May vs June to visit Deadwood, SD and Glacier National Park

Two bucket list areas.  We are still relative newbies at this.  We wish to avoid crowds but we enjoy nice weather.  We have chains for the RV, but, like CPR, we don't EVER want to use them!  We figured that June would be the nicer weather, but with school out we might have to fight for RV sites. With that being said, we are leaning more toward May and hope to have a nice, leisurely trip and see some pretty country.  We have sketched out 25 days total (round trip from CA) and that's flexible.  We plan to spend a week or so in the Badlands area, then scoot over to Glacier National Park and spend another week or so in that area, just exploring.  Straight shot home from there.  Advice?

Be aware that Glacier area has had a LOT of snow this year.  Check with Glacier park as to the expected date for the "Going to the Sun HWY" to open this year.  It often does not open till late June or even early July. 
Also be aware that that area can have snow any month of the year so be prepared for cold weather.

In my opinion, September is a better time to visit and I lived in MT, Bozeman - Livingston area for many years, grew up there and then retired there.

The Going-to-the-Sun Road through Glacier National Park receives a huge amount of snow. For this reason most of the road is closed through the winter. Last year the road opened June 16, which is pretty early. A few years ago we went there and were the first vehicle on the road and I think it was June 26.
Note that anything longer than 23ft is not even allowed on the Going-to-the Sun Road, so don't count on this road as a throughway back home. With your RV you'll be skirting south around the park, use a campground on either (or both) east and west side and take the free shuttles from there.

So I strongly suggest that you keep a close eye on the NPS website about Glacier. They will post there when the road will open. I know that S Alberta had lots of snow this winter, so the road  opening might be in the 2nd half of June.

As far as "fighting for RV sites"... why don't you simply reserve a site in advance?

Regarding the Badlands, there is no better friend than NPS websites. For example they give you a good weather overview: https://www.nps.gov/badl/planyourvisit/weather.htm

With all RV planning outside the high season: check weather forecasts online. Check weather averages. Reserve sites in National Parks and State parks and you'll be much more relaxed since you won't have to arrive by 3PM(or earlier)  to try to get a site.

And about those chains: stay FAR AWAY from using snow chains on your RV. Simply avoid snow and that is not difficult.  RVs and snow just don't go well together. Also when you plan your route, it is so simple to study weather forecasts. There are even many webcams so you can see what the road looks like.

I live in Alberta and we often drove our RV south in the winter so we have lots of "RV in the winter" experience. You don't mention what kind of RV you have but my advise would go for anything larger than a van type Class B (like a Roadtrek or Pleasureway).

Good luck and enjoy!
Elly

The later the better.  Until it starts snowing again.  Glacier has a very short season and this year will be worse.  The east side of the park set records for all time snowfall.  It was a very brutal winter and roads won't be cleared quickly.

http://www.ktvh.com/2017/02/pictures-of-the-historic-record-breaking-snow-near-glacier-national-park
http://www.krtv.com/story/37628225/heart-butte-and-browning-still-reeling-from-record-snowfall

  As far as South Dakota goes, I grew up there,  May would be a great time to avoid the crowds. Temperatures will still be on the cool side, but sometimes you get a nice string of pretty days. I would suggest you stay in the Black Hills area and take the toad to the badlands. It?s only an hour or so drive. Plenty to see in the Black Hills to easily fill your week, Badlands you can see in a day easily.  I?m going to SD in a couple weeks with my brother and nephew to fish for a few weeks at the Oahe Reservoir in Pierre (not taking the toy hauler this time). I rented one of those little state park ?camping cabins? at the Oahe Downstream campgrounds. Then we are going back in June with the camper and staying somewhere around Hill City, not sure where, she made the reservations....I just go where she tells me. I love the beauty of the mountains out west, but I?m not a fan of the crowds during warmer weather. We live in the middle of the woods with our three dogs for a reason. It?s like camping out every day, with amenities. ?

Hey Stinkie, our travel plans this summer include a stop in the Badlands in the first part of June on our way to Oregon and Washington coasts.  On the way back in August we plan to stop in Glacier. Give us a holler if you'd like to meet up.

We went to Glacier in August and stayed in the Mary Lake Campground, we managed to get spots for several days although we had to move around a bit.  Outside the park there were several campgrounds which were not full.  I cannot say how good or bad they were but there were spaces.

You certainly need to check the weather though.  If you cannot get there, why not try Yellowstone or the Tetons, again busy but you could probably get spots in either or both and they are well worth a visit.  Lots of wildlife, the Tetons are big spiky mountains like Glacier. 

You are going a long way though to get to South Dakota depending where you are in CA.  The badlands at Borrego Springs are nice  ;D

There is another post about SD which you will most likely find useful

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,111188.msg1019896.html#msg1019896

Jim Godward said:

Be aware that Glacier area has had a LOT of snow this year.  Check with Glacier park as to the expected date for the "Going to the Sun HWY" to open this year.  It often does not open till late June or even early July. 
Also be aware that that area can have snow any month of the year so be prepared for cold weather.

In my opinion, September is a better time to visit and I lived in MT, Bozeman - Livingston area for many years, grew up there and then retired there.

Click to expand...

We are well aware of the highway closure across the park.  Our current plan is to stay at the West Glacier KOA and just explore the accessible areas, including Whitefish, etc.  We considered the September/October option, but that time of the year is the nicest here at home and we have lots of company.  We also considered waiting until June, but investigating that option, it appears that many of the campgrounds I was interested in had been booked for months in advance already!!  That tells me that this RV park thing is getting out of hand for us old people.  We would rather travel in less desirable weather than to be with crowds of people/kids.

Elly Dalmaijer said:

The Going-to-the-Sun Road through Glacier National Park receives a huge amount of snow. For this reason most of the road is closed through the winter. Last year the road opened June 16, which is pretty early. A few years ago we went there and were the first vehicle on the road and I think it was June 26.
Note that anything longer than 23ft is not even allowed on the Going-to-the Sun Road, so don't count on this road as a throughway back home. With your RV you'll be skirting south around the park, use a campground on either (or both) east and west side and take the free shuttles from there.

So I strongly suggest that you keep a close eye on the NPS website about Glacier. They will post there when the road will open. I know that S Alberta had lots of snow this winter, so the road  opening might be in the 2nd half of June.

As far as "fighting for RV sites"... why don't you simply reserve a site in advance?

Regarding the Badlands, there is no better friend than NPS websites. For example they give you a good weather overview: https://www.nps.gov/badl/planyourvisit/weather.htm

With all RV planning outside the high season: check weather forecasts online. Check weather averages. Reserve sites in National Parks and State parks and you'll be much more relaxed since you won't have to arrive by 3PM(or earlier)  to try to get a site.

And about those chains: stay FAR AWAY from using snow chains on your RV. Simply avoid snow and that is not difficult.  RVs and snow just don't go well together. Also when you plan your route, it is so simple to study weather forecasts. There are even many webcams so you can see what the road looks like.

I live in Alberta and we often drove our RV south in the winter so we have lots of "RV in the winter" experience. You don't mention what kind of RV you have but my advise would go for anything larger than a van type Class B (like a Roadtrek or Pleasureway).

Good luck and enjoy!
Elly

Click to expand...

We will be approaching from the West side and will be staying at the West Glacier KOA.  We do know about the road being closed and have planned other activities in the nearby areas. It sounds like the weather, according to your recommended site, can vary drastically at that time of the year, so we will have to be prepared. We had considered waiting until June, but when checking on campgrounds back in late February, many of the places where we wished to stay were already booked!!  That tells me that this RV thing is getting a bit out of hand.  We really would rather travel in less desirable weather than have to deal with crowded campgrounds and points of interest.  We make some sacrifices for some serenity!

Boonieman said:

  As far as South Dakota goes, I grew up there,  May would be a great time to avoid the crowds. Temperatures will still be on the cool side, but sometimes you get a nice string of pretty days. I would suggest you stay in the Black Hills area and take the toad to the badlands. It?s only an hour or so drive. Plenty to see in the Black Hills to easily fill your week, Badlands you can see in a day easily.  I?m going to SD in a couple weeks with my brother and nephew to fish for a few weeks at the Oahe Reservoir in Pierre (not taking the toy hauler this time). I rented one of those little state park ?camping cabins? at the Oahe Downstream campgrounds. Then we are going back in June with the camper and staying somewhere around Hill City, not sure where, she made the reservations....I just go where she tells me. I love the beauty of the mountains out west, but I?m not a fan of the crowds during warmer weather. We live in the middle of the woods with our three dogs for a reason. It?s like camping out every day, with amenities. ?

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Thank you!  Avoiding the crowds is EXACTLY what we want!

MN Blue Skies said:

Hey Stinkie, our travel plans this summer include a stop in the Badlands in the first part of June on our way to Oregon and Washington coasts.  On the way back in August we plan to stop in Glacier. Give us a holler if you'd like to meet up.

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As it turns out, we will be doing our traveling in the month of May, so that misses you all around!  I would sure like to hear about your trip and what the crowds and traffic is like!  Have fun!

jackiemac said:

We went to Glacier in August and stayed in the Mary Lake Campground, we managed to get spots for several days although we had to move around a bit.  Outside the park there were several campgrounds which were not full.  I cannot say how good or bad they were but there were spaces.

You certainly need to check the weather though.  If you cannot get there, why not try Yellowstone or the Tetons, again busy but you could probably get spots in either or both and they are well worth a visit.  Lots of wildlife, the Tetons are big spiky mountains like Glacier. 

You are going a long way though to get to South Dakota depending where you are in CA.  The badlands at Borrego Springs are nice  ;D

There is another post about SD which you will most likely find useful

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,111188.msg1019896.html#msg1019896

Click to expand...

Thank you for the info!  Yes we have a long trip planned, with S. Dakota first, then approaching Glacier National Park from Missoula, Montana on the West side.  We have been to Yellowstone and the Tetons, but the GNP is somewhere that we haven't been, so that is the reason.  It was sort of an afterthought, added on to the South Dakota trip, like "as long as we are that far away...."  We are coming from the central coast of CA.

We live in Whitefish. As long as you know GTTS Road will be closed May and June, May could be the better choice. Crowds will be less and May is often nicer weather as we call June our month of rain. As has been stated, this currently is a brutal winter in terms of snow (it snowed more today!) So who knows what this May and June will be? We are taking the coach and heading south on Sunday!!!

Update: We traveled from May 1 to 28.  We did run into some rainy weather but nothing that put a damper on the trip.  As expected, the highways and campgrounds were not crowded and the landscape was definitely green and beautiful.  Being off-season, we saw Deadwood when it was really Dead, and same for Sturgis, but that was OK with us.  Some places were surprisingly crowded, like the Big Horn National Monument.  Even mid-week the place was packed!  And BTW, if someone says you can drive a motorhome through there, do not believe them!  Ours is only 22 feet and we almost got in a major jam! We looped around quickly and got the heck out.  Also, the same for West Glacier National Park.  Of course the Going to the Sun road is closed past the Lake McDonald Lodge, but even off-season we ended up having to park about 1/4 mile down the road and hike to the lodge!  Like someone else said, you have to be sitting at the ranger station when they open at 8 am to get a parking spot.  This new phenomenon is called OVERTOURISM.  We were a little disappointed with how big city Whitefish actually was compared to our imagination.  Also we didn't realize that the forest almost completely hides the lake and the only people who can see it are the property owners.  We did stop and enjoy lunch at the Whitefish Lodge which does overlook the lake, and found a small park with a boat launch on the other side.  The town itself is pretty commercialized and unremarkable.  Driving in the area is kind of a nightmare due to the amount of traffic.  NOT what we thought.

We were mostly happy with all of the campgrounds.  We chose quite a few KOAs for some reason.  I guess we like amenities, although we rarely use them.  One thing we noticed was that even if the campground was empty, we would be placed in a site among other RVs.  This was usually OK if we were only spending one night.  But when we had booked 4 nights at the West Glacier KOA and the whole place was empty and they parked us right next to the only other RV, we pitched a fit.  They were gracious and did agree to move us and all was good.  We enjoyed our privacy for one night, and then, sure enough the next day we had others around us again!  I guess they liked the spot we picked.  Are we just a little antisocial?  Probably.  There's a really long story behind that one!!

One unplanned pleasure was our visit to Dillon, Montana where we stayed at a funky but fun KOA and drove out to Bannack State Park.  There we found the most well-preserved and fascinating ghost town we have ever seen.  Well worth the trip.

All in all, we had a great time and it was mostly peaceful.  We think that choosing May to make the trip was perfect for us.  We did see travelers with kids, but not as many as there probably would have been in June.  The rig and the toad ran well.  Now we lick our financial wounds and think about what to do for the next trip.

Thanks for the update! Glad you had fun.

I dug out 3 driving tours that our campground in Spearfish recommended which some of you may find interesting.  They are attached....

@TonyL Here they are!