Yellowstone dates for 2024

I prefer June to September. I go every year for 2 weeks and have settled on June as being best for me. I've been in both as well as every month except November, lol. This year I am going to a Yellowstone Forever birding class on Raptor Migration in September. Just made my reservatios less than an hour ago for Gardiner.

There are not many closures in June - all roads are typically open by Memorial Day weekend. There are a couple of dirt side roads that don't open until later in June as they need to be prepped. Beartooth Highway out the NE entrance to Red Lodge also opens Memorial Day weekend. Will your days be split between Yellowstone and Grand Tetons or will you have other time for GTNP?

There will still be snow on some of the hiking trails in June especially places like Mt Washburn and Avalanche Peak. Otherwise there are plenty of hikes on trails and in geyser basins to keep you occupied. For myself, I prefer wildlife in June. The babies are just out and are adorable. This last June I saw a number of bears - more black than grizzly but I'm a birder so that didn't matter much.

Your take on Sept is accurate as far as I am concerned. Most years there start to be smoke issues in mid-August to later in September when the snows come and extinguish them. There has been a little smoke drift this year early from wildland fires in Canada but nothing really that impedes visits or photography.

Crowds are about the same in either of your time frames - maybe a touch less in June.

Reservations for in -park lodging for next June have already opened. September 2024 lodging reservations will open Sept 5, 2023. Book only thru the official concessioner, Xanterra, at www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com Do NOT book thru a 3rd party (the ones that come up first on a googlesearch are 3rd parties ) as they charge a 10% booking fee and have horrible cancellation policies.

Here is a link to my FB photos from June 2023. I have them open to the public as I also post links on the Trip Advisor Yellowstone website:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10221714242391381&type=3

If I haven't overwhelmed you, here is a link to my TA trip report from June:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60999-i481-k14434598-Trip_Report_June_8_18_2023_YNP-Yellowstone_National_Park_Wyoming.html

Here's a TR from the same time in June from a friend who lives in Billings and her photographer grandson. They are WAY more in to wildlife than I and get wonderful pictures.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60999-i481-k14428799-Trip_Report_Yellowstone_Park_June_8_12_2023-Yellowstone_National_Park_Wyoming.html

Your Yellowstone pictures are beautiful! I was only there once, in 2002, with my late husband and our two sons on a cross country trip but it has remained my favorite national park. We camped a few nights and spent a night in the Old Faithful Lodge. Wonderful memories. I would love to return some day, maybe even a winter trip…

Our timing decision was based on when school was mostly back in session and fewer families crowding the parks.

I would love to return some day, maybe even a winter trip…

We did a 7 day February trip (3 days at Mammoth Hot Springs and 4 nights in a Snow Lodge cabin). It was wonderful!

As for smoky skies, in northern Minnesota we had 23 air quality alerts for the season on June 27, and we are probably over 30 now. The smoke is coming from Canadian fires which seem to be earlier and more intense as the seasons go by, so I wouldn't choose the time based on that. on.

I like seeing the babies in the early season and hiking in the late season.

Last summer I had the June vs August dilemma. I chose June because of fires.
It snowed, though I knew it was a possibility. There were parts that still had a decent amount of snow.

We were there when it flooded and closed. I suppose it could flood at any time, but being June the ground I’m sure was not completely thawed.
I’m not sure I’m going to take into account fires from here on. We’ve had terrible air most of summer in Wisconsin this year from the Canadian fires.

As far as smoke, I think you folks in the mid-West have had it worse than we have out West so far this year. We've really only had a very few days here in N. Idaho where smoke was a slight issue this summer. Ditto for Yellowstone. Nothing over my June visit this year but I think you MN/WI folks were getting it already. BTW, BEFORE Covid and the availability of N95 masks I used to keep a stash of them for summer months here in the Mountain West. I always have them in my Yellowstone go-bag.

@MNAnnie, Winter is an awesome time and a totally different trip! I am so happy you all stayed 4 nights at Snow Lodge + extra time at Mammoth. What an excellent time you had! I went 4 winters via snowmobile and was just pole-axed at the beauty. Of course I lived in FL then so snow was an exceptional treat, lol!!

@ Jenny : As far as floods....the flood in June was a 500 year flood. I've never experienced that with all the times I've gone in June so honestly that would not keep me from traveling then. Well, the park had never experienced anything like that either! I, too, was in the park the day it was evacuated but fortunately was headed to GRand Tetons. I'd been there for a week and had driven Beartooth Pass a few days before. I was shocked at the high temps and the heavy melt going on up at 10,000'. Seeing the devastation this year was just shocking. They are coming along on reconstructing the flood damaged segments on the NE entrance road. The temporary North Entrance road is paved and it will be years before they settle on the best tack to take for a rebuild.

SBOH, thank you for the kind words. I just use an iPhone so get what I get, lol.

Stan...unfortunately that has been everyone's tactic, so much so that September is pretty busy until the end when the weather gets "iffy" and there is more of a chance of snow and Road Closures. There is a drop in visitation the 3rd and 4th weeks of August but it's often pretty hot then. Starts to perk back up over and after Labor Day these years. I've gone several times then (last time I had a major birthday which is end of August, I went over there to spend it in my favorite place besides Paris, haha). If you go much before Memorial Day you miss out on the Canyon to Tower Road being open and that area is rich for Black Bear.

I hate to bombard people with my Trip Reports but here is a link to my TA TR from June 2022 with the flood.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g28973-i480-k13995725-Trip_Report_YNP_GTNP_June_6_June_16_2022-Wyoming.html

FB photos from June 2022 - not many since my visit was cut in about half.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10219893399271441&type=3

Open invitation to anyone - if you are planning a Yellowstone trip, I'm happy to help you!

Thanks everyone! We're still discussing & will make some plans in the nest week or 2. We're actually on vacation now. Look forward to reading your trip reports Pam & seeing your photos. Right now we are leaning towards June.

"We're actually on vacation now."

hahaha!! It's always best to plan your next vacation while you are on your current one. Wait until you get home if you are going to book in park lodging. Xanterra's website is balky and better on a laptop than a mobile device.

I totally agree with this " It's always best to plan your next vacation while you are on your current one. " because you are full of enthusiasm and already have so much energy :D

Hi everyone! I just wanted to follow-up on this post as I'll likely be asking for more advice here soon. Since we returned from vacation we found out we will need to drive a family members car from the Seattle area to Boston. We're waiting for the dates on this before we commit to anything in the May/June time frame.

Our plan is to obviously fly out & then he & I will drive the car to the East coast. We'll only be able to take 2 weeks off to do this so not a ton of time but with weekends, sharing the drive & hopefully long days we can make it work where we see some things on the way.

Once we get the dates that will help us figure out the route. All I know so far is the move will happen in May. Fingers crossed its later May!

You may want to explore having the car shipped and taking a vacation you really want rather than trying to make the long drive palatable along the way.

We did Yellowstone and Grand Teton recently, in early August, it was great.

@Deborah…laughing as I re-read this thread. You were on vacation when you first posted, I’m currently lying in my hotel room bed on Orkney looking out the window at blue skies and gorgeous water!!

Do let us know when you find out your dates. I can make some route and itinerary suggestions for how to handle things in May if you’re there before all the road segments are open.

Too funny Pam! That would be awesome! I'll post as soon as I know. I made this drive once before 30 (Ack!) years ago solo in 5 days from Eastern PA to Ft. Lewis. I always wanted to do it again but have more time. This will be better but still not quite what I had in mind.

I'm constantly thinking about where to go nex & often multiple trips at a time. Being on holiday just makes me want more holiday! I cannot wait till retirement!

and taking a vacation you really want rather than trying to make the long drive palatable along the way.

Driving to a domestic location is I think usually preferable to flying, when possible. It puts things in geographic and cultural perspective. Flying everywhere domestically means missing out, IMO.

I think you folks in the mid-West have had it worse than we have out West so far this year.

The absolute worst air was about June 16, when incredibly smoke from eastern fires (Quebec) and smoke from western fires (Alberta, BC) blew 1000+ miles, and from opposite compass directions, and somehow merged. I still haven't figured out how that happened.