Yellowstone
 

I thuought I would wait until the crowds grow smaller to visit Yellowstone Park. How late in the fall is the weather usually still nice?

Keith

There will be fewer crowds after Labor Day. Many things also start to close down then as well. Winter can come early in the high country, expect cold nights. You can check the NPS site http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/hours.htm. If you plan on driving the Beartooth Highway it can sometimes be closed temporarily during the earlier part of September. Normally it is closed for good around the first of October. You can check the road conditions at http://www.wyoroad.info/. It also has a link to MT as well as surrounding states.

A little known secret is that the park starts to clear out the last week of August when the kids go back to school. Then it gets busy again after Labor Day.

We have found it easy to find campsites in late August on a drive in basis whereas it's almost impossible during the early part of the month.

We were there the 3rd week in Aug, last fall. It was below freezing one of the nights, but days were mid 60s to 70s. Nice for hiking. And, we didn't have any problem finding a campsite.

We were there in early October and had beautiful days, brisk mornings and cold nights. Stayed at Old Faithful Inn, arrived on a Sunday and it was closing the next weekend (around the 15th). Beartooth Higway was already closed but all the other roads were open. Stayed 3 nights and the last morning we woke up to 2 inch snowfall--just beautiful driving out of the park. Not enough to make driving tough but little slow a couple of places. We loved it but felt it was good timing for our exit.

Stick with after the Labor Day weekend. If you do not have reservations you may have to stay in one of the gateways, West Yellowstone, Gardiner or Cook City. If camping the NE part of the park is our favorite. Hard to top the Lamar Valley for wildlife that time of year.

We were there this past year beginning Sept 15. We had a wonderful time and wonderful weather. Snowed on several times, but daytime temps were excellent and the wildlife was in abundance. Plus the elk are bugling then.

The road to Mt Washburn was closed part of the day on two separate days due to icing. The other roads remained open though. Beartooth closed right after we drove through the gates for the duration of our trip. We read it opened again a couple of other times before closing completely for the winter in early October.