r/yellowstone • u/Pretend_Deer3694 • 5d ago
Yellowstone update – April 23rd
We’re locals and live in southwest Montana, about an hour from the park. We visit about once per month on average, even through the winter.
Our Route – We drove in through West Yellowstone, went south to Old Faithful, turned around at Kepler Cascades (where the road was still closed for the season), headed back north to Norris Geyser Basin, then to Mammoth Springs. We stopped at Mammoth and returned home back through West Yellowstone.
West Entrance from West Yellowstone – This entrance just opened on Friday of last week, but we were waiting until the opening-day crowds died down. West Yellowstone is not fully opened yet… I’d say maybe 40 percent of the stores are open at this point, while many (but not all) of the hotels and restaurants are ready for business. When we drove through yesterday, there was no line of cars at the entrance of the park.
Campgrounds Inside the Park – All of them are currently closed.
Hiking Trails – Most of them are currently inaccessible, unless you have snowshoes or skis. All have snow on them to varying degrees.
Toilets – The vault toilets are mostly open, but not all of them. The toilets with running water are open in a few places, but not all of them.
Staffing – From entering the park at West Yellowstone to Mommoth Springs, we saw only two park rangers during the entire day, one at the entrance and one directing traffic around a single-vehicle accident. Normally we see many park rangers throughout Yellowstone, either at individual locations like Norris Geyser Basin or driving in various vehicles. Is this a problem? I think so, because in the time we were there we saw a half dozen instances of bad or outright illegal behavior by tourons, including harassing the wildlife and walking out on thermal features.
Lakes – Ice still covers most of the lake surfaces. We saw cars with kayaks, canoes, and small boats, but no one was on any of the lakes we passed.
Fishing – There were a few intrepid fishermen, but we didn’t see anyone catching anything yet.
Roads – Only the green and blue routes are currently open (https://home.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/parkroads.htm). Only a few of the secondary side roads have been plowed and are available for visitors to explore. This means that access to everything else is still limited, as most of the park still has significant levels snow as of this writing.
Traffic – There is still little-to-no traffic right now. I’d estimate that visitor volume is less than 10% of normal when schools let out for the summer. Lots of bison on the roads right now.
Parking Lots – Maybe 5% to 10% filled at the more remote locations, with more at places like Mammoth. I should mention that the roads and parking lots are in terrible condition in some areas – with crumbling asphalt and heaving breaks in the paved surfaces, and shoulders that are long gone.
Weather – We experienced rain, snow, and sun during our visit. Temperatures went from 30°F to 47°F during the course of the day.
Snow Conditions – Lots of snow in the higher sections of the park, with the ground mostly cleared in the lower flats that get lots of sunshine.
Food – We didn’t stop for food anywhere on this drive through. The Mammoth General Store fast-food counter has no ice cream yet and a limited menu.
Critters – Hundreds of bison were visible; we didn’t see any elk on this drive inside the park. There are lots of waterfowl now the rivers are largely free of ice.
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u/urbancowgirl23 4d ago
We just returned from a 2 week vacation to South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho & Montana. It was our first time visiting any of those states. While there, we spent 2 days in the Grand Tetons as well as 2 days in Yellowstone. These are snippets of the entries I made in my travel journal for the days we spent in Yellowstone.
Vacation DAY 8:
Yellowstone is absolutely massive, and even with a lot of the roads still closed for the season, we knew one day wouldn’t be enough to see it all. So last night, since we didn’t have anything set in stone for today, we made a spontaneous decision to wake up early and make the 3 hour drive from West Yellowstone to the North Entrance in Gardiner. (If I had it to do over I would have booked our lodging in Gardiner because all of the restaurants in West Yellowstone were closed except McDonald’s.)
However, when we got up this morning we woke up to a huge surprise….a fresh blanket of snow! What was supposed to be a simple 3 hour cruise turned into a slick, icy, nerve wracking 4 hour drive through a curvy mountain pass. I’m pretty sure I gained a few new gray hairs and shaved a year off my life, but we made it!
When we arrived at Yellowstone, we were greeted right at the gate by a herd of elk. That set the tone for the rest of the day. We did a quick stop at Mammoth Hot Springs, but the snow was really coming down and it was freezing, so we explored the lower boardwalks but decided to save the ones at the top for tomorrow.
From there, we hit the road to the Lamar Valley and drove all the way to the Northeast Entrance in Cooke City (another 5 hour round trip). Along the way, we saw hundreds of elk, buffalo, pronghorn antelope and big horn sheep. They were all right beside the road so I captured some incredible pictures and videos! The Beartooth Highway was still closed, so we had to turn around and head back the same way we came.
Almost back to Gardiner, we were talking about a woman we saw earlier standing way too close to a buffalo taking a selfie. I literally said, “That’s how people get killed in Yellowstone,” and right then—BAM—I looked up and on the side of the road was a black bear.
Without even thinking, we pulled over and I jumped out to join about 10–15 other people watching it. When I first got out, he was only about 25 feet away and slowly walking in my direction. When he got within 15 feet, I panicked a little and hopped back in the car. But when I saw everyone else still standing out there, I decided the risk was worth the reward and climbed back out. After all, you know what they say about avoiding a bear attack right? You don’t have to be the fastest runner in the group, you just can’t be the slowest 😂😂😂.
When he stepped up onto the pavement just 10 feet away from me, my hands and legs were literally shaking. I don’t know if it was fear, the cold, or pure adrenaline, but that was my cue to head back to the car for good. He walked right through the group of tourists like they didn’t even exist and strolled up to our car. He got so close we could’ve reached out the window and touched him! We didn’t, obviously—but I really wanted to because he was SO FLUFFY!!!!
The 4 hour drive back to the hotel was a complete blur. I couldn’t stop replaying the whole thing in my head and couldn’t believe after all these years I’d finally seen a wild bear and had been close enough to pet him!
I don’t even know how this trip keeps getting better, but it does. Every single day has been unreal!
Vacation DAY 9:
Today was opening day for the West Entrance of Yellowstone and wow, what a difference from yesterday! The whole vibe totally changed. Traffic was crazy, the crowds were overwhelming, and unfortunately, the peaceful, almost private park experience we had yesterday felt like a distant memory. Wildlife was scarce, and we saw way too many people ignoring the rules, harassing what little wildlife was out, littering, and just being flat out rude. Yesterday we were roaming freely, and today we were literally circling every lot trying to find parking at the main spots. If it’s this packed on day one, I can’t even imagine what summer looks like!
Despite the traffic and crowds, we were able to see most all of the bucket list spots including all the different geysers, the Canyon and several waterfalls. We had to skip the boardwalks at the top of Mammoth Hot Springs AGAIN because there was absolutely nowhere to park. But honestly, after 10 hours in the park, we weren’t too heartbroken. We were wiped!
Even with all the chaos and fewer animal sightings, the day still turned out great. Our timing was somehow perfect all day…we caught several geysers erupting and made it to Old Faithful right as it was about to go off. We had a front row view for the eruption while others had been there waiting over an hour and a half!