Speaking of road trips... Best time to go to Yellowstone? (reservations, roadtrips)
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The winters vary in Yellowstone, so one year you might go in May and still see a fair amount of snow and another year not. Fall is my favorite season so I would prefer to go in Sept.
We went to Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore 3 years ago starting the week after school began in the fall. No crowds, beautiful weather, lots of animals, getting a motel room was e-z. Fun time.
We went to Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore 3 years ago starting the week after school began in the fall. No crowds, beautiful weather, lots of animals, getting a motel room was e-z. Fun time.
^^^ That is the best time to travel. You can get motel/hotel reservations easier and often cheaper, it is less crowded, and yet the weather is still nice.
x2 on that and the Lamar valley offers your best chance at seeing a wolf.
spring, June, the pass opens, and the animals have their young and the park is green and new life is everywhere.
Fall early to mid SEPT, great fall colors and a hint of snow in the high countery.
Haven't visited this thread for a while and there's so much great advice y'all gave! Yay!
Seems the consensus is leaning more toward fall, although tempting reasons for May and June as well.
Thanks Indy for the detailed itinerary, I'll be sure to reference that when planning and plotting!
The Beartooth Highway looks awesome!
I'm already thinking of what soundtracks to listen to during the drive... I'm thinking Braveheart and Land Before Time! Very majestic music!
Check out the live cam. just outside of the Old Faithful Inn - it is well-monitored, and shows both the upper and lower geyser basins, with regular coverage of Old Faithful (plus the other geysers) erupting, and special coverage of anything interesting or unusual: wildlife, interesting vehicles (the cupcake bicycle stopped there last summer), and more.
The Beartooth Highway looks awesome! I'm already thinking of what soundtracks to listen to during the drive... I'm thinking Braveheart and Land Before Time! Very majestic music!
Your music taste is similar to mine, but when I think of music and this area, I think of something different than you. This is the land of American Indian reservations, and many area names originate from the original tribes that were in the area. So my first choice is American Indian music. This is followed by certain new age music, followed by what some call space music. We missed the Beartooth on our trip, but when I finally get back out there, I hope to drive it as well.
I'm already thinking of what soundtracks to listen to during the drive... I'm thinking Braveheart and Land Before Time! Very majestic music!
Thanks so much!
A kindred spirit! We bring along stacks of CDs with soundtracks on roadtrips, and I'm actually right now working on an iPod playlist with music for Northwest roadtrips, and another for Southwest trips. Here are some suggestions for you for traveling in Montana and Wyoming:
The Lonesome Dove CD! Gorgeous music, and location-specific, too!
The Big Country--really big music for big vistas.
Dances With Wolves. Same as above.
Last of the Mohicans--even if the movie takes place back East, the themes go very well with the mountains and forests.
But an easy shortcut would be some great soundtrack compilation CDs; here are our favorites:
The Wild West with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra; 2 CDs with half of all the Western themes you remember (great performances, but whenever there are lyrics you can tell they're not an English-speaking people. Kind of cute!)
The Way West, also with the Prague orchestra. 2 CDs with the other half of all the Western themes you remember!
And then the two ultimate Hollywood collections:
Epics: The History of the World According to Hollywood. 4 discs with world history epics from The Ten Commmandments and Ben Hur to Exodus.
Director's Cuts: The World's Greatest Movie Music. 3 discs including Gladiator, Robin Hood, Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, etc.
You can run them all and just skip the tracks that aren't "majestic" enough for the landscape, or make your own playlist if you have an MP3 player.
But I'd also second bringing the whole Braveheart CD, as well as American Indian music.
We have even carried the soundtrack hobby so far that we have gone to film locations and played the soundtrack from the actual scenes. (Monument Valley being a favorite for that experience!) It creates a very special connection in one's mind between the landscape, film history, and the good memories of favorite movies. Hmmmm...maybe that's worth a thread of its own!
In terms of seeing animals/scenery and less crowds, spring & fall are definitely the best times. A lot of this will depend on the previous winter; after an especially rough winter then many animals are likely to be found at lower elevations for longer and flowers will be blooming into June. On that point, you always have to be mindful of the weather when going at those times. I've been trapped in Yellowstone snowstorms as late as Memorial Day weekend and as early as Labor Day weekend, so be sure to check the forecasts.
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