MT native Loc: Big Sky Country — Montana

Just remember that in September & October, you can easily have dramatic weather changes in the Park and same with the Beartooth Highway into Cooke City. Watch your weather forecasts for sure. Have a great time.

dgingerich Loc: Cape Coral, FL

You've received a bunch of good advice already and I would concur with most all of it. We were in Yellowstone last summer after not being there for over 40 years (once in 1968 as a teenager and 1977 as a young adult). Only thing I want to emphasize is to be out early if you want to see more wildlife and have less traffic. The crowds were heavy and parking was limited by 11am or so but that may be different this year with the pandemic because many of the visitors were Asian travelers. We split a week up between Grand Tetons NP and Yellowstone NP. It was good to be back at Yellowstone and we enjoyed it but thoroughly loved spending several days in the Grand Tetons (which I just drove through before) and I would go back again today to Grand Tetons over Yellowstone, but you have to see Yellowstone at least once. In Yellowstone, you can't beat Grand Prismatic Spring, the colors are unbelievable. It's a must see as much as Old Faithful.

As one who grew up in Oregon (all my family still lives there and I go back 1-2x per year) and went to college and grad school for 7 years in VA, lived in upstate NY for 7 years and now in FL (the last 34 years), my wife and I have driven the entire USA from West to East and East to West (north, south and central routes) multiple times. We've been to all 50 states and most of the National Parks (NP). So let me suggest a few other places in your route between AZ and Yellowstone that we love the most: Sedona, AZ, Grand Canyon, Antelope (Slot) Canyons at Page, AZ, along with Horseshoe Bend. Also, Bryce NP, Zion, NP in Utah, Arches NP in Moab, UT would be highly recommended along that route. After Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, I would recommend Glacier NP in MT if you have the time and want to go that far north and west. And then others would Badlands NP in South Dakota on your way back toward SC. Of course, if you have time coming or going, Colorado has tons of awesome places to see in the Rocky Mountains. My highlights over the years have been Rocky Mountain NP, driving to the top of Mt. Evans, and Pikes Peak, and Garden of the Gods.

And then for another trip, unless you have the time this time around, would be to go on out to the Pacific Northwest. I may be a tiny bit biased but the beauty of Northern California, Oregon and Washington is hard to surpass (remember, I've been in all 50 states). The variety of the Redwoods and Sequoias, the Oregon Coast, Crater Lake NP, Olympic NP, the Cascade mountains (Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Ranier, etc) are just incredible. I have some images from most of these places on my website at www.GingerichPhotoArt.com if you care to browse.

Enough for now! Hope that helps. Enjoy your retirement. Congratulations.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Antelope Canyon has been closed down the the tribe in charge. FYI.

Todd G

The West entrance has a lot of hotels.

willmscr Loc: Beloit Wisconsin

Be careful in planning this. This is, indeed, the most striking way enter the park. The pass is only guaranteed to be open between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I have been snowed-in in Cooke City in the middle of August. Several years ago, we went that way I July to introduce our daughter to the park. We ask at the Little Big Horn Battlefield if they know if the pass was open. They had no idea. We asked in Billings, the same answer. We checked again in Red Lodge. They said drive up the road and see if the gate as closed. We did and it was. We drove the back roads to the Gardner entrance.

We came through the Beartooth Pass on the way home but that direction does not give same sense of grandeur.

This road (US 212) was originally constructed be the CCC during the depression. I learned to mountain drive on it. My father and I were driving to pick up my grandmother for a visit and the best path was over the pass. I had just gotten my license and, when we got to the car, my father handed me the keys and said, "Here, you drive." The drive then was much more challenging than now. The road was narrower with few guard rails and almost no shoulder.

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

roger

Get the book "Yellowstone in a day". It's very useful as it details all that you might want to see at a particular area. That way you don't get down the road from that area and realize you missed something important. My wife and I have worked in Yellowstone once for 5 months and volunteered in Yellowstone just last year for 5 months. Wouldn't trade that for anything. Get up early. You'll miss most of the people and see most of the wildlife. Stay up through the sunset, again for the same reasons. OBEY the speed limits, maximum of 45, but mostly 35. It's for your own good and safety and for the wildlife. It's important to remember that they aren't crossing our road, our road is going through their living room! As mentioned above, please, please, please stay on the trails and boardwalks. For your own safety and good. Remember that Yellowstone is 2.2 million acres and in other years (besides this one) the visitation has been reaching 4+ million people!

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

"Yellowstone Expedition Guide" by TravelBrains is about the best of a couple dozen we have used.

"Yellowstone Treasures" by Janet Chapple is just as good but fewer pictures. Nice layout in geographical order.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I went to Yellowstone in the winter and it was spectacular. We stayed in Bozeman for one night because we flew into Bozeman airport. Then we went to Gardner and spent time in the northern part of Yellowstone such as Lamar Valley. In the winter Lamar Valley is open to normal means of transportation and there are a lot more Elk and Moose because the snow isn't as deep and the vegetation is more accessible to those grazing animals. There are also more wolf packs in the north. Then we went to the town of West Yellowstone. Lots of places to stay and lots of places to eat and shop. It's just outside of the west entrance of the park. You could spend 3 days there and not see everything. We stayed at the Brandon Iron Inn. Not a bad place. Then there's the Grand Tetons. I can't tell you anything about that other than I'd love to explore that someday too. There are places you can stay that are actually in the Yellowstone National Park too. I imagine they are a lot more money than staying in the towns just outside of the park.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

I went there from North Carolina last year. Yellowstone is big, you can't even cover all the roads inside the park in a day. If you stay outside the park you waste time driving in so my first tip would be to stay inside the park if you can still get a room. I've been there many times and find that it's best to break the stay up into two different accommodations, one on the east side and one on the west side. I like Canyon lodge on the east because it is directly beside the grand canyon of the Yellowstone so you can get your sunrise and sunset photos of the canyon and falls 5 minutes from your room. The Canyon area is also very close to one of the best wildlife valleys, Hayden Valley, so it's easy to make a few runs back and forth through the valley whenever you leave or come back to the lodge to give you the best chance of spotting wildlife. The other best stay would be in the Old Faithful area for the same reason. It gives you quick access to all the thermal areas for sunrise and sunset shots which are the best. Also the parking areas at many of the more popular sights fill up unless you go very early.

That said, if you must stay outside the park, the two closest places to stay so that you are near the park gates and don't waste any time driving to/from the park are West Yellowstone located on the center west side near the thermal areas and Cooke City/Silvergate located just outside the gates at the North East entrance. Ideally I would split time between these two locations for easy access to both sides of the park. If you want to only stay in one location then if landscapes are more important I would choose West Yellowstone as it is not only close to the thermal areas, but also has easy access to the belt road running across the middle of the park directly to the Canyon area. If wildlife is more important I would stay in Cooke City/Silvergate because as soon as you enter the park from there you are in the top wildlife spotting valley in Yellowstone, the Lamar Valley.

The other suggestion I would make is to go and come a different way, i.e., you said your are coming home through Arizona, I assume for things like the Grand Canyon, Sedona, slot canyons, Monument Valley, etc., so I would go the northern route through South Dakota and across Wyoming to see things like Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills, Custer State Park, and the Badlands in South Dakota and Devil's Tower in Wyoming.

Finally, depending on time and budget I would also spend two or three days in Jackson Wyoming for touring Grand Teton National Park. And if time and budget are really not an issue I would spend another 3 days to a week up in Glacier National Park a day's drive north of Yellowstone and stay in either West Glacier or St Mary as they are the towns at the west and east ends of Going to the Sun Road.

I did this trip last May/June (many photos posted on this forum) and I went both ways through South Dakota spending 6 days in total in the Black Hills area and 4 days at Canyon lodge in Yellowstone, 3 at Old Faithful, 4 in Cooke City, 6 in Jackson, and 6 more days split between the east and west sides of Glacier. Including driving and stops along the way the trip was 37 days and was the best time of my life. I gave that trip to myself as a 70th birthday present.

Basil_O Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Another option is to enter via the east entrance after spending some time in Cody, Wyoming. If you are coming from that direction, stopping in the Badlands, Custer State Park/ Mount Rushmore and Devil's Tower will give you plenty of excellent photo opportunities. If entering from the north or northeast, then you may wish to take a side trip to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (the North Unit) in western North Dakota. More great photo opps.

August in Yellowstone can still be pretty crowded. It gets less crowded after Labor Day. As others have said, get up early and plan to be in the park as quickly as you can. I would suggest dividing the park into quadrants and spend an entire day exploring that area. The less drive time between spots the better. While the park is gorgeous, it is best seen from outside your car and not sitting in a traffic jam (unless it is caused by wildlife!)

The Elk Rut in Yellowstone is mid to late September. The crowds start to pick up then, but it is well worth it. If getting a shot of a bull elk bugling is on your wish list, that would be the time to go. The herd near Maddison, along the Madison River, offers some excellent early morning or late evening viewing.

That time of year also affords the chance to see a Bull moose. The Tetons are then place to go for that. The road between the towns of Moose and Wilson is always a good place to start. There are plenty of fantastic places to view the sunrise from in the area as well. A google search for "Teton Photography Tips" will give you plenty of inspiration.

Congratulations of being able to take such a journey. Enjoy every moment. You have earned it.

aogom Loc: Livermore, California

go to https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/health-and-safety/ to see what is open due to the response to Covid19.

cedymock Loc: Irmo, South Carolina

Made this drive from Irmo in 2013, Grand Canyon then Yellowstone with a few NP's along the way. The 17 days I did was not enough time if you want to see things along the way. If you would like some particular information on the drive and things along the way send me a PM and will be glad to respond.

aogom Loc: Livermore, California

Also check https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/news/20015.htm to see what roads and entrances are open.
In these times what we did in the past may not apply to what we can do today.
I called a motel in Cody WY two days ago, the restaurants are open with 6 foot spacing between tables.
Not all the motels in Cody were open.

BeachLady Loc: Surfside Beach, SC

Early is my motto - I love to shoot at daylight (and just before dusk!)