Yellowstone - spring or fall?

[bobatkins]

I've been to Yellowstone in the fall (late Sept) quite a few times,

but I've never been there in the spring. I'd be interested in the

experiences of Yellowstone "veterans" who have visited in both

seasons. Thinks like how crowded the park is in early June vs. late

September. How the wildlife photography oportunities compare and so on. You can include the Tetons too if you've visited there in both

seasons!

[simon_allenby]

Bob,

For the last eight plus years I have been fortunate to visit Yellostone in both the spring (usually the visit duration is from mid May to the second week of June) and the fall (mid September to mid October). Though I have no personal preference, depending on your photographic interests, both times offer outstanding photo opportunities. The number of visitors seems to be about equal between spring and fall, and as you may expect the crowd grows each year. Though the number of people in the Park is probably about the same between spring and fall, with Dunraven pass not usually opening until late May or early June (dependant on funding for plowing and the amount of snow fall) tends to isolate the North east corner i.e. Lamar Valley. For this reason in the spring I stay in Gardiner (if you have an interest I can provide you with an introduction to an exceptional place to stay).

For me autumn usually revolves around photographing the rut or fall color, spring around new borns, bears, spring flowers.

From my prospective the benefits of a spring visit are as follows:

1) .Calving -- obviously each year has slight variances but I have found the following dates to be a reasonable guideline -- averages taken from my past notes (this year looks to be early):

a) Elk calving begins around May 22

b) Bison early May

c) Pronghorn June 3

d) Bighorn Sheep May 27

e) Moose June 5

2).Bears -- large snow pack, winter kills, and elk calving keeps grizzly population at lower elevations and thus easier to spot and photograph (my best sucess has been in Lamar valley and Hayden valley). Generally the pelts are in good condition.

3).Wolves -- as adults are collared I don't find them to be a good photographic subject. However, last year the rose creek packs den was visible from the road (Lamar valley) and I was able to get some good photographs of the five pups.

4).Birds

a) Osprey -- good opportunities in the canyon for soaring birds, nests. Over the last several years have photographed a particular nest site which has provided shots of adult chick feeding, and fledging.

b) Trumpter Swans -- seem to always be viewable on the Madison river.

c) Great Gray Owls -- have done very well with these subjects though they can be hard to spot.

d) Sandhill Crane -- not a large population but good photo opportunities exist.

e) Pelican -- lots of opportunity particularly on the Yellowstone river and at Oxbow (Teton).

5).Herbivores -- the coat condition (poor/shedding) of most of these adult subjects requires you to be creative i.e. silhouettes etc.

6).Flowers -- if interested I can send you a detailed listing of times and locations which I have found to be sucessful -- as it will be rather lengthy did not want to bore readers by including it here.

I highly recommend a spring visit. Please contact me directly if I can be of any help.

Regards -- Simon

[ted_hendy]

Bob,

I've only been to Yellowstone in the spring once, two years ago. I was there in early June. I've also been there in the fall. Though I don't have much experience there I would say it boils down to what you want. If you want landscapes and flora spring gives you some shots you won't get in the fall, the rivers are roaring from the melt, fresh growth is beginning. I don't recall if there were any wildflowers yet. For newborns it's great. By early June the buffalo young were already traveling well with the herds. Elk young were visible. Although you need to be MUCH more sensitive to the animals now than in the fall. Now for adult elk, they were about the mangiest critters I've ever seen. They were between winter and summer coats. Not very pretty, but very natural. I would say that there were far more tourists in late September than the first week of June. Bottom Line, if I could only make one trip I would go for Autumn every time. On the other hand if I've done autumn and wanted something different I'd go in mid June. But I would also plan on concentrating on landscapes and closeups instead of the animals.

Ted.

[johnny___]

There are many beautiful areas in Wyoming where tourists are not as thick as the "Stone". Don't get me wrong the park is fantastic, the rest of WY. is pretty incredible. Living in Wy. I may be a little bias. Check out the areas.

[bobatkins]

I'm sure there are lots of great areas in WY, but if you had only

a week or two to spend there, where would you go that gives you

greater photo-ops than Yellowstone and the Tetons?

[simon_allenby]

Bob,

Not discounting the post by Johnny, Wyoming does have some fantastic photographic possibilities/opportunities and he is truely fortunate to reside where he does. However, Yellowstone, Tetons and I might add Glacier (not an unrealistic drive from Yellowstone) offer tremendous photographic opportunities, particularly for someone with a limited time frame, in fact there are few places anywhere which offer both the diversity and number of opportunities in a relatively small area. Your original question delt with Spring versus Fall, this question may be best answered by asking the question what subjects and types of images you are looking for, the answer will determine which season is best for you. If your concern is the number of people, as stated in my above post, I believe there is not a lot of difference between the two times. However I have found there are still many parts of Yellowstone which are relatively uncrowded ie. the old stage coach road and the road out to Gardiner cemetery (old Gardiner Livingstone road) to name a few, and if you are willing to hike the list is almost endless (99.9% of visitors stay within 100 yds of the road). You indicate you have made several trips to Yellowstone in the Fall, I am fairly certain you will not be disapointed by a Spring trip. Incidently something I suggest adding to your itinerary, regardless of fall or spring, would be a side trip to the Bear Tooth easily accessed from the northeast corner of the park. If I can add or provide any further advice please feel free to contact me.

Regards --- Simon

[hal_davey]

Bob; My wife and I have visited the Jackson/Tetons/Yellowstone many times over the last ten years. If you like fewer people around go in the last week of May and catch the Frontier Days in Jackson. Everything is freshly painted, and the help is not yet surly. I personally like spring better in the Teton valley. The animals are not yet spooked by the hordes of summer and there are many young animals to photograph. If you stay in Jackson it is an easy drive at four AM to Oxbow Bend to catch the morning sunrise. Nothing beats sitting quietly by the bank and watching the bever swim past a couple of feet away, the Moose and her calf swimming across to your side, coyotes stalking through the grass near by. But of course the mosquitos dine on you while you are silent. I burn film from pre-dawn to about seven when the dumb noisy tourists show up and scare everything away. You need to look for wildlife at sunrise and sunset - during the day they sleep out of sight (and so should you.)

Hal Davey

[steven_phipps]

I may be too late, but I just ran across your question. My wife and I went to Yellowstone/Tetons in the last week of May to the first week of June last year. (On the day we left the Old Faithful Inn was charging $150 a night for our $75 room.) So, crowds were minimal. Traffic in the park was very low. Pulling off of and onto the roads was a breeze. Animals were all over the place. We saw it all- grizzlies and cubs, moose, elk, buffalo, bison, baby animals......

 

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The pass to the northeast was not opened until June 6 or so because of snow. On the way into the park from the south, there was a blanket of snow everywhere and the lakes were frozen. In the Old Faithful area it was springlike, and up by Montana it was gorgeous.

 

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So my vote is spring because the variety of conditions is astounding. I have pictures of arid geyser landscapes with swollen rivers flowing by, and frozen pounds surrounded by snow, shot on the same roll. Going early or late season lets you avoid the people factors, but I liked spring because of the abundance of different vistas.

[larry h.]

Bob or others: What are the conditions like in Yellowstone and the Tetons during early April? I am considering going there in the April 5-13 time frame. Is everything still snowed in? Are the roads open? Are all the lodges open? Will the snow be so mushy that we can't really get around? My goal is to go there when there aren't a lot of tourists, yet I'll still be able to see/photograph all the sights, including wildlife (but I imagine no flowers at that time). Forgive me if these questions sound naive, but I have never been to Yellowstone, nor to high altitudes during spring (or winter). We also get precious little snow where I live now, but have lived in snowy country before.

[james_zylstra]

<p>I have always gone to Yellowstone in either July or August and have enjoyed my trips there tremendously but Ive been told by so many people that I should come in late May or June, due to my active interests in wildlife viewing (mostly Wolf & Grizzly). Does anyone know how quick Slough Creek Campground fills up during late May to mid June? Im curious because weve camped at Chief Joseph Campground near Cooke City and couldnt seem to get to Slough Creek early enough to get a spot until we finally got one after 5 attempts but we had to get up and arrive there before 7am. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.</p>