Community Forums

2cyber71 · 08-19-2021, 08:35 AM

I just seen on the Montana Now News that Yellowstone will have timed ticketing next summer.
I’m very glad to see this.

We went to Glacier this year and the park was not crowded and we had parking everywhere we went.

If you went into Glacier after 5 pm it was packed.

SeeTheUSA · 08-19-2021, 10:04 AM

Might …

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...n-not-imminent

Probably would help.

J Birder · 08-19-2021, 10:48 AM

What Yellowstone really needs is a fix for their parking problem. Lately, we've been going there after Labor Day, and it is still difficult to park at the more popular locations.

Some National Parks (Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce) have implemented shuttle bus service as a fix. I understand that it would be much more expensive at Yellowstone, but probably better than increasing the size of the existing parking areas.

Joel

twogypsies · 08-19-2021, 04:02 PM

There was talk a couple years back about implementing shuttle buses in Yellowstone and folks park outside. Once you parked at your campsite or hotel you would have had to use the shuttles.

Teklanika campground in Denali Nat'l Park is like that.... park and use the shuttles only. It works great.

J Birder · 08-19-2021, 04:10 PM

Zion works that way too.

Joel

groveln · 08-19-2021, 06:27 PM

I was there from 7/18-7/26 RV'd at Headwaters Flagg Ranch. I also was there in 2017 same time of year & this year was extremely crowded everywhere in that park!! Traffic was so backed up at times at some of the attraction..parking at any attraction was impossible & I was riding a motorcycle & even had a hard time finding a place to park it..that's never ever happened to me before. The key was to get to anywhere in Yellowstone VERY VERY EARLY!! I saw traffic lined up coming from the south on Grand Loop Rd to get out of Yellowstone's WEST Entrance backed up for miles one late afternoon...you heard right get out & leave Yellowstone.

dustydave · 08-21-2021, 04:44 PM

So when is the earliest you can go to Yellowstone after labor day and not be crowded?

J Birder · 08-21-2021, 06:34 PM

Actually, the crowds thin out a few days before Labor Day, because all the kids are going back to school.

You do risk getting snow. These photos were taken the 2nd week of Sept., 2016.

Joel

aknavy · 08-22-2021, 12:02 AM

We've been hanging out around Jackson WY, Island Park ID, and Gardiner WY for the last month and have had zero issues with parking in Yellowstone, and less then 10 minutes in line to got thru the various entrances. We've spent the weekends in Yellowstone, as well as a few weekdays.

MADP4301 · 08-22-2021, 06:37 AM

We just completed three days in the park going in daily from West Yellowstone. We had no issues seeing all the big attractions before 11AM. By 2PM we left because everything was overrun with crowds. I would go again mid August just get up early and go in around 7 AM and plan to leave early afternoon.

We felt sorry for those coming in at 2 PM. One day there was about a 4 mile traffic jam. They easily lost an hour trying to get somewhere.

J Birder · 08-22-2021, 08:49 AM

You two who had no didn't find Yellowstone crowded, either have magic wands, or didn't try to park at Grand Prismatic Spring, or the north rim of the canyon, or the store at Tower, or at any of several other attractions.

You're right, about it not being as crowded in the morning, that's because the crowds are still in line at the entrance gates, trying to get in. As for leaving at 2:00 p/m. every day, I will have come a long way. I don't want to give up 5 hours every day, when I could be seeing more attractions, or taking another hike.

When we go to Yellowstone, we go for two weeks. We camp inside the park, so we don't have to deal with the entry lines. Still, I estimate that we loose close to one day trying to park.

Joel

MADP4301 · 08-22-2021, 04:29 PM

Just to be clear there were no lines at 07:00 for entry. We were pleasantly surprised that parking was no issue anywhere, even for our dually long bed truck before say 11 AM. We drove to the popular attractions first thing then the smaller ones later.

7 hrs was enough each day for our kids (9&11) so leaving around 2 worked well for us. The west entrance is great as it’s fairly close to the main attractions.

This was my 3rd time visiting. Last time in 2009 we stayed inside the park and it was a lot easier to get around. It was also very crowded but we went late July then not mid August. The time before that was 1987 and it wasn’t very crowded from what remember but I was only a teenager then!

Isaac-1 · 08-23-2021, 02:44 PM

I don't see this working given the size of Yellowstone, as so many others have said, the problem is lack of parking, shuttle buses are not going to be a working option here either due to the size of the park, plus again where do people park to board the shuttle buses. Shuttle buses work at places like the Grand Canyon because the complete bus loop only takes maybe an hour or two for the longest loop with dozens of stops along the way. How do you handle this in Yellowstone, where just driving either the upper or lower loop without stopping is a half day affair on a good day without animals blocking the road.

This is not to say that there are not places where shuttle buses could be used, like perhaps running one from the Canyon visitor center to the Canyon loop drive, or perhaps from Grant Visitor center to West Thumb Geyser basin, where buses could make the loop on a regular basis running every 10-15 minutes. Running buses Madison to Old Faithful might work, but again you need to expand parking as as those visitor centers parking lots are already at capacity much of the time.

Dutch Star Don · 08-23-2021, 05:40 PM

I would hate to see any type of ticketing or time stamping, especially operated by the Government. It's almost impossible to get a campground and then you have to worry about getting a spot or time limit in the park. We just don't need any more park rules made by people who aren't involved in how the parks actually work.