Leaving Forest City IA. May 14th to Alaska. We would like to stop in Yellowstone & Glacier on the way. Is this normally too early in the year? I've read of road closures due to snow & that YS. N entrance might be the only way in. Is there a way to check from Rapid City so if they are closed I can take a shorter route N. & bypass YS. &/or Glacier

I do know that the Going to the Sun road through Glacier NP will not be open in May. You can, however, drive Hwy 2 around the southern border of the park to get from the east to west.

Yellowstone is wonderful in May. Lot's of baby animals and not all the traffic so a lot of the locals spend time in the park then. The park closes it's winter activities in March and they plow the roads in April. We have often driven from Jackson to West Yellowstone in mid May. We live to the southwest so we never go in the North or East entrance but I would think they would be open.

This site will give you current information http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Another thought. I have driven the Alcan 3 or 4 time and June was very early to drive the highway. Lakes frozen, bad roads etc. That was 30 years ago and I know the roads have improved but the weather doesn't.

It all depend on the snow pack. I've seen the roads open in mid-May through Yellowstone, but more often than not it has been late May to early June before the passes are opened.
You can get to West Yellowstone if you visit Grand Teton and then cross over to Idaho Falls and go north. I think by then you might be able to get from West Yellowstone to the north entrance and thence out of the park.

hi,
we are planning on going to yellowstone and grand tetons in mid may, im a little confused wether this could be a real bad trip due to weather conditions or wether it could be a good trip due to lack of people. is it drivable in mid may or can it go either way? are we going to freeze and not be able to get out to see the sights or maybe be able to have great weather and see everything? hows the wildlife viewing at that time of year? im bringing my canon with hopes of getting some decent wildlife shots and scenery shots as well, but now im worried if were going to be able to get out at all/

mitzi56, we went in early June last year and saw a lot of wildlife. You can read our trip report and see pictures if you click on my screen name.

www.nps.gov/yell and www.nps.gov/grte are the parks' websites. Be sure to read them over, especially to find out when roads and facilities are open in Yellowstone.

Lee Ann

Can't speak for yellowstone but I can guarantee you Going to the Sun Road in Glacier will NOT be open and most likely many trails will still be snow packed.

In 2008 ALL of the roads in Yellowstone didn't open until June 15. You could drive some of them, but it would have been a really far out of your way to some of them. We had hoped to drive the Beartooth HWY, but it was still closed June 20th that year when we were there. Even in June, we didn't think the crowds were that bad. Animals were everywhere.

Maybe catch it on your way back from Alaska if you can't see it at the beginning.