brother was staying in Gardiner and had to wait for the snow plows to clear the road from Mammoth Hot Springs to Madison Junction.

Have a wonderful time!

Sorry, but absolutely get reservations.

Glacier...we had no problems with places outside the park. We just stayed last week and plenty of openings. The only thing I would say is be cognicent of where you stay and what the drive is to the park. We stayed in east glacier and it was 50 minutes to St Mary. I would recommend you stay in the park and you will need reservations. I would book them now.

Tetons. We stayed at Hotel Jackson for 3 nights and we loved it. New hotel in downtown.

Bozeman. We stayed here 1 night moving from Glacier to Tetons. Great college town. Stayed at Elements which is a new type of Westin hotel. It was downtown and really convenient.