While Yellowstone National Park was not the goal of our journey, it appeared to be a great opportunity to visit the Park since we were passing close by. I had never been there and Dwight was there so long ago as to not remember. It was bad timing. First, it is about a 50 mile drive from Jackson to the Yellowstone Park entrance, and then another 50 miles or so to the Old Faithful complex, all narrow two-lane roads. Second, the road was packed with vehicles, slowing down, speeding up, stopping. It was a totally exhausting drive with no energy left to visit separate sites. It appeared that everybody and his brother had decided Yellowstone was the perfect post-COVID vacation. The Park was mobbed. To make matters worse, access to the facilities were still limited because of COVID restrictions. People were allowed into the Old Faithful Inn only as other people departed because of visitor limits. No restaurants were open with seating, but were limited to take-out. Then you had to scramble around for seating outside on benches or any empty space available. Bad timing for visiting Yellowstone.
On the other hand, our timing for the Old Faithful geyser was impeccable. We gathered up our pulled pork sandwiches from the Old Faithful Lodge and found seating just outside of the Lodge facing the geyser. We had time to finish our sandwiches and bingo...eruption. Almost like it had been waiting for us.
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| Dwight and his transporter chair after Old Faithful eruption |
It was amazing how quickly the crowds disappeared once the geyser settled down--sort of a "been there; done that" moment. Fortunately, we had packed the transporter chair for Dwight and I think otherwise it would have been very difficult.
We had another opportunity to visit the Park three days later on our way from Butte, MT, to Cody, WY. We detoured from the interstate to see the North part of the Park. The approach to the north entrance at Gardiner, MT, is a beautiful drive following the Yellowstone River. The Northern Gate was not as crowded as the Southern Entrance (where we had waited almost half an hour to get in) but once in, we again found the out-of-sight crowds at Mammoth Hot Springs. We were prepared, however, and had brought sandwiches for a picnic since we knew we would not find any open restaurants in Yellowstone. Unfortunately, we were unable to find an empty picnic table there, or along the road, until we finally reached Canyon Village where there were actually parking places and a couple of free tables. The Northern Great Loop Road was a prettier drive than the southern road, but again it was filled with cars often blocking the entire road because someone thought they saw a bear. We saw one bear and one moose while sitting in stopped traffic--not a big deal, but I guess I'm a little jaded on wildlife viewing after living in Africa.
So much for Yellowstone National Park. I think I prefer the San Juans.
Hi Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI would like to ask how much convenient it is for a person on a wheelchair.
I'm planning with family, where my mother is a wheelchair accessible person and would like to know if there's a limited part of the park she can cover, as mentioned by you.
Or she can have a good experience while accessing the most of the park. Are there certain areas of the park, locked due to social distancing and Covid?
Hello Tim, I'm not sure if the COVID restrictions are still in place, but they made it difficult for people in wheelchairs as the dining rooms were not open and we had to find seating in the open air. Also access to some interior spaces was limited, the Inn and the Visitor Center for example. There are a few areas in the Park that have accessible board walks to hot springs, etc. You should download the park guide from the National Park Service. They show the accessible spaces. The worst thing was just the crowds! I think it's not a bad place for wheelchairs, but I would try to go only after there are no longer COVID restrictions in place.
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