Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks -- July 2022

Pre-trip planning 

We planned to camp since hotels close to the parks are very expensive, needed to be booked far in advance (at least 1 year for the lodges and hotels within the park), and not in the park are further away so cannot get to the sites as early to beat the crowds.  

Getting a campsite, also requires early booking. We reviewed the options -- location and amenities -- on the National Park site and read reviews on several blogs. 

Yellowstone: https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm 
Glacier: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/camping.htm

We chose Madison Campground in Yellowstone, and St. Mary (with backups selected too) in Glacier. In both, we wanted a reservable spot because we did not have time to stay outside the park for a night and try to get in early to claim a spot for that night, which I read about people doing. The flights that we ended up booking was fewer nights than I originally wanted. Originally, I wanted us to have a first hotel night and a hotel night between the two campgrounds. We got an American direct flight from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Bozeman or Belgrade, MT (BZN), which allowed us each (Travis, me, and the kids, Joel and Owen) a carry-on bag that we used to get some camping gear to Montana. More on that later. Direct to worry less with the flight challenges this summer with everyone eager to travel again and airline and airport staff shortage. 

In Yellowstone, we wanted to be close to the Upper, Mid, and Lower Geyser basins. Entering at the West entrance ended up to work out very well due the June 2022 flood that still had the North and Northeast entrances closed. Yellowstone was easier to book. Bookings were available to make more than 6 months in advance with availability at https://secure.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/booking/lodging. When reserving, we did not pick our site; it was assigned by the Ranger based on our equipment when we arrived. Yellowstone also had other campgrounds that had to be booked on recreation.gov. 

In Glacier, we picked the east side after reading reviews and wanting to be on the less crowded side of the park. The east side is very pretty. St. Mary campground website information mentioned having showers, but Travis and Joel went to find it and only found it caution taped closed, so don't make the decision based on having shower access. 

Reservations (in 2022, between late May to August 14th) open up 6 months before on recreation.gov; google 6 months before your desired first night. Register a userid on recreation.gov and be logged on before the day's campsites are released; we each had our own logon on each of our laptops. Check a few days before the 6 months expected date to confirm their date for opening a day matches your expected day. A few days before your reservation day also look for sites open for your start date and note several that you like the location; recreation.gov shows a map with availability info. We were very close to two restrooms, which was nice, but I had one on my list/that we got that was very overgrown -- scary with bears in the area, tight with our two 3-person tents, but helped soundproof out some other campers' noise. We did not come across a bear, so it worked out fine. The morning to make your reservation, logon before campsite release time (8am Mountain Time in 2022). Then you have to get lucky and be the first to pick a campsite that someone has not already picked. The campsites book up within the first or a couple of minutes from release. My attempted one gave me a message that it was already taken, but Travis got the one that he picked. Yay, but scary! We were able to confirm on the recreation.gov site that a St. Mary campground reservations does give you the Going-to-the-Sun Road ticket for the days that you are camping. From other nps.gov documentation, I could not tell for sure before. The Going-to-the-Sun Road ticket is also hard to get and requires multiple people trying and being ready as soon as they are released. They open the road up to those without passes at 4pm each day. I also saw that you can get in before 6am, but I think in 2022 that this would have only worked on the East side because the West had some nightly construction closures. 

Also, the Going-to-the-Sun Road depends on when the plowing that year is complete. Keep on eye on the NPS.gov site for plowing status. I saw where they had made a section done and then received more snow or an avalanche requiring replowing. After plowing, they have noted about two weeks to get guardrails and such up before opening. We arrived July 23rd; before leaving I was getting a little nervous about it opening. Of course, that is fully open through Logan Pass, they do have parts on the West and East open before it is fully open. It was also open further and earlier to bicycles. I believe this is a pretty late opening; it can definitely be earlier and maybe later.      

 

We had a circle drive for the car, with a break in the brush to enter this area. On the other side, it had a picnic table and fire pit. This is B82 in Loop B. 

We rented a car from Avis using a good work discount that I had. We also used this in March in Las Vegas, and they did not have the car we reserved, tried to upsell a Jeep, Mustang, other SUV with the high California gas prices (we went to Death Valley), other upsell attempts, and then did not even bring the car to the area that they said that they would -- I just saw something that fit the description pull into a spot in an another area and finally walked over to check the license plates. So, I was worried about this rental. We got the full size to have space for the kids, our luggage, and newly acquired camping equipment and groceries. However, at the Bozeman, MT airport this was a very good experience -- no heavy upsell and had the car that we reserved ready. Both cars ended up being a Nissan Altimas. They also noted that either of us/spouses could drive and be covered. In Vegas, it was an $8 or so a day upsell. This was nice since we did have some long distances to go. It was interesting to at this airport--no booth to show your id and rental contract on the way out. The documentation noted that they had cameras above each car for this security. The cars were in a connecting garage, no bus to ride to the lot, which is always much nicer.

We had our grocery and camping shopping list created. Travis had camp meals planned. Then, he started and placed a Walmart pick up order for the Bozeman Walmart.  

We also reserved a hotel, okay motel, for our last night to get everyone showered and clean before our flight back. I did not find an affordable hotel in Bozeman but found a Travelodge in Three Folks, about 30 minutes away. I booked it with a work discount but always check Orbitz and direct too to look for the best offer. 

Next up Flight and Arriving in Bozeman and Yellowstone...

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