PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

That's great to hear! Thank you!! We'll make sure to take that drive on Trail Ridge Road, this trip!!

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Thank you for the advice! Unfortunately, it will be toward the end of the month by the time we get to Glacier. Might have to try another trip!!

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Thank you, gunflint!! We will hope for good weather, so we can take both routes! On our return trip, we plan to stop in Fort Collins again (that will be the first or second week in October), and I'm hoping to see some good fall color in those aspens!! :) We love visiting Colorado....and it's breweries! ;)

huyenguyen408

Glacier: start the drive early, leave your car at the west end and take the shutter bus, as at the end of the day, lot of people will need bus to go east, and it'll take a long wait.
Yosemite: get in the park early as you have more time to spend, better to stay in the park for a few days to visit all famous sights, prepare warm clothes as it can be really cold at night, save time looking for parking using the free shuttle within the park, drive to Mono Lake one early morning and stay there for at least half of a day: seethe visitor center, the lake, the old volcano sight, and lunch at Lee Vining (really low price sweater, jackets are on sale there), and don't over stressed yourself on those hiking trails !
Oh, you have one of the senior national park card that you can enter free to all of these parks, right ?

SteveR Loc: Michigan

RMNP is beautiful. Even if you don't plan on taking a long hike, you should find a trail that will lead to a pond. We did when our kids were little. The scenery was idyllic and it was not far from the parking lot. We came across a guy who was fly fishing. Pond, fly fisherman, mountain in the background. Fantastic. Also, we drove to the far side of the Continental Divide. It's a wild drive. Some of the roads are on steep mountains, but there is fantastic scenery. We came across a nice stream. I got a nice photo of myself and my young daughters walking in the stream. You'll also come to a beautiful lake and small town on the left. That's about as far as I would go, though, before turning around, because it's a long drive to get back to where you were from the far side of the C.D. You should see herds of elk on the way up to the top of the C.D. and while at the top. I'd like to take the grandkids to the YMCA of the Rockies (in Estes Park) and spend several days in RMNP sometime. Have a great trip!!

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Thank you for all the wonderful information, Huyen!! Yes, we do have our parks pass. We bought it last year when hubby turned 62. We didn't get it until after the price increase, but really don't mind paying the extra $ as it supports the national parks.

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Thank you, Steve! Sounds like you had an awesome trip! Beautiful!! Hubby and I got engaged while in Estes Park in 1983. Good memories!!

Carlosu

Heading up there ourselves, at about the same time. We signed up for a couple of small group photo tours, through Xanterra (morning and evening wildlife), the Park concessionaire. They offer a number of guided tours and hikes at the various Parks. Check them out

Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

When you go to Yellowstone, make sure you go up to Mammoth Hot Springs. In September, the elk will be all over the place, and you'll see some magnificent bulls. You can see magnificent elk in other parts of the park, but Mammoth, in late September, is a very good bet.

Bird Dawg Loc: Georgia

We may "bump" into y'all in YS, GT or Yosemite. We are headed there the day before Labor Day. Check out the Photo Walkaround at Ansel Adams Gallery. Sounds like a fun experience.

lnicol3702 Loc: Stuart FL

We've just come back from Banff which is a breath takingly beautiful area and I got lots of really great photographs; my advice is get up and out super early to beat the crowds especially to Lake Louise and the Moraine Lake and Johnston Canyon. Sunrise is really early there about 5.30am ish and we were at most places by 6.30am or 7.00am at the latest.We were just leaving most places at about 9.00am - 9.30am having done and seen what we wanted to do and as we were leaving there were bus loads of tourists coming in and at the Moraine Lake you had to get a shuttle in from Lake Louise as they had closed the road to all cars. We also visited a lot of places in the evening - sun doesn't go down until 9.45pm ish so again we missed all the bus loads of tourists. The light is also very lovely at those times of day.

The other thing I found absolutely brilliant is an App called PIXEO which locates all the great places to take photographs and when you home in on one of the orange circles denoting a location it will switch to GPS directions on your phone and talk you there! There were a few places I found using this App that we'd never have come across otherwise. although its a paid App (can't remember how much) there is a free months trial so you could just use it for free during your trip. Have fun sounds like a great itinerary.

tommystrat Loc: Bigfork, Montana

Glacier National Park - it seems everyone advises to get there early to avoid the crowds. Well, I live near and photograph here and my suggestion is to get there in the middle - later afternoon, when a good number of the "get there early" crowd is already leaving. As such, most of the traffic will be heading in the opposite direction to which you will be traveling. The late afternoon and evening are perhaps the most beautiful times to photograph the park, and I have found that, unless you want to spend all day there, the few hours between later afternoon and twilight are spectacular for lighting and subject. Going to the Sun Road is amazing, but if you travel about 50 miles east and go through East Glacier and Many Glaciers, you will find spectacular vistas, big sky country, and far fewer crowds. But, it is possible that in late September there may already be snowfall, so be prepared for that! Enjoy this crown jewel of the West!

Colinus

RMNP in September poses opportunities for great aspen color and wonderful elk photos! You'll love it! Bear Lake and the Emerald Lake Trail present wonderful options for you. Sunset pics on Trail Ridge Rd. looking west toward the Never Summer Mtn. range also present great opportunities. Photo ops of elk near Moraine Park and Sheep Lakes should be good too. Truth be told, there are excellent photographs to be taken everywhere within RMNP! We will be there the last week of September again this year since it is our favorite park.

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jdub82 Loc: Northern California

I live about an hour from the southern gate into Yosemite. Going early in the day is always good advice for Yosemite. However, September is a good time to visit as the number of visitors goes down significantly in September. This is largely due to the fact that the falls are very low during the early fall, before the rains begin. I agree with the post that mentioned the importance of visiting Glacier Point, which gives you an outstanding view of the Park. Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias off Hwy. 41 near the southern gate just recently reopened after a two year restoration project, and is worth seeing.

huyenguyen408

When we visited the GNP in May last year, we drove to the Logan Pass, so 2 of our members could start the hiking to the Many Glacier Lodge, then we left our car there and took the bus to Avalanche, did the short and easy trail there to see trees and falls, then bus to Apgar Visitor Center, and around 3PM tried to take bus from Apgar back to Logan Pass and it took almost like forever as a big crowd got in line for bus going this way ! That's why I think it's better to get there very early in the morning, leave car at Apgar, and finish the drive and short hike through the Going to the Sun Road, then get back to Apgar and go home easily. We stayed near White Fish at that time. And prepare poncho/umbrella, as when it rains it rains very hard in this park. Make sure to protect your camera gear as well.