[NDJollyMon]

Yellowstone National Park
Is my favorite camping trip. It has it all. Basic campsites, Full RV hookups, lodge rooms, scenery, lakes, rivers, mountains, prairies, wilderness, tourist areas, thermal features found no where else, and...solitude.

I love the searching and watching the wildlife. I love the endless hiking trails. I love the waterfalls. I love the vistas on the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The smell of the earth boiling below you. A treasure you must experience in your lifetime.

Here is my favorite site, and a good starting point for info:
The Total Yellowstone Page

Shoot me a message or email if you need any specific info.

Enjoy!

 

[mbeatty]

Yellowstone National Park
I love ... The smell of the earth boiling below you. A treasure you must experience in your lifetime.

I do love Yellowstone, but I don't know how anyone could love that sulfer smell.

Too much like a bad sewer dump on a windless hot summer day.

 

[wldlfnutz]

Don't be too intimidated about the sulfur smell. It is amazing how quickly you get used to it when you are in a thermal area.

This is probably one of the best places on earth to visit. We try to make the trip at least every two years. We've spent the night almost anyway you can up there (with the exception of sleeping under the stars, that's just a bit too intimidating). We've gone to bed in our tent with 50 degree weather and woken the next morning with a ft of snow and our tent starting to collapse at Grant Village Campground. Weathered a nasty thunderstorm and had lightning strike a tree not a hundred yards from our tent at BridgeBay. Spent some very pleasant nights in our popup in Canyon. Stayed in slightly heated cabins up at Lamar Buffalo Ranch at the Yellowstone Institute. Had a few comfortable nights in Grant Village Hotel. Stayed in one of the best rooms in Old Faithful Inn. Spent a few nights at Canyon Lodge with a great view of the woods. And had a very large porcupine frequent the underneath side of our trailer a few times at Fishing Bridge Campground. Overall my favorite place to stay is at Canyon campground or at Canyon Lodge Room P19. Unfortuneately now that we have our Outback, we have been relegated to mostly Fishing Bridge, as only Mammoth, Norris or Madison can accomodate our 28BH, (Grant Village can too, but they don't open until after our normal travel time). But a whole week surviving with the generator and lugging our little portable dump container around the campround can be a bit much as Mammoth, Norris & Madison have no hookups or showers near by. So I'm stuck with Fishing Bridge for now on our longer trips.

One of my favorite moments was my 28th birthday Old Faithful Inn, we enjoyed a great dinner then sat on the far east side of Old Faithful and watched old Faithful erupt as the sun set behind it. What a great way to spend a birthday.

Try going after Memorial Day through the first 2 weeks of June. There is so much going on at that time. All the wildflowers are blooming, the animals are very active and very noticeable. The bison & elk have just had their calves. And the bears can be scene everywhere. And if you are lucky you might just get to see some of the wolves. The Druid Peak pack in Lamar Valley can often be seen just before you get to Soda Butte, about 4 miles past the Yellowstone Institute. We have been fortunate enough to see them up there a few times.

Mid-summer can be quite crowded, but there are still many places to go to get away from everyone. Even on the main loop roads. If you go, try to spend at least 3 or 4 days. Get up to Lamar Valley and drive the road all the way to Cooke City, drive up to Tower Falls and you might get a chance to see some black bears continue on that road up to Chittenden Rd up by Mt. Washburn. Go by the Nex Perce picnic area and drive to the end of Fountain Flat Drive, we have had some of our more memorable bison scenes there, especially when the calves are around. Stop at the pulloffs in Hayden Valley, take your binoculars out scan the tree lines. It may not look that far away to the naked eye, but as soon as you start using your binoculars and scan the hillside, those things you thought were just rocks, turn out to be a herd of elk, and if it is spring, there is a good chance there might be a grizzly watching that same herd you are. Be careful driving, elk come out of nowhere as do bison too. Always keep your distance bison look big, but they sure can run real fast. Slow down there is so much to see.

One real word of advice, be prepared for any weather. I've seen it snow in July there, and the next day seen 80 degrees. Don't forget your binoculars telefoto lens and bird books. And most of all enjoy yourself.

 

[summergames84]

I agree - Yellowstone is a magical place. I've had the privilege to visit twice on opening weekend in May and watched a mother griz and her two cubs foraging for hours along a stream. In Sept, 02, another dream come true was seeing two wolves in the Lamar Valley area. No place like Yellowstone on Earth. I'll try to attach another good website which has lots of great photos and videos of the wildlife, including my Obsidian griz mom and her cubs.

Rays Yellowstone

 

[Y-Guy]

Humm sounds like a good place for a 2005 Summer Outback Rally if you ask me!

 

[Twins Make 4]

I agree with Y-Guy, I've never been & it sounds like we need to make some plans for '05. The family would dig it. Thanks for the info.

 

[NDJollyMon]

Wife & Kids thought I was CRAZY getting them up a 4 something a.m. to go look for wolves! I got them close enough to hear them howling, but never even caught a glimpse. Had some UP CLOSE grizzly bear experiences though! We hiked a trail, and passed within 12 feet of a sleeping griz! Talk about hair raising! We were about 7 miles from civilization! (and medical care!) We made it out alive, but the bear just watched us leave. Saw another dragging a carcass along a trail, and got some pics. We were about 10 feet away, but were in the safety of the truck.

NDJollyMon's YELLOWSTONE advice:

YELLOWSTONES MOST DANGEROUS SPECIES:
Stupid tourists!
Bad drivers!

MOST LIKELY TO DAMAGE YOUR VEHICLE:
Buffalo (Bison, whatever)
Potholes!
Stupid tourists!

MOST LIKELY TO HURT YOU:
Buffalo
Hiking down to the waterfall (I think it's the lower falls with the switchback trail!)

MOST LIKELY TO STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, WHEN TRAFFIC IS BAD:
Buffalo
Stupid tourists!

MOST LIKELY TO STRESS YOU OUT THE MOST:
Traffic
Road construction
Stupid tourists!

You might wonder why I say 'Stupid tourists!' so much. Well, chalk it up to personal experiences with them at YELLOWSTONE. I could tell stories all day, but you'll know one when you spot one!

Ok...a quick taste:

I once saw a guy try to put his kid on a buffalo for a picture. (Yes, he got hurt!)

I once saw a 'foreigner' walking down the Hot Spring terraces at Mammoth, crunching his way to the bottom, and climbing over the rail onto the boardwalk.
Apparently, he couldn't read English where it said to stay on the boardwalk with rails all around them to keep you ON THEM. Thousands of years of beauty...ruined by his lasting footprints. (yes, I almost beat him to death, and brought the law after him!)

I once was behind a guy in a Jeep Cherokee, who tried to hurry along a buffalo who was standing on the highway...by bumping it lightly. (yes, the Jeep suffered body damage when the buffalo became agitated!)

I once saw a guy try to climb into a hot spring...that was not made for human habitation. (yes, he was burned!)

Shall I continue?

You will know the dreaded: STUPID TOURIST when you see them. They are much easier to spot the the wolves!

In any respect, enjoy the worlds treasure....YELLOWSTONE.

 

[fletcherdt]

Hi new friends,
Most of you sound like you have been to Yellowstone. My oldest son uses a wheelchair, how is Yellowstone for handicapped access. Yosemite is great! Many of the trails were fine, and even if they weren't labeled that way, we rock and rolled our way through. I really need the true scoop though, because it is quite a ride up to Yellowstone. Thanks!

 

[NDJollyMon]

Here is a link on accessibility at YELLOWSTONE:

Yellowstone Access

Personally, I can't remember what they have as far as wheelchair access. This link has loads of info though.

Good luck!