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#1
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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 |
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#2
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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
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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 |
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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
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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
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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 |
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