Fires and Lodging.
 

we have out Grand Tetons/ Yellowstone booked for Sept. 12 thru the 19th. I want to know from you locals if you would cancel because of the smoke..? Scenery is a must for us. Help....

The other question is about Lodging. We booked the Snake River Lodge in Teton Village for 3 nights then up North in Gardiner for the remaining nights. Will this cause too much backtracking. Suggestions please for all of the Yellowstone sites. Would also like to see the Beartooth Hwy. Help

We just canceled our trip to that area due to smoke. We were going to be in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons from Aug 29 thru Sep 5 following a few nights in Seattle and Glacier NP, but with so many places already on fire or covered with smoke and the rest of it so dry it might burst into flames at any time we decided not to risk the $$$. Scenery and photography are important to us too and we just didn’t see the point in going. We’ll keep it on the bucket list and go another time of year.

What we’re doing instead is going to Seattle to see family and then flying on to Alaska. We pushed the trip back a week because it was so much cheaper once you hit Labor Day.

Its totally your choice, of course, and I’m sure you’d have fun if you went and maybe you’d even have clear skies. But if you have other options I think I would consider them. The parks will still be there at another time.

I would not cancel a trip 18 days out for fear of smoke. It could get worse or better by then. Explore some other options but no need to cancel this far out.

Who knows what it will be like in September? Right now the smoke varies day by day and time of day. (I am in Salt Lake City) You can see a mile or so in front of you--just not 100 miles. I wouldn't cancel.

I'm going and I'm not cancelling. Today's sky is much different from yesterday's sky. There's no way for you to know that today's fires will have any impact at all when you are there.

Staying IN the park - GTNP - will be a much nicer experience than staying in Teton Village. I'd stay in Teton Village if I were skiing in winter. Otherwise, stay in GTNP or in the town of Jackson.

We just had a cold front move into Montana, and it's taken care of a lot of the smoke, but who knows what it will be like in a couple of weeks. I wouldn't cancel.

Teton Village may look closer to the park than Jackson but the route via Moose Wilson Rd has an unpaved section which makes it slower going. Moose Wilson Rd is also subject to temporary closures for dust abatement, grading and bear activity. There is however good wildlife viewing off of this road. Gardiner is my preferred gateway town to stay in but you may want to consider a couple of nights inside the park as well as it's very large. The Beartooth is subject to temporary weather closures so you may want to drive it at your first opportunity.

Any suggestions inside the park for distance consideration for viewing sites from Gardiner?

I would look at the park driving as the figure 8 it is, and break your sightseeing into loops, with more time worked for your preferences (for example, I could spend a day on geyser basins after a stop at Mammoth, then drive back, and then consider longer hikes around that). If you don't plan on trekking, there's a park website link to a "top 10 Yellowstone" map to help you plan. Of course, flexibility due to weather .animal/gawking, and road work is important.

Gardiner is good for covering the northern portion of the park so I would look at combining that with accommodations in the southern portion of the park. If nothing is available just plan on longer days. There's road work between Mammoth and Norris https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/parkroads.htm and Dunraven Pass between Tower and Canyon is another area that's easily subject to temporary weather closures.