I have been all over the world and NO PLACE has ever captured me as Yellowstone National Park. I keep going back and every time the magic is still there and strong.

If your main focus is scenery, anywhere between Mid-May to Mid-June would be great or late September. I preferred the northwest corner and have stayed just outside the gate at Cooke City. Within 5-10 minutes we drive in and are at one of the most amazing areas of Yellowstone NP.

Staying inside the park is HIGHLY overrated-- it is crowded, noisy, horrendous value, and just not worth it. The ONLY place I would even consider for an overnight is the Yellowstone Hotel, because of its historical setting. I did and it was OK. The Lodge is highly overrated. I have also stayed at West Yellowstone, and while it offers conveniences, it is also just blah. For character, Cooke City does it for me. That said, it is a seasonal town and it is the preferred lodging town for surveyors, rangers, and scientists doing summer research in the area. So, booking early is advised.

Again, if your focus is natural beauty you MUST NOT delay visiting Yellowstone any more. You have seen nothing yet if you have not seeing Yellowstone. Seriously.

Below is a link to my TR on Yellowstone. The actual Yellowstone part begins at the post June 5, 11:10. There are 3 sets of photos posted that you might find interesting beginning with the posts on the 8th.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...onal-parks.cfm

I agree with Viajero2's perspective on staying in the park.

I hope you find the link useful.

Songdoc,

If you plan your trip to Yellowstone for next year, then do go to Arches and Canyonlands this year. Look for lodging in Moab, UT which serves both.

If you click my name you will find several TRs from the area with links to pictures of the landscape. The 2013 and 2015 ones for sure and some others too.

I usually look for the least expensive place to fly into and plan the other places I might want to visit based on that. We've used Albuquerque, Vegas, Phoenix, and Denver, but there is a medium airport in Grand Junction CO and a very small one in Moab if you don't want to drive too far. Look at auto rental costs too, Vegas is usually the least for that and Denver and Phoenix are usually the most.

Thank you all SO much for your help.

Viajero2: That's some seriously high praise!!! I've traveled extensively (for months) through New Zealand and Australia, visited the Alps in Europe, Alaska, the Grand Canyon, the California coast Hwy, and Yosemite. It's hard to imagine that Yellowstone is going to top all of those places!

I'm having to put the decision on hold while I wait for some info. It looks like I will be going to a memorial service in San Francisco late September. What I might do is combine that with a visit to Yosemite and/or Lake Tahoe. I've been to both of those places before, but not when I was doing photography.

FYI, I am working on a book and a calendar that will be test marketed by a major publisher. They include my photographs. If the test marketing goes well, I will quickly need many more photos to complete the full version. That's why I need to get some gorgeous landscape shots--regardless of where they come from.

Songdoc - if you are in Arches or other similar environments, be sure to use an appropriate filter at all times for protection. Many a good lens has been ruined in Arches by blowing very fine sand particles. Nearly all the photos that I linked to used a CP filter which often made the difference between a good photo and one nearly useless.

basingstoke2: Thank you for that advice, and for the terrific trip report and photos. I REALLY want to go this year!!! But with the trip to SF in late September and a trip to Pennsylvania scheduled for mid-October, I don't think it'll happen until next year -- but I'm not giving up hope, yet!

FYI, some of the pix from Yellowstone are similar to the spectacular geothermal parks around Rotorua New Zealand.

And ... when I was listing some of the beautiful places I've been lucky enough to visit, I should have included the Canadian Rockies (Jasper, Banff, Lake Louise, Lake Moraine, Canmore ...). So incredibly beautiful!

Hi. We did YNP and GTNP 2 years ago. I am all about nice lodging and good food but we were so happy we stayed in the parks (Signal Mountain Lodge, Canyon and Snow Lodge). Click on my name and read the report.

We arrived mid/late August and YNP was not crowded. We were pleasantly surprised. We also were out the door by 8 ish. some favorites were the ranger lead hike at OF which is early and the dusk Lamar Valley drive and seeing OF erupt at 10 pm and early am. There is enough driving even if you stay in the parks.

About wildlife in Yellowstone. Hayden Valley is pretty much similar to Lamar Valley.

A lot of bison and deer.

I find Lamar a little better for overall variety. I don't think bighorn sheep or mountain goats frequent Hayden but I could be wrong. I've also seen moose in Lamar. Hayden is probably just as good as Lamar for grizzly and wolves though. The landscape in Lamar also feels more wide open to me making it easier to spot something even if it's quite a distance away.

we saw bison galore in hayden but the dusk action was at lamar-a coyote about 5 feet in front of us, some wolves eating a grizzly carcas and some amazing bison mating rituals.

I'm bookmarking for good info. for a future trip.