Hello, I am Peruvian but have family in the US and usually travel there. I plan to take an exam in Denver, Colorado on October 30. So I am planning to arrive in Las Vegas on October 18. I had thought to stay there until thursday 21, then go driving to West Yellowstone, stay there a couple of days and then go to Denver, visit Grand Teton, if possible, arrive at Denver the 29, take the exam on 30 and go back to Las Vegas in order to return to Peru on November 2. However, I have read that most lodges are closed during that time in Yellowstone. Since I am not American and I don't know very well the weather, I was afraid that maybe the season was too cold, and I might find snowstroms in my trip. Would it be wiser to go to Albuquerque and maybe the Grand Canyon instead of Yellowstone? Thank you

To fully enjoy Yellowstone for your first visit, it would be much better if everything was open. You are likely to find a lot of the roads closed. Plus, you are attempting a lot of driving in a short time, which is not good, in my opinion. The Grand Canyon would be very nice. I really like the parks in Utah much better than Grand Canyon. Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches might interest you. Grand Canyon- a very very very big wow factor, but not really that much to do unless you want to hike. Utah = An almost as big of a wow. The hiking there is much easier and not as time consuming and generally far more rewarding. However, a visit to the Grand Canyon is certainly memorable. I don't think I would consider Yellowstone.

You could possibly run into an early snowstorm in Colorado at higher elevations for that period as well.

Thank you for the advice. I had been thinking about the parks in Utah because I saw some beautiful images in a film called Bonneville with Jessica Lange. I'll switch for those parks, then. Thank you again.

Not sure Utah is any better at that time of year. Although the likely of much serious snow at that time of year is not high but it can happen. Generally a shorter duration and since the ground is fairly warm doesn't stick around as much as later. However, November is Denver's third snowiest month of the year. Staying south of I-80 and maybe I-70 is wise given a need to meet a deadline in Denver.