A Snow and ski forum. SkiBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » SkiBanter forum » Skiing Newsgroups » Backcountry Skiing
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Yellowstone drive??



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old February 7th 06, 03:33 AM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Yellowstone drive??

I am planning a trip to Yellowstone around June and was wondering what
the drive time was from the top of the park where I will end up (after
hiking various trails in the south, mid, then north) down to Jackson
Airport. Is it an all day drive?


Is Jackson the best airport to go into. From the map I looks like
everything out there is mighty far from everything else, so I don't
really want to drive more than a couple hours just to get to a fancier
airport.
thanks,
gr
Ads
  #2  
Old February 7th 06, 04:05 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

It's hard to generalize because so much depends on weather (at that time
of the year) and traffic (July and August).

As to what airport to fly into, Jackson is by far the busiest airport in
Wyoming. Compared to much of the rest of the world, it still doesn't
have a huge number of flights in June, but at least there's a choice and
you may be able to get an airfare that's not completely unreasonable.

Another possibility from the north end of the park is Billings, Montana,
assuming the northeast entrance to Yellowstone is open. This is the
Beartooth Highway, a great road, but very high and subject to weather.
Also subject to stops to view scenery! If you can't get through the
northeast entrance, you either have to head through Cody, or through the
northwest entrance and up to I-90, and overall that makes Billings
farther away than the Jackson Hole airport.

JH airport is about an hour south of the south boundary of Yellowstone
NP. Since we usually make it from West Yellowstone home to Teton
Village through YNP in early June in four to five hours, I'm going to
say that's about right for driving from the Lamar Valley area to the
airport, since the airport is about 45 minutes from Teton Village. It
depends on what you mean by "top of the park". It will probably take
longer in late June, as traffic becomes more of an issue. And of course
if you get hit by a snow storm, all bets are off. Personally, I've
never had roads closed by snow in June, but I have had to drive through
snowstorms and I have discovered that, had I been traveling a day
earlier, a pass would have been closed and we'd have had to take the
long way around. So you really do have to take the possibility into
account.

If I were you, I'd look at Billings, West Yellowstone, and Cody for
flights as well as JH, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that
JH was your best bet. I'd plan on driving to near whatever airport the
day before the flight, since you can pretty much count on getting
through via a long route. If the weather is good, you'll have half a
day to spend in whatever area is near your airport or, if your
arrangements are flexible, you can delay the drive at the last minute.

Carol Harkness
Jackson Hole

gr wrote:
I am planning a trip to Yellowstone around June and was wondering what
the drive time was from the top of the park where I will end up (after
hiking various trails in the south, mid, then north) down to Jackson
Airport. Is it an all day drive?


Is Jackson the best airport to go into. From the map I looks like
everything out there is mighty far from everything else, so I don't
really want to drive more than a couple hours just to get to a fancier
airport.
thanks,
gr

  #3  
Old February 7th 06, 05:28 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I'll add to Harkness' excellent discussion that you should check road
conditions early in your trip in case you have to make alternate plans -
when I was last in Yellowstone and environs (last year) several roads
were closed for maintenance and the detours were rather long. Probably
you won't have any trouble, but ...

Carol Harkness wrote:
It's hard to generalize because so much depends on weather (at that time
of the year) and traffic (July and August).

As to what airport to fly into, Jackson is by far the busiest airport in
Wyoming. Compared to much of the rest of the world, it still doesn't
have a huge number of flights in June, but at least there's a choice and
you may be able to get an airfare that's not completely unreasonable.

Another possibility from the north end of the park is Billings, Montana,
assuming the northeast entrance to Yellowstone is open. This is the
Beartooth Highway, a great road, but very high and subject to weather.
Also subject to stops to view scenery! If you can't get through the
northeast entrance, you either have to head through Cody, or through the
northwest entrance and up to I-90, and overall that makes Billings
farther away than the Jackson Hole airport.

JH airport is about an hour south of the south boundary of Yellowstone
NP. Since we usually make it from West Yellowstone home to Teton
Village through YNP in early June in four to five hours, I'm going to
say that's about right for driving from the Lamar Valley area to the
airport, since the airport is about 45 minutes from Teton Village. It
depends on what you mean by "top of the park". It will probably take
longer in late June, as traffic becomes more of an issue. And of course
if you get hit by a snow storm, all bets are off. Personally, I've
never had roads closed by snow in June, but I have had to drive through
snowstorms and I have discovered that, had I been traveling a day
earlier, a pass would have been closed and we'd have had to take the
long way around. So you really do have to take the possibility into
account.

If I were you, I'd look at Billings, West Yellowstone, and Cody for
flights as well as JH, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that
JH was your best bet. I'd plan on driving to near whatever airport the
day before the flight, since you can pretty much count on getting
through via a long route. If the weather is good, you'll have half a
day to spend in whatever area is near your airport or, if your
arrangements are flexible, you can delay the drive at the last minute.

Carol Harkness
Jackson Hole

gr wrote:
I am planning a trip to Yellowstone around June and was wondering what
the drive time was from the top of the park where I will end up (after
hiking various trails in the south, mid, then north) down to Jackson
Airport. Is it an all day drive?


Is Jackson the best airport to go into. From the map I looks like
everything out there is mighty far from everything else, so I don't
really want to drive more than a couple hours just to get to a fancier
airport.
thanks,
gr

  #4  
Old February 8th 06, 03:58 AM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

gr wrote:
I am planning a trip to Yellowstone around June and was wondering what
the drive time was from the top of the park where I will end up (after
hiking various trails in the south, mid, then north) down to Jackson
Airport. Is it an all day drive?


Just wondering why June. The snow is a lot better in February.
Remeber that the geyser activity means that the ground around the Old
Faithful and gyser basin area is a lot warmer than West Yellowstone.


Is Jackson the best airport to go into. From the map I looks like
everything out there is mighty far from everything else, so I don't
really want to drive more than a couple hours just to get to a fancier
airport.
thanks,
gr


We flew into Bozeman and took a Kast Stage shuttle to West Yellowstone,
then snow coach into Old Faithful.

Edgar

  #5  
Old February 8th 06, 11:15 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

A bunch of us flew into Bozeman last February and used the shuttle. It's
about 2 hrs to the North Entrance. Cheaper than Jackson.

June-can you say Grizzly's?! Talking with the locals they would all prefer
to backpack someplace else because of the grizzly's.

"Edgar" wrote in message
oups.com...
gr wrote:
I am planning a trip to Yellowstone around June and was wondering what
the drive time was from the top of the park where I will end up (after
hiking various trails in the south, mid, then north) down to Jackson
Airport. Is it an all day drive?


Just wondering why June. The snow is a lot better in February.
Remeber that the geyser activity means that the ground around the Old
Faithful and gyser basin area is a lot warmer than West Yellowstone.


Is Jackson the best airport to go into. From the map I looks like
everything out there is mighty far from everything else, so I don't
really want to drive more than a couple hours just to get to a fancier
airport.
thanks,
gr


We flew into Bozeman and took a Kast Stage shuttle to West Yellowstone,
then snow coach into Old Faithful.

Edgar



  #6  
Old February 9th 06, 01:04 AM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Edgar wrote:
gr wrote:
I am planning a trip to Yellowstone around June and was wondering what
the drive time was from the top of the park where I will end up (after
hiking various trails in the south, mid, then north) down to Jackson
Airport. Is it an all day drive?


Just wondering why June. The snow is a lot better in February.
Remeber that the geyser activity means that the ground around the Old
Faithful and gyser basin area is a lot warmer than West Yellowstone.

Is Jackson the best airport to go into. From the map I looks like
everything out there is mighty far from everything else, so I don't
really want to drive more than a couple hours just to get to a fancier
airport.
thanks,
gr


We flew into Bozeman and took a Kast Stage shuttle to West Yellowstone,
then snow coach into Old Faithful.

Edgar

This one is my wifes trip, and she isn't really into snow and ski, but
is into animals and bears: so later in the year seems to be the time to
be the time to go.
gr
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Where is the cheapest place to live and within a hour drive to great skiing? [email protected] Alpine Skiing 40 March 9th 05 11:55 PM
Where is the cheapest place to live and within a hour drive to great skiing? [email protected] Backcountry Skiing 40 March 9th 05 11:55 PM
Court reinstates snowmobile restrictions in Yellowstone and Grand Tetonparks Lew Lasher Nordic Skiing 0 December 17th 03 01:44 PM
Court reinstates snowmobile restriction in Yellowstone and Grand Tetonparks Lew Lasher Nordic Skiing 0 December 17th 03 01:43 PM
Early ski in Yellowstone Rob Bradlee Nordic Skiing 0 August 13th 03 10:47 AM


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:55 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SkiBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.