We've heard that fires have destroyed a lot of vegetation in Yellowstone National Park. We were planning a trip there this July but would like advice on whether it is best to postpone the trip for another year or so to allow the park to recover. Also, any advice on accommodation there. Thanks.

We went to Yellowstone in 1989...the year after the BIG fire in Yellowstone.

Why? Here are 3 reasons.

#1 No fire can take away the natural beauty of the whole area.

#2 The previous year fire kept the tourism down just because people like you thought it would be a bad time to visit.

#3 There were so many wildflowers blooming it made up for any burnt areas. Also there were many, many little baby trees already beginning to grow where the others had been burnt.

By all means go and don't let the previous years fires be the reason not to go. You would have to wait many years before the burnt area is replaced with trees. Infact, you can still see evidence of the 1988 fire.

Utahtea

Utahtea has said it all! Go!

The fires were in 1988, 16 years ago.
At that altitude, 1 year is not going to make much of a difference growth wise. The recovery cycle is more like 40 years, not 12 months.

I am not sure what you have been reading, or hearing, but recovery is fairly far along, but it will be 20-25 years or more before the lodgepole forests are back to pre fire covering.
In the meantime, I enjoy the open areas.

Many of the old snags are still standing, which amazes me. After all these years they are still upright.
Many hundreds of thousands of others are lying on the ground, and they rot slowly and return to soil.

In the meantime, new ones are growing and other plants have taken their place. Many flowers, etc can be seen that were previously choked out by the forest canopy.

Besides not all of the park burned, and the geyser basins don't have trees anyhow, except in patches.
Moreover, fire is part of the natural environment, not an aberration.

I just went through Yellowstone in July & Aug of last year. Yes, you can still see some fire damage, but nothing like what you are thinking of. What is beautiful about it is the new growth. July is the best time to go. Definitely go!

brookwood,

If you look on the Yellowstone website you will see that there were some wild fires last year in Yellowstone. I think several wildfires are the norm. I was assuming, it was those fires that austraveller was referring to.


Utahtea

I was there last summer and did not notice any major burns. Where were they, and when did they take place. I know that it was a hot dry summer.
It was miserable at Old Faithful Inn.
Our room was intolerable even though we walked around the geysers until nearly midnight.

I think some wildfires are the norm.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/technical/fire/

http://www.nps.gov/yell/press/03111.htm

The east fire in Aug. 2003, consumed over 18,000 acres. I guess if you don't know how big Yellowstone really is...you might think that's a lot of area.

Utahtea

I agree with others that you go ahead with your plans for this year.

Yellowstone's two major draws in my opinion is geology(geysers,springs..) and wildlife. The fires have not had a visible impact on those two.

BTW, as others have pointed out the fires and its impact is nature at work and do not detract from the yellowstone experience. We were there last year.

While it is better to get accomodation inside the park, a reasonable alternative is West yellowstone just outside the park entrance.