# Visiting Yellowstone Park



## Tamaradarann (Apr 25, 2016)

We are thinking about visiting Yellowstone Park in September.  Does anyone have any recommendations are where to stay to visit the park.  We are thinking about Hotels or Timeshares for our stay.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


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## geist1223 (Apr 25, 2016)

We were at Yellowstone just after Labor Day 1.5 years ago. We stayed in the Worldmark Timeshare in West Yellowstone. We had a good time. A few things to remember. After Labor Day the Park Service will start some road and bridge repair to and get some of the urgent stuff done before winter sets in. When we were there this made it harder to get from West Yellowstone to the Tetons. Many of the Park Activitites are curtailed/cut back because most kids are back in school and parents back at work. About 30 minutes NW of West Yellowstone is Earthquake Lake. This is worth the time and effort. You want to start on the west end at the Ranger/Park Station and after spending time there drive slowly east. We made this a whole day trip. By the Ranger Station are some hugh rocks (bigger than many houses) that slide clear across the Valley from the mountains on the side of the Valley.

Edit to add: The earthquake was in the 1950's. It created earthquake lake and tilted another lake.


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## Passepartout (Apr 25, 2016)

There are both hotels and timeshares in the area. Check West Yellowstone, MT at the W. entrance, or in Jackson Wyoming. Most people fly into either Jackson or Salt Lake City and drive the ~5 hours to the park. The park hotels are operated by a contractor for the Park Service. They are historic and expensive. And probably all booked up for this year. There is a Worldmark in West. I've heard it's a difficult exchange. Trading Places manages a TS in Island Park ID 22 miles from West. There are 2-3 TSs in Jackson. Generally, they are comfortable, but basic places, but hanging at a hotel is NOT why you go to the Parks. September is a great time to see the parks. Crowds are smaller, and the weather is fine. There is plenty to do to occupy you for a week or more.

Jim


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## riverdees05 (Apr 25, 2016)

Which would be a better week to go, the last week of August or the first week of September?


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## Passepartout (Apr 25, 2016)

riverdees05 said:


> Which would be a better week to go, the last week of August or the first week of September?



School may start in September, so the crowds would probably be less even though you're talking adjacent weeks. The animals won't care.


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## shagnut (Apr 26, 2016)

I was there last Sept.  I stayed at Island Park and loved it.  It was very easy to get to Ystone from there.  Just know, the entrance to W Yellowstone is very easy to get to but from there the travel is crazy long.  I would try to choose one or two places to stay in the park , in different areas.  I truly loved it.  There is a trip review under Travel Tales at tsforums if anyone wants to read it.  


shaggy


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## clifffaith (Apr 26, 2016)

Timely topic-- I literally just said to Cliff that I wanted to go to Yellowstone next summer.  Wonder if the OP was watching the Ken Burns National Parks film on PBS like I am right now.


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## WinniWoman (Apr 26, 2016)

Tamaradarann said:


> We are thinking about visiting Yellowstone Park in September.  Does anyone have any recommendations are where to stay to visit the park.  We are thinking about Hotels or Timeshares for our stay.
> 
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.



We stayed at Worldmark West Yellowstone (a rental through a timeshare owner on Redweek) and it was a great location as it is only one mile from the park entrance. Plus lots to do in town and also close to Earthquake Park in Idaho. We even did a day trip to the Tetons- driving through Yellowstone- part of the Yellowstone Park Pass. We had no problems with driving there crossing the Continental Divide and even making some stops along the way.

We stayed in mid- Sept and the weather was awesome and no big crowds! Our best vacation ever! And we have been to Hawaii and Alaska and many other National Parks- this was the best.

PS- We flew into Bozeman, Montana, picked up our rental car there, stopped at the super Walmart there (no big supermarkets in West Yellowstone) and put some food in our collapsible cooler with ice and drove the 2 hours along the Galentin River (of the move "River Runs Through It" fame- very scenic with the fly fishing, etc.- just beautiful) to get to West Yellowstone.


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## taterhed (Apr 26, 2016)

Tamaradarann said:


> We are thinking about visiting Yellowstone Park in September.  Does anyone have any recommendations are where to stay to visit the park.  We are thinking about Hotels or Timeshares for our stay.
> 
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.




Check the rentals on Worldmark Owners:  I think I just saw an Aug/Sept Yellowstone 3br rental there.....

Sorry if I'm not right on that.....cheers.


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## CO skier (Apr 26, 2016)

riverdees05 said:


> Which would be a better week to go, the last week of August or the first week of September?



I think the mosquitoes depart the last week of August, along with the crowds.  Of the two choices, I would go with September.

The third week of September is one of the best weeks of the year to visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks with the changing aspen at their peak beauty.


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## gmarine (Apr 26, 2016)

September is a great time to visit. Keep in mind the park is huge and even in Sept can take a long time to go short distances in the park. I highly recommend staying at more than one location in the park to enjoy the different areas.  We spent 9 days in the park split between Old Faithful Lodge, Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Canyon Lodge.  The rooms are small but the experience of staying in the park is amazing, especially Old Faithful Lodge with geysers right outside the lodge.  Its an amazing place especially if you plan on doing some hiking.


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## WinniWoman (Apr 26, 2016)

We actually had no problem visiting various parts of the park staying in West Yellowstone. We mapped out each day and were on the road by 9am. We did a different part of the park each day- was wonderful! And as I previously mentioned. we even hit the Tetons from there.

We did not eat out very much so I liked staying in one place. Kept all the food in the fridge and so on for the week. We packed lunches in the morning to take with us on our adventures. 

As soon as we arrived in West Yellowstone I called Old Faithful Lodge and made reservations for dinner for one evening during the week. We made sure to hit the lodge a bit earlier to take advantage of the historic tour they give. Really something to see and do.


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## Tamaradarann (Apr 29, 2016)

*Thank you all for your thoughts and ideas*

Thanks to everyone in TUG that gave your thoughts and ideas about Yellowstone,

At this late date we will probably not be able to score a good local timeshare.  We are going to stay in Jackson Hole at a Hampton Inn using our Hilton Honors points and getting a free breakfast each morning to start off our day.  We are only going to be there for 5 nights and will take in Yellowstone for 3 days or so and see what is around Jackson Hole for the other 2 days.


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## Passepartout (Apr 29, 2016)

you will be doing a LOT of driving. You might try to score one night inside Yellowstone at either Old Faithful or at Lake. It would be memorable. Honest. They do get cancellations, so keep trying.

[Added] from Jackson to W. Yellowstone and back is 300 miles. At 45 mph limit. Add a few stops to see thermal features or wildlife, and it's a very long day.

Jim


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## WinniWoman (Apr 30, 2016)

Tamaradarann said:


> Thanks to everyone in TUG that gave your thoughts and ideas about Yellowstone,
> 
> At this late date we will probably not be able to score a good local timeshare.  We are going to stay in Jackson Hole at a Hampton Inn using our Hilton Honors points and getting a free breakfast each morning to start off our day.  We are only going to be there for 5 nights and will take in Yellowstone for 3 days or so and see what is around Jackson Hole for the other 2 days.



It's far from Jackson Hole to be going back and forth. The thing is you will go through the Tetons to get to Yellowstone and will probably want to spend some time there as well. Way too much driving to go back and forth. 

You couldn't maybe get a timeshare rental? That is what we did for West Yellowstone.


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## easyrider (Apr 30, 2016)

Tamaradarann said:


> Thanks to everyone in TUG that gave your thoughts and ideas about Yellowstone,
> 
> At this late date we will probably not be able to score a good local timeshare.  We are going to stay in Jackson Hole at a Hampton Inn using our Hilton Honors points and getting a free breakfast each morning to start off our day.  We are only going to be there for 5 nights and will take in Yellowstone for 3 days or so and see what is around Jackson Hole for the other 2 days.



Long drive with many slow moving vehicles on it, even in September. 

Bill


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## zinger1457 (Apr 30, 2016)

Agree with the above, Jackson is not a good home base for visiting Yellowstone.  It will be a good 4 hour R/T drive back and forth, not counting all the driving you'll be doing inside Yellowstone.  Jackson is a good home base for visiting Grand Teton NP, well worth a couple days visit.


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## gmarine (Apr 30, 2016)

When we were there in September it was 20-25 MPH at best when driving around the park, not taking into account the occasional buffalo jam that took anywhere from a few minutes to 45 minutes or more. Staying in Jackson Hole you will spend more time in the car than you will exploring the park.


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## Tamaradarann (Apr 30, 2016)

*Trip from Jackson to Old Faithful Yellowstone National Park*



zinger1457 said:


> Agree with the above, Jackson is not a good home base for visiting Yellowstone.  It will be a good 4 hour R/T drive back and forth, not counting all the driving you'll be doing inside Yellowstone.  Jackson is a good home base for visiting Grand Teton NP, well worth a couple days visit.



Mapquest suggests that the trip one way from Jackson to Old Faithful is a good two hours , however, a good portion of that trip on US 191 is thru Yellowstone National Park.  Is the US 191 entrance Open?

Furthermore, there are roads off US 191 that take you to other parts of the park before getting to Old Faithful.

My expectation is that our visits to the park would start right after breakfast(9AM) and end just before dinner(6 PM) and consist of mainly driving around the park with occasional stops at things that interest.  Even with the 4 hours or so of driving to and from the park, that would give us 5 hours to explore other areas of the park that we don't pass coming and going.  If we do that for 3 days that would give us 15 hours to explore the park.  

Please let me know what I am missing in this thinking!


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## DaveNV (Apr 30, 2016)

Tamaradarann said:


> Mapquest suggests that the trip one way from Jackson to Old Faithful is a good two hours , however, a good portion of that trip on US 191 is thru Yellowstone National Park.  Is the US 191 entrance Open?
> 
> Furthermore, there are roads off US 191 that take you to other parts of the park before getting to Old Faithful.
> 
> ...



Here's what you're missing:  Drive times mean nothing.  You're going to be driving nearly 100 miles from Jackson to Old Faithful, on very slow roads roads known for delays.  Speed limits are 45MPH or less, and can be MUCH less if there are animal traffic jams, lots of RVs, or any kind of road construction.  All of them are common.  

Coming from the south, you're going to spend a LOT of time in the car without seeing the more popular parts of the Park.  Five hours in the Park is nothing, if you want to see anything you have to hike to, or wait for, like Old Faithful, that erupts every 90 minutes or so.  You could be standing there a LONG time, which is going to dip into your visiting time.  And going to Yellowstone without seeing Old Faithful erupt is kind of missing the point.

Yellowstone Park's main roads are basically a Figure 8. They're the Upper and Lower Loops.  But it's a long drive from any entrance to connect with those loop roads.  Hwy 191 is the main road through the park, but calling it a "highway" is misleading.  It's a winding two-lane road, with speed limits frequently less than 25 MPH.

If you can change your reservations to ANYTHING in West Yellowstone, you're going to have a much better time.  It's ten miles from the West Entrance to Madison Junction, and 17 miles from there to Old Faithful.  But along the way in both directions you're passing a LOT of the greater attractions in the Park.  

If your goal is to enjoy Yellowstone, I think you'd have a better time if you don't try to see it from Jackson. It's just too far away.  And to be fair, Jackson has it's own backyard of beauty that needs to be seen on its own - called Grand Tetons National Park. 

Dave


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## WinniWoman (Apr 30, 2016)

Honestly- listen to all of us that have been there. We ourselves never got to visit Jackson Hole when we were there because there was just too much to see in Yellowstone and Grand Teton and it would have been too much driving. We were there for 8 days, 7 nights, but two days were spent traveling to and from the airport, leaving 6 days, and still no way could see everything and we would have loved to! Best National Park ever!

You are better to stay inside the park or in any hotel/motel in West Yellowstone or rent a home or whatever nearby, or else just be happy with seeing Jackson Hole, which I hear is wonderful, and the Tetons. 

But if your main goal is Yellowstone, staying in Jackson Hole is not a good idea.Yellowstone is just too vast and requires a lot of time to do any justice.

We stayed a mile from the West entrance and even so- once you go through the gate it is miles and miles to get into the main park and tons of driving and stopping, etc. throughout the day and early evening.We got home in the dark every night.Trust us. You don't want to stay in Jackson Hole to visit Yellowstone every day. Mistake.


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## Passepartout (Apr 30, 2016)

Tamaradarann said:


> If we do that for 3 days that would give us 15 hours to explore the park.
> 
> Please let me know what I am missing in this thinking!



You just don't know how big the park is. It's the size of Delaware and Rhode Island COMBINED. You talk about just driving around and seeing it all. IMPOSSIBLE. You can only see about 5% of Yellowstone Park from ANY road. I live less than 5 hours away and have family an hour from West, and go there nearly every year, and I have NOT seen a lot more of the park than I've seen.

What you are missing is 95% of what you say you are going out there and spending all that money to see.


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## Laurie (May 1, 2016)

Agree with all the posts. The thing about Yellowstone is that aside from some wildlife, you cannot see the main features of Yellowstone from inside your car. You have to park, get out of your car and walk all the boardwalks and paths. So the hours you spend driving from site to site are long enough as it is. Each stop can take at least a half hour and there are dozens of them. There are 5 or 6 basins, and each could warrant a half or full day, if you want to go slowly enough to really appreciate them. That's just the geothermal part, and then there is the eastern half with Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and more.

First time we went, we stayed 1 week near West Yellowstone + 1 week in Jackson. We did drive back to Yellowstone 1 day from Jackson because we hadn't been able to see the basin closest to Jackson. It was a really long day.

A few years later we went back for a second week-long trip, again to West Yellowstone because we wanted to see the parts we had missed the first time, and we looked forward to seeing many of them again.

First time was in July (week of the 4th no less) and second time in September. Visually, I preferred July because of the wildflowers, plus the longer days, even though it was fun to get a little of the white stuff in Sept. And it honestly didn't seem that much more crowded even tho it was July 4 - September is the month of tour buses from China (well, they don't drive all the way from China, but that is where the passengers are from), and some locations were so crowded we could barely get to the lookouts (and rest stops!).


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## WinniWoman (May 1, 2016)

Yes. That is true about the tour buses from China, although it didn't seem too crowded to me. That said. driving is slow going in the park due to bison and other wildlife in the road, buses, RV's and so on.

And yes- it gets dark early in Sept. -  another thing to consider which will shorten your days of traveling and sightseeing. We stayed in the park at night only once for the dinner at Old Faithful Inn and drove back to West Yellowstone from there in the dark that night.


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## Tamaradarann (May 1, 2016)

*Different Plans for 2016*

You all did a great job of convincing me that Jackson Hole is not the place to see Yellowstone.  West Yellowstone is what I consider very expensive per night for very average hotels.  I wasn't planning on spending $1400 for 5 nights, the Hampton Inn would not cost anything since I was using points.

Therefore, we have dropped the plans for Yellowstone in 2016.  Perhaps something will show up in another year at the right time that will work better for us.

Thanks for your thoughts steering me in the right direction.


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## Lisa P (May 1, 2016)

Thank you to all for posting... this is wonderful info for anyone considering a trip to Yellowstone... so it's much appreciated by others among us... like me!  
To the OP, thank for posting your question.


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## DaveNV (May 2, 2016)

Tamaradarann said:


> You all did a great job of convincing me that Jackson Hole is not the place to see Yellowstone.  West Yellowstone is what I consider very expensive per night for very average hotels.  I wasn't planning on spending $1400 for 5 nights, the Hampton Inn would not cost anything since I was using points.
> 
> Therefore, we have dropped the plans for Yellowstone in 2016.  Perhaps something will show up in another year at the right time that will work better for us.
> 
> Thanks for your thoughts steering me in the right direction.




I agree it's a good thing to postpone this trip till you can get what you want.  Since you'll have time now to plan ahead, try to get into the Worldmark timeshare in West Yellowstone, which would put you right there at the entrance.  Alternately, the timeshare at Island Park Village is a great place to stay.  It's 20 miles to West yellowstone from there, but the highway is 60 MPH or so speed limit.  Was an easy drive.  We stayed there a few years ago, and would happily stay there again.  Early June is a great time to be in the Park - there are baby animals everywhere, and the adults haven't yet moved to the high country for the Summer.

Keep in mind the greater appeal of Yellowstone is the Park itself.  The areas around it are kind of rustic, at best, so the accommodations will be something less than what you're probably used to.  I'd think you should be able to find something nice for less than $1400 for five nights.

Good luck!

Dave


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## WinniWoman (May 2, 2016)

I think we paid somewhere around $1200 (2 bedroom/2 bath) to a private Worldmark owner at West Yellowstone for 8 days/7nights. If you want me to hook you up with that person let me know. My nephew is considering renting through her as well for Sept 2017, and she was asking $1400 for a 3 bedroom. 

You will also be able to post on TUG for a rental and there are quite a number of Worldmark owners that will rent to you.


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## hntngfamly (May 2, 2016)

You might check hotels in Gardiner, MT or Cooke City, Mt. Both are located within 1-5 miles of entrances. Gardiner is just North of Mammoth. Cooke City is Northeast. We have used both as bases for the park when we go for a weekend. (We live about 3.5 hours away, so do several day trips) 
Good Luck, have FUN & please don't pet the wildlife...


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## Makai Guy (May 2, 2016)

Coming late to this thread.  Sorry.

We worked in Yellowstone National Park the summer of 2003 up until our campground closed at the end of September.  I 100% agree that using Jackson as a base of operations for seeing Yellowstone is a mistake -- it's just too far away.  We were stationed in the southern part of YNP at Grant Village on the southern part of Lake Yellowstone.  When we had our days off we'd have to go to  out of the park for groceries, etc.  When we went to Jackson it would occupy most of the day getting down there and back plus shopping.  If you were going the other way, it wouldn't leave much time to do what you want to do in the park.

I'd say the best option is to stay in the park, but that takes real advance planning and reservations.  If you stay outside the park, the best location is West Yellowstone, as it is right outside the gates and the entrance road you'd be traversing several times a day is the shortest before you get to the big figure eight loop road to the main park features.  

Yellowstone is huge.  You'll spend lots of time just getting from one part to another.  Three days would be the absolute MINIMUM time I'd recommend for seeing the park, and even then you'll only be hitting the main high spots that are right near the roadways.  Plan on doing a fair amount of walking.  For many of the features you'll be parking in lots a mile or more away from what you want to see.

If wildlife viewing is one of your "things", evening is generally best, in the large open areas like Hayden Valley.   This is another reason to stay in, or at least very near, the park -- to avoid those long drives back in the dark.

Attendance drops dramatically right around August 15.  Our more experienced co-workers said the only people coming after that were the "newly weds and nearly deads".   Except for one rainy weekend, the year we worked there September was absolutely delightful, with clear blue skies, cool-to-cold evenings, and cool-to-warm days.  The bull elk with their huge antlers come down from the higher elevations and bugle to round up their harems of females.  We're getting quite a bit older now, but if we ever go back it will probably be in September.

We love Yellowstone and we've visited the park a number of different years in different months.  Early June was also a good time to go, as others have said, from a crowd standpoint, and great for wildlife viewing while most animals are still at the lower elevations.  

From late June to Mid-August things are really crowded.  But during those busy times, all the accommodations and vendor amenities are open and functioning.  Some are shut down or operations curtailed during the less busy times.

I hope this rambling dissertation helps some for those thinking about visiting the park.  

If interested in Yellowstone, you might enjoy my photo essay from our work summer, linked below.


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## derb (May 2, 2016)

*If possible,try to spend a few nites at the lodge at
old faithful,  its an experience not to be missed. *


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## lizap (May 2, 2016)

We visited last December.  Surprisingly, it was extremely crowded, bumper to bumper traffic.  Really a shame that it has become so touristy.  Many animals we saw just stood gazing at people and cars passing by.  This is not a normal habitat.  I had visited many years ago, and it was so different..


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## Passepartout (May 2, 2016)

lizap said:


> We visited last December.  Surprisingly, it was extremely crowded, bumper to bumper traffic.  Really a shame that it has become so touristy.  Many animals we saw just stood gazing at people and cars passing by.  This is not a normal habitat.  I had visited many years ago, and it was so different..



Are you sure it was Yellowstone? The roads closed and all the facilities close the  9th of November. There is no plowing of roads. Snow coach or snowmobile is the only way into the park.

Jim


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## PigsDad (May 2, 2016)

Passepartout said:


> Are you sure it was Yellowstone? The roads closed and all the facilities close the 9th of November. There is no plowing of roads. Snow coach or snowmobile is the only way into the park.



Maybe she meant Yosemite?  Unless it was bumper to bumper snowmobiles. 

Kurt


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## lizap (May 2, 2016)

Jim, Oh my, I must be getting senile - it was the Grand Canyon NP I was referring to.  Thanks for catching my senior moment.  We were at Yellowstone in October.  Still crowded, but no where nearly as crowded as GCNP.




Passepartout said:


> Are you sure it was Yellowstone? The roads closed and all the facilities close the  9th of November. There is no plowing of roads. Snow coach or snowmobile is the only way into the park.
> 
> Jim


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## Luanne (May 2, 2016)

lizap said:


> Jim, Oh my, I must be getting senile - it was the Grand Canyon NP I was referring to.  Thanks for catching my senior moment.  We were at Yellowstone in October.  Still crowded, but no where nearly as crowded as GCNP.



Interesting.  I worked for the summer in Yellowstone in 1969.  I was up at one of the very northern resorts.  That one, and several others, closed down completely by Labor Day.  The park got pretty deserted after that.  I wasn't aware that much was open in October.


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## lizap (May 2, 2016)

Luanne, we were definitely there early October last year and covered the park by car.  Maybe some years it closes earlier than others.




Luanne said:


> Interesting.  I worked for the summer in Yellowstone in 1969.  I was up at one of the very northern resorts.  That one, and several others, closed down completely by Labor Day.  The park got pretty deserted after that.  I wasn't aware that much was open in October.


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## Deb from NC (May 3, 2016)

We went in mid- September a couple of years ago.  Beautiful weather and everything still seemed to be open...we had lunch at the Old Faithful Lodge. We rented a cabin in West Yellowstone for a week through vrbo.com and it was wonderful!  We did stop in at the Worldmark to look around while we were there and it was very nice...


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## mash84121 (May 3, 2016)

I stayed in West Yellowstone mid October last year.  The only road closure was from Tower to Grand Canyon and down to Yellowstone Lake.  So instead of a figure 8 it was like a three-pronged fork from West Yellowstone.  We were still able to hit all of the major attractions and the weather was beautiful.  I think most of the roads close in the beginning of November but check the National Park website for exact dates.


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## Laurie (May 3, 2016)

Tamaradarann said:


> You all did a great job of convincing me that Jackson Hole is not the place to see Yellowstone.  West Yellowstone is what I consider very expensive per night for very average hotels.  I wasn't planning on spending $1400 for 5 nights, the Hampton Inn would not cost anything since I was using points.


There are some decently-priced rentals in the Island Park area, and also the resort in Island Park is an exchange you can get without huge difficulty (maybe not for 2016, but maybe yes) thru a variety of exchange companies - RCI, Trading Places, and possibly others. It's a bit further than West Yellowstone, but much more doable than Jackson.


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## Passepartout (May 3, 2016)

Laurie said:


> There are some decently-priced rentals in the Island Park area, and also the resort in Island Park is an exchange you can get without huge difficulty (maybe not for 2016, but maybe yes) thru a variety of exchange companies - RCI, Trading Places, and possibly others. It's a bit further than West Yellowstone, but much more doable than Jackson.



Island Park Village is now called Timbers Condominiums. Book easily by calling direct 208-558-7502
Not real fancy, but that's not why you go to Yellowstone.
Jim


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