It literally takes hours to drive from one park entrance to another.Īs you might imagine, there’s a lot to do and see in Yellowstone, and fortunately the park has an extensive road system that can get you where you want to go.
Come prepared for the weather: Winter temperatures in Yellowstone can fall as low as 30 degrees below zero and rarely rise above freezing.Ĭalling Yellowstone a “park” is a bit misleading: At 2.2 million acres and an area approaching 3,500 square miles, it’s bigger than some countries and larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Most park roads close in winter, however, so your best option is to book a snowmobile or snow coach tour if you want to see bison, elk, bears, and major attractions like Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs. If you’re willing to brave the cold, winter is the best season to see wildlife in the lower elevations of the park. Spring and fall, in general, are less busy times in the park, although it’s important to check on the status of park roads, which begin closing for winter in October and don’t start reopening until April.
Going to the park in early May and late September will help you avoid the crush of visitors who clog park roads in summer and avoid the depths of cold in winter. One upside is that summer is when the park roads, campgrounds, and other facilities are most open and have the longest hours, which does tend to spread the crowds out a bit. So if you want to avoid crowds, summer is the worst time to visit, at least if you’re heading to the park’s top attractions, like its geysers and hot springs. More than 3.8 million people visit Yellowstone each year, and more than half of those show up during just three months: June, July, and August. Yellowstone transcends seasons-if anything, the park is even more beautiful in winter than summer-but there are some significant practical realities you’ll need to grapple with depending on the kind of experience you’re seeking in the park. When’s the best time to visit Yellowstone National Park? 212, while the East Entrance is closest to Yellowstone Lake and is accessed from Cody by way of U.S. On the park’s east side, the Northeast Entrance connects to Billings via U.S. The South Entrance connects to Grand Teton National Park, while travelers from the Bozeman area pass the Roosevelt Arch on the way into the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana. 191 connects West Yellowstone to Bozeman. Route 20, which leads to West Yellowstone and the western park entrance.
From Salt Lake City, Interstate 15 runs north to Idaho Falls before connecting with U.S. West Yellowstone is the most popular gateway to the park, in part due to its proximity to the Old Faithful geyser.
#Yellowstone road trip planner drivers#
Getting to Yellowstone by car: There are five major entrances to this vast park at all points of the compass (including two on the park’s east side), affording drivers a variety of ways to get in. The drive from the airport to West Yellowstone is approximately 4 hours and 45 minutes.
Some travelers prefer to fly into (far larger) Salt Lake City International Airport and drive to the park. Bozeman is a larger airport with relatively easy connections to several large western cities, and seasonal connections to points farther east. Flying to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, makes it easy to add a visit to Grand Teton National Park, while flying to Bozeman will put you between Glacier National Park and Yellowstone. West Yellowstone is the closest to the park-the town sits at the west entrance-but is served only by regional flights from Salt Lake City, Utah, from early May to mid-October. Getting to Yellowstone by air: Yellowstone National Park occupies a remote area of Wyoming (and parts of Montana and Idaho), but thanks to its enormous popularity there are no fewer than six airports that can get you within a reasonable distance of the park, in Cody and Jackson, Wyoming Bozeman, Billings, and West Yellowstone, Montana and Idaho Falls, Idaho.
#Yellowstone road trip planner how to#
How to get to and around Yellowstone National Park
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