Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Yellowstone.....park that is

Are the entrances open 24hr? I'm up at 4am every day and am fine with moving country early.

Should be... but has been a long since I worked/been there. 14 years.

Expect turon insanity.

Check the regs re: firearms inside national parks. Far different than NF. They're not pretty and every year you hear of someone donating theirs. That being said, the juice ain't worth the squeeze on a short trip. You won't find anything to shoot on public land that isn't in or too near the park without losing most or all of a day.
I will nearly always have a personal defense firearm with me, but again, you won't be carrying it and it's best if no one even knows you have it. All the regulations still apply.

Wear your best "stand in line shoes".

Don’t listen to these guys, everyone wants to know more than the next guy and the closest resident to Yellowstone is still a couple states away.

You can have a firearm in Yellowstone, so don’t worry about that. Leave it out of sight, but you would do that anyway.

Visit every attraction you can, don’t avoid any. Old Faithful is still inspiring, geysers and paint pots are still worthwhile. The Grand Canyon is absolutely amazing and the views from both upper and lower falls is worth any traffic that will slow you down.

No one has been in Yellowstone more than I have, and all these years I still find it interesting regardless of the traffic jams, idiots and Asians. You couldn’t design a park with as many natural wonders to see if you took all the best recreational designers and tried to come up with a better destination.

Having all this negativity and advice to go in the fall, doesn’t change the fact that Yellowstone is a magnificent Park and worth seeing, take your flyrod and camera and you won’t be sorry…

I had forgotten that the possession of firearms rules were eased a few years back.
Still don't think it would be worth bringing a rifle for a short trip including others. Just my opinion tho.

Thanks Shrap. I am trying to do this for my family and ease my personal bias. My wife is cool with bailing a few days early, but the inlaws are fading fast in their late 70's and all. I do have some nice full frame camera gear to exercise.

Go early in the morning and you will beat the gate snarls. 6:00 may be too early for some of your family, but it beats the waiting in line at the gate. West Yellowstone is the highest volume gate, you really do want to go early.

When I got my moose near Cooke City, I asked the ranger at the gate what I needed to do to go through Yellowstone with a moose when I got it. There was so much red tape, I just went through at 5:30 AM while he was still in bed and made it so much easier…

If you have time Cody is worth the side trip. The gun museum, Irma motel, etc. Went there in 95. Need to go back. The book "Death in Yellowstone" is worth the read. Fun to put the history together as you go through the park.

I don't bring my dog to Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Parks, it's just easier without having to care for him too. Has to be on a leash, not welcome on the hiking trails, not permitted in most of the buildings.

Not a lot of fun for the dog, and difficult on the owner. I just kennel mine near home if I'm going with the family.

Yellowstone is great, GTNP is real fine too. It'll be crowded, traffic will be slow, but... I try to get there every year, or at most every couple of years. I think that you can have a great time there, even in mid-summer. Yes, bring the fly rod! Need a special fishing license to fish the waters of the park as I recall, but that's easy to get.

Enjoy!

Guy

Best advice I can give is to get into the park early. By early, I mean you should be in past Mammoth by 445. Daybreak is the best time to be there anyway. And you won't have any company other than the sights and wildlife.

Get over past Mammoth and head east.Spend your morning in the Lamar, then head out of the park over Beartooth and make a day trip of that. Maybe incorporate Dead Indian Pass intoitand return via Cody. Or drive up through Red Lodge and then to the interstate, over to Livingston and back down to Gardiner.

Another day, same thing but head south of Mammoth early. Just hit what you can and what interests you and the exit the park late morning-midday. And go elsewhere.

That time of year, that is the best you can do. Be there before sunrise. You will see more and deal with way fewer tourons.

Going out the east entrance used to be a good drive for wildlife. Not sure how that stacks up anymore. Cody is ok, but big-time touristy.

View Old Faithful from. The outside deck in the lodge...grab a beer. It is upstairs, take the spiral staircase upstairs immediately after entering on your left iirc.

If you go to mill creek pm me.

Also, as I said before look into driving through the park to Cooke city and enjoy the views on the highway into Red Lodge.

Regards

Bone up on your Chinese and Japanese if you want to know what is said. Mostly Asians being the ones mucking up the traffic. They do provide some unplanned entertainment though, when they walk right up to the buffalo to snap a picture, and get launched into outer space. I haven't seen one trying to ride a bear yet.

This in spades. Change your attitude and make the best of it. Only you can decide whether you're going to have a good time or not.

High country: I also HIGHLY recommend early to mid-September for your visit!
Cancel the reservations and re-schedule.
If that is not possible then be sure to hit "Artist Point" at mid-day (noonish) for the best shadow free photography and viewing of the falls of the Yellowstone.
50 years ago the VarmintWife and I used to catch a dandy large-ish Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout every cast from the shore of Yellowstone Lake right where the highway (Buffalo Bill Scenic Byway) from Cody and the East Entrance first meets Yellowstone Lake. We use the brass looking "U" shaped bent metal lure with red dots (these are sold at all the stores in Yellowstone Park).
Cast way out and slow retrieve.
Alas this fishery was nearly wiped out when the illegally planted Lake Trout came to over-population (they eat the young native Yellowstone Cutthroats). The Cutthroat are coming back but as yet not like they used to be.
In recent years I have gone more to flyfishing anyway.
I get through the park 3 or 4 times a year now (instead of just twice a year before I retired and moved to Montana 26 years ago) and I am now accustomed to (resigned to) Bear Jambs and Elk Jambs and Buffalo Jambs and last year got into 3 Grizzly Jambs on one trip. I was even stuck in a Badger Jamb two years ago. You DON'T want to hit a Wolf jamb! Been there done that.
Be CERTAIN to travel over the OUTSTANDING Beartooth Scenic Highway via the North Entrance Cooke City to Red Lodge route - take your time on this trip stopping at every pullout and lake and glassing with binocs or spotting scopes.
Think positive and enjoy nature.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Went for a drive up the Beartooth Highway last year right after the 4th of July parade in Cody. 100% agree this is a must see while in the area. Can't remember the exact mountain goat count that we saw but I think it was around 80. Had lunch in Cooke City. Great day but most of the Park and highways leading to the pass were closed due to the incredible flooding several weeks prior. Great views to be had from the Chief Joseph highway (formerly Dead Indian) Sunlight Basin area as well.

Not really a parade guy but it was kind of entertaining. Had my 93 year old father with us, we had a good day.

Yellowstone to me is a toxic waste dump. Sits on top of a very likely volcanic disaster they say is gonna blow any day now. Been saying it. It is big. Lots of antelope and elk. The old architecture is great. A zoo of people. Too much driving but people are courteous with the stop and go wildlife watching. Getting out to see the bear was ridiculous. The poor ranger had to tell me very clearly what he wanted me to do. Maybe I'm stupid like the rest who never saw the bear. They had the buffalo roundup when we were there, which seemed totally staged and phony. They definitely missed a few. Glacier and Tetons are more spectacular, even Zion. The falls are pretty. Had no idea they called that the Grand Canyon. That's a boast. My wife loved the toxic waste pools. Even the elk eat some of it. One bull tried to get in our camper van. Weird place. You might like it....

We went last year and the Lamar Valley road was closed so we couldn't get out the N/E entrance. I've been over Beartooth pass a couple of times. That is the best most scenic drive to get into or out of Yellowstone. It was a bummer to be blocked away from the big bison herds in the Lamar.

As to firearms I've never been told anything negative about the rifle I carry in plain view on top of our gear and duffel bags. Never can tell when you might drive up on some idiot being mauled by a bear. When we spent the night in Silvergate MT. right outside the N/E gate we were warned that there was a grizzly pillaging ice chests in the back of trucks at night.

Make the best of it you can. There's only one Yellowstone. Since I was a little kid, my goal was to buy the Park and kick all the people out. Probably not going to happen so enjoy what you have. Best wishes. 👍

I won’t belabor the commentary regarding the crowds. They are just the inevitable summer scourge with which you will have to learn to tolerate.

On the hand, the Park is a big chunk of real estate, and with a little effort, you can enjoy some very special country and not have to share it with the masses. There are countless miles of maintained pack trails that have trailheads located on the Park’s road system. Find a trail that is not in a river or creek bottom and put an hour of brisk hiking into play. After which time, you and your wife can sit down and soak up the real Park in almost assured solitude…