I just returned from a week long trip in Yellowstone. We stayed at Roosevelt Lodge near the Lamar Valley but traveled down to the Canyon and Hayden Valley area on several occasions. This was a fishing trip and not a photography trip but I know that several have posted on this site recently about taking fall trips to Yellowstone so I though I would add a few experiences.
There are two delays in getting to the Lamar Valley from Tower Junction.
They are replacing the bridge over the Yellowstone River and there is a short delay crossing the bridge. This is usually not a very long delay but could be 10-15 minutes. The earlier the better in getting through this construction zone. They were usually getting this area setup at about 5:30 in the morning so moving through this area before that is a time saver.
There is considerable construction in the Lamar Canyon due to the floods of last year. This can be a 30 minute delay because it is a one lane road through the canyon but there is also a delay if they are bringing rock trucks out of the construction zone. Earlier is better on this construction zone as well but you can expect 30 minutes delays during certain times of the day. They also have been doing some blasting in this area so pay attention to the alerts for schedule changes as you travel through this area.
So if you are traveling out to the Lamar Valley from Yellowstone plan 45-60 minutes in extra travel time, if you hit the delays right it could be a lot less but you never know. I would also check the construction schedules for other areas of the park especially the south entrance.
It seems to me that the food and retail services are really running a restricted schedules this summer. We normally have breakfast every morning at Roosevelt Lodge but his year they had stopped serving a hot breakfast due to staffing issues, they did offer a bagged breakfast each morning but I missed the usual breakfast offerings. We also noticed their dinner menu was very limited this year and we heard from other travelers that this was the case in other dinning offerings in the park as well. We also found that some of the stores were closing early. The stores in Canyon were closing at 6:00 pm.
We also experienced this in restaurants we visited in Gardiner and Cooke City. A regular Pizza/Calzone/Salad restaurant we usually visit was now just a Pizza restaurant. It was a "get what you get and don't have a fit" for many of our meals.
I would suggest that you check the NPS Yellowstone Site and the Xanterra sites if you are staying in the park to check on park offerings and schedules. You might want to contact the places you are staying and ask about available options and possible changes.
Just a heads up!
There are two delays in getting to the Lamar Valley from Tower Junction.
They are replacing the bridge over the Yellowstone River and there is a short delay crossing the bridge. This is usually not a very long delay but could be 10-15 minutes. The earlier the better in getting through this construction zone. They were usually getting this area setup at about 5:30 in the morning so moving through this area before that is a time saver.
There is considerable construction in the Lamar Canyon due to the floods of last year. This can be a 30 minute delay because it is a one lane road through the canyon but there is also a delay if they are bringing rock trucks out of the construction zone. Earlier is better on this construction zone as well but you can expect 30 minutes delays during certain times of the day. They also have been doing some blasting in this area so pay attention to the alerts for schedule changes as you travel through this area.
So if you are traveling out to the Lamar Valley from Yellowstone plan 45-60 minutes in extra travel time, if you hit the delays right it could be a lot less but you never know. I would also check the construction schedules for other areas of the park especially the south entrance.
It seems to me that the food and retail services are really running a restricted schedules this summer. We normally have breakfast every morning at Roosevelt Lodge but his year they had stopped serving a hot breakfast due to staffing issues, they did offer a bagged breakfast each morning but I missed the usual breakfast offerings. We also noticed their dinner menu was very limited this year and we heard from other travelers that this was the case in other dinning offerings in the park as well. We also found that some of the stores were closing early. The stores in Canyon were closing at 6:00 pm.
We also experienced this in restaurants we visited in Gardiner and Cooke City. A regular Pizza/Calzone/Salad restaurant we usually visit was now just a Pizza restaurant. It was a "get what you get and don't have a fit" for many of our meals.
I would suggest that you check the NPS Yellowstone Site and the Xanterra sites if you are staying in the park to check on park offerings and schedules. You might want to contact the places you are staying and ask about available options and possible changes.
Just a heads up!
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