Yellowstone Trip - Last week in May

Need some feed back.

Got some good replies on an early post. Family is looking at going to Yellowstone the last week in May is this to early? Planning on leaving after kids get out of school to try to beat the kids summer activities but after hear from a few folks thinking now that the last week in May might be early. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Happy New Year.
 

codycarver

Founding Wyoming Chapter Leader-retired
The east entrance of the park is usually open the first weekend in May and is subject to temporary road closures due to snow after that. In my opinion May, June and Sept, October are the best times to see the front country of Yellowstone. Living just down the road from the park we can pick our days and can go when the weather is good.

A neighbor of mine is a photographer and practically lives in the park during the summer. We had them over the other night and I asked her what she thought. Baring a freak storm you will have no trouble traveling that time of May.
 

gasman

Camp Socializer
The best Yellowstone trip we've ever made was over Memorial Day weekend. We had lots of snow on the east side but the roads were open. We saw more wildlife than ever before and lots of babies!
 

Nabo

Southeast Region Director-Retired
We were there the middle of May 2009 and loved it. We stayed in Cody and traveled back and forth daily into the park coming in from the east side. On the 1st day, the east entrance was closed to regular cars because of ice over the pass but we didn't have any problems being in a 4 wheel drive truck. The reason we stayed in Cody was because we were not sure which cg were open and if they could accommodiate the size of our Big Country. Fishing Bridge only had one loop open and our coach couldn't fit into the sites (very short).
The one thing we noticed being there before Memorial Day was that a lot of the shops were not open. The Lodge at Ole Faithful and Fishing Bridge were the only shops open. One shopping/store area in the north country had staff there stocking to open but when I asked, they said Memorial Day weekend was going to be the earliest opening date.
Would I do it again - absolutely. Best trip we ever did and would do it again.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
Need some feed back.

Got some good replies on an early post. Family is looking at going to Yellowstone the last week in May is this to early? Planning on leaving after kids get out of school to try to beat the kids summer activities but after hear from a few folks thinking now that the last week in May might be early. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Happy New Year.

I am planning one or 2 weeks at West Yellowstone the end of May before the rally. I know you would have to travel all the way through the park, but I believe West Yellowstone has the most RV facilities closest to a park entrance. A lot of the most popular tourist destinations like the Geyser Basin, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River and Yellowstone Lake are a lot closer to West Yellowstone than they are to Cody, which is a factor in my decision in where to stay.
 
My family and I are also planning a trip to Yellowstone, but in the end of July. I was wondering if traveling through the park with a fifth wheel is an easy task, we are coming from the east, and would like to spend a few days viewing the park, then head further west. I am not familiar with the roadways out there and would love to hear some suggestions. We are open to staying pretty much anywhere.
 

lorax

Well-known member
The park roads were good the last time we passed that way. My advice is to make reservations early. Depending on the size of your rig, spaces are limited. Fishing Bridge is sort of central....ish. It has large spaces. Check out reservations.gov. Cody, WY is a nice place to check out and is the east entrance of the park. In South Dakota, Custer State Park is awesome and close to Mt Rushmore. Badlands, Jewel Cave and Wind Cave are also great National Parks. Have fun and be safe.
Ted
 
Thanks for the info. I was able to book 1 night at fishing bridge. I think we will probably stay in west yellowstone for a couple of days and tour the park from there.
 

lorax

Well-known member
If you are coming in from the east, stay at Cody and that will get you a full day before you stay. Have fun!
 

codycarver

Founding Wyoming Chapter Leader-retired
My family and I are also planning a trip to Yellowstone, but in the end of July. I was wondering if traveling through the park with a fifth wheel is an easy task, we are coming from the east, and would like to spend a few days viewing the park, then head further west. I am not familiar with the roadways out there and would love to hear some suggestions. We are open to staying pretty much anywhere.

The road on the east side of Sylvan pass (east entrance to Yellowstone) is a two lane without breakdown lanes and is steep. If memory serves the entrance is at about 6,000 ft and when you get to the rim you will be just over 8500 ft. There are a few pull outs if you need them. After that travel is pretty easy but you will encounter traffic jams due to wildlife sitings.

For those that didn't know, Yellowstone is an active volcano and in geological time it is due to erupt any minute now (maybe in the next 20,000 years or so) So if it's on your bucket list probably better to do it sooner rather than later.:D

Just to wet you appetite here is a link to some photos we took a couple weeks ago
//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/28693-Took-a-drive-up-the-North-Fork-today
 
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