Yellowstone National Park Travel Forum

My wife and I have just booked a 2 week holiday in Oct 2009.

Flying from UK to LA on 12th Oct staying with friends for a couple of days until we fly over to Vegas on the 15th for a week.

22nd Oct we are flying over to Denver where we intend to hire a car and travel upto Yellowstone.

We fly back to the UK on the 26th from Denver.

I am now trying sort out things to do in the few days we have at Yellowstone and also best places to stay.

The problem i seem to be coming up against is finding accommodation in the area.

Can someone please give me some good advice.

Thanks.

Denver to Yellowstone is about 9hrs driving each way. Would it be possible to fly from Vegas to Idaho Falls or Billings? Then drive one way to Denver or get a connecting flight to your homeward bound flight. Alternatively you could spend a bit less time in Vegas, we usually spend about four days there at a time and that is about enough. Four days isn't much time to drive from Denver to Yellowstone and back again. As it is the off season you shouldn't have trouble finding accomodation. If the snow is late and the Beartooth pass is still open you could try Red Lodge Which is Out the silver gate (North East) Park entrance. It's a spectacular drive.

By the way here's a cool photo of the Beartooth.
http://www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/images/beartooth/beartooth_map.jpg

Our flight schedule is already booked so i cannot change that.

We land at Denver on the 22nd Oct at 9am so i intend to drive straight upto Yellowstone area.

We plan to then have all day Fri,Sat and Sun to do some sightseeing.

As we are in the UK, trying to find and book accomodation(not bothered what type it is at a reasonable rate)seems to be very hard as most of the places we look at either state call for rates and reservations or no accommodation available.

As long as the wife gets to take in "Old Faithful at some point the rest of the days are open to suggestion.

If you're not finding any accommodation within the park -- and the lodges do get reserved way in advance, and in my opinion are not of very good quality -- you might try looking at West Yellowstone, which has a large variety of accommodation, from cabins to condos. Here's a website:

www.westyellowstonenet.com/

Only been to Yellowstone once: part of an extensive road trip during June & July. Had no accom pre-booked for the entire road trip.. I'd be following oldguy's advice. Check out the accom as you go...plenty of motels at West Yellowstone. One tip... my most cherished memento of Yellowstone is a photo which I have on the wall in front of me as I type. It's one of my bride standing beside a sign that says, " Old Faithfull Geyser". happy trails de p.

Hi, We were on a tour to Yellowstone and stayed at the Grant Village. This had a huge number of rooms. It was quite ok. accommodation, and the food at the restaurant was excellent. Have a photo on my Yellowstone page.

One of the best travel deals I got was in West Yellowstone, Montana. Only 2 blocks to the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park and a neat little town to boot. My wife and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort. Their website is: www.doyellowstone.com
Under $100USD per night and the hotel is a complete resort with restaurant, bar, mueseum, etc. I have a blog on them on my West Yellowstone pages under "Hotels & Accommodations". See:http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/736c8/c9165

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but most of the park lodges will be closed, and possibly some of the roads. Here's a link to Xanterra - they manage the park lodges - http://www.travelyellowstone.com/opening-closing-dates-2247.html. You should check on the weather before you leave Denver. If it snows, you will be limited as to where you can go in the park.

Here's another link - http://www.yellowstone.net/. The people who post on it are extremely helpful. They go to the park all year long and can advise you as to where to stay and what the odds are of open roads.

Good luck - I hope you get a late winter.

Ok think we have decided to stay in West Yellowstone.

Currently looking at staying at either....

http://www.yellowstonelodge.com/

or

http://www.threebearlodge.com/

Any comments on the above 2 good or bad or

recommendations on somewhere different.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Ok now looking at http://www.yellowstoneparkhotel.com/

Too many places and now getting confused :(

I just visited Yellowstone in October 2008, and we arrived on October 12th, the last day almost all of the roads through the park were open for regular motor vehicles. Mind you they weren't closed due to weather, this was their annual scheduled closing date. The date could be different in 2009, but keep this in mind.

The roads are open, however for "oversnow vehicles" such as snowmobiles all winter, weather permitting. If this is how you plan to visit the park, then great, but in October, there may or may not be enough snow on the ground for snowmobiles.

Besides the scheduled closures, weather in and around the park this time of the year can be a problem. During our October '08 trip we were constantly watching the weather and trying to avoid road closures as we made our way from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone's south entrance. Once in the park, 4WD, snow tires, and a brave driver were required, as the roads were a solid sheet of ice and snow. Other areas, particularly the high Rocky Mountain passes could have similar problems the time of year you plan to visit; some of these passes are as high as 12,000 feet above sea level!

That being said, Yellowstone is beautiful in the winter, and it is much quieter than the touristy summer season.

Hope this helps and doesn't discourage your travel plans!

Joe