Weather in Yellowstone NP in Late September

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Liltippy

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I have reservations for Sept 15 - 24 in Yellowstone at Fishing Bridge and Madison campgrounds.  Does anyone have any personal experience with the weather at that time of the year in these locations.  The cool temperatures are not a big concern, but I don't want to see any snow.

I know at this time, the tourists will be gone and the wildlife active, so looking forward to a great trip.

Also, headed to Gros Ventre in the Grand Tetons after I leave Yellowstone, so any suggested routes would be appreciated as would any comments on my schedule.
 
Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get. There is no way to predict the weather in advance. Most of Yellowstone is over 6000 feet and located on the Continental Divide. In the summer of 1988 there were terrible wildfires that burned up 2/3rds of Yellowstone. The Army, Navy, Marines and the Air Force all failed to put the fire out. The fire did not get put out until September when the snow put the fires out.
 
>>I know at this time, the tourists will be gone and the wildlife active, so looking forward to a great trip.<<


Don't count on that....I was there Sept 27, 2011 and it was super crowded with beautiful weather.

I was in the Grand Tetons Oct. of that year and it was also very crowded
 
We have been to YNP in mid-September. The orange stakes so the snow plows know where the road is, about 7 feet high, were already up on most roads inside the park. In 2009 it was gorgeous but several Rangers told us that it could snow at the drop of a hat at that time of year.

Safe travels all,

Stan
 
Terry A. Brewer said:
>>I know at this time, the tourists will be gone and the wildlife active, so looking forward to a great trip.<<


Don't count on that....I was there Sept 27, 2011 and it was super crowded with beautiful weather.

I was in the Grand Tetons Oct. of that year and it was also very crowded
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If you believe that, you must never have been there earlier. DW and I have visited Yellowstone numerous times in July, August, and September. I can assure you that the number of people in the park in September is less than half of what it is in mid summer.

Evidence the closing dates of some of their campgrounds:
  Fishing Bridge RV  9/21
  Norris                  9/29
  Tower Fall            9/29
  Bridge Bay            9/01
  Canyon                9/14
  Indian Creek        9/08
  Pebble Creek        9/21
  Grant Village        9/21

Joel
 
Great Horned Owl said:
If you believe that, you must never have been there earlier. DW and I have visited Yellowstone numerous times in July, August, and September. I can assure you that the number of people in the park in September is less than half of what it is in mid summer.
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It may be substantially less than mid summer, but it's still much more crowded in mid to late September than it was in years gone by.
 
You should check out the following link for road information.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm

Your only choice to Gros Ventre will be out the south entrance and through the Tetons. You will have a couple side road options in the Tetons but it is still a basically a southern drive.

As others have said, you might be surprised with the number of YNP visitors in September! While not as busy as summer months, it is still far busier than September was several years ago. You should also be aware that many facilities in the park close on Labor Day.  You will be able to see all of the park other than road closures because of construction though. Oh... there may be some snow considerations, too..... But it can also be extremely nice weather. It's hard to predict and can change drastically, very quickly.

September is one of my favorite times in the park.  Actually, all my times in the park are favorites!
 
last September,we were on a motorcycle trip pulling a small tent trailer and planning on going to Yellowstone from Billings and then riding Beartooth Pass.
The day we were supposed to go the weather forecast was 30* and snow.Snow level on Beartooth was 7000',and the summit is 10,000. Not good weather for motorcycling! We made alternate plans.
 
We are leaving Michigan Sept 20 for a similar trip to Yellowstone and Tetons.  This will be our first trip to YNP and my husband wants to wing it so we have no reservations.  I am more of a planner so this is making me a bit nervous.  Not sure what to expect.  We have a 22 ft motor home so hoping parking and getting around won't be a problem.  No toad.
 
We visited Yellowstone in early September and had some snow. Not a huge amount, but the temp was cold.
We were relieved to hear the pounding rain overnight on 9/1/04 stop early the next morning; only to look out the window and see it had switch to snow.
Be prepared. Fishing Bridge is a good place to stay that time of year. They have hookups.

Allen
Wrentham,MA
2003 Dynamax Isata Sport Sedan
 
Jomo said:
We are leaving Michigan Sept 20 for a similar trip to Yellowstone and Tetons.  This will be our first trip to YNP and my husband wants to wing it so we have no reservations.  I am more of a planner so this is making me a bit nervous.  Not sure what to expect.  We have a 22 ft motor home so hoping parking and getting around won't be a problem.  No toad.
Click to expand...

In a previous post Great Horned Owl posted the closing dates of many of Yellowstone's campgrounds.  Be sure to check that the campgrounds you want to stay at will still be open when you arrive in Yellowstone.  It will get very chilly at night that time of year so prepare for that too.  The higher the elevation the greater the chance for snow.
 
We stayed at Grant Village in  September, first part of the week it was in the 70's, woke up to snow and 30's the last part of the week,
also we did not feel that is was overly crowded during this time,  we were there in June and the place was much more crowded then September.
 
We left West Yellowstone this morning and temps the last couple of nights were in the high 30's at the end of July:))  We went at this time of year because some of our friends had plans to be there - never again in the summer months.

The last time I visited the park was in the late 1970's.  The crowding was horrendous this past week.  We only spent one day on the park as a result.  It was simply impossible to find a place to park at popular areas such as Midway Geyser Basin.  I knew we were in trouble when we got to the West entrance and the lines were 1/4 mile long to get in.  We stayed at Grizzly RV Park which was overrun with screaming kids.  Left a day earlier than we planned as a result.
 
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