This is based upon two trips so we are certainly not experts, but based upon our experiences I would expect cold camping conditions. We could see our breath inside our tent at the end of August, lol. My daughter camped in mid-May and was also had very cold camping conditions. You will need cold weather bags at a minimum.
It isn't the latitude that makes the season iffy. It's the altitude. And be aware that park lodging is WICKED expensive. There are TONS of hotel/motels in West or Jackson. Book early. Head out early. Go on Ranger Walks. A hint on Yellowstone. It's BIG. Only 3% of it is visible from ANY road. Get out and hike.
Yes THIS! I think more people have discovered the wonders of our National Parks again. As long as they are respectful.
We did a 10 day road trip from SW MO through South Dakota (Via Iowa-to see family) this past summer. Took the kids (although older: 14, 18, 23) on a road trip from MY childhood to South Dakota, including a hike at Devil's Tower. Didn't make it to Yellowstone yet, but this was my family's vacations when I was a kid-between MN/WI, Montana/WY/SD with growing up in North Dakota. I've got pic of me as a kid in winter jacket at Old Faithful in May...and Mount Rushmore was a regular weekend trip. This area of the country is spectacular!!! I am a bit afraid with all the travel "influencers" now into the RV thing that the parks are going to get really soiled and spoiled though. Too many cannot or will not appreciate the natural beauty and will destroy it for that Insta shot to gain that extra like.
Um yeah-all us northern plain state kids know how to use a snowmobile way way before driving a car. Was running my own since I was 10...and I shudder to think of letting my own kids do that now-knowing how we'd take them onto the frozen river...LOL. This is also why I campaign harder each year I get older to move further south-have done my hard winters LOL
This is true of just about any of our National Parks though-the get out and hike part
For about the past 10 years we have observed real campground etiquette issues, as well as hiking etiquette issues. We've had people peeing in their campsites instead of using the restrooms (not cool at all when they walk away from their tent and get nice and close to ours, ugh), people walking through our campsite at all hours of day or night, and on the trails my climbing kids regularly have to deal with human poop on the trails to the point where the climbers host "clean up" parties to deal with it, and I am running into more large groups of hikers playing amplified music while hiking etc. We are moving away from the National Parks which are getting loved to death and actively looking for places a bit more off of the beaten path, or if we do go to the National Parks hiking is usually ok if the trail is steep, or once you get out a few miles. Most of the casual visitors only want to see what they have seen on Instagram and usually aren't willing to exert a lot of effort to get there. I suspect that there will be a glut of barely used RV's in a few years because these folks are doing it because it's a novelty and looks like a lot of fun on IG, but what they don't see is the effort required to get there. And no one shows the work that you have to do once you get home, lol. That is definitely the worst day of camping.
That sounds so bad-and afraid it will be worse now.
Right now trail difficulty is the only thing that works out for us. 1000' vertical gain or trails over 3 miles seems to thin the crowds. And you are still with them at the beginning and when you return. It's just a big change from the past. We never had "the place to ourselves" but you could avoid crowds as long as you didn't go on holidays or even some summer weeks. Now it's just as crazy off-season. We have found some really nice trails by looking for less visited places.
