best time to visit

I%26#39;m newly retired and my hubby and I plan to take a roadtrip from NH to include the Badlands, Yellowstone and Banff National Parks. Weather wise and site-seeing wise, when is the best time to go? Also, how long should we plan to spend in each park. Hubby can%26#39;t walk far (knee replacement) so it%26#39;s basically a sight seeing trip. Thanks.

best time to visit

Crysabel,

I would also post in the Yellowstone %26amp; Banff forums to get input as well. I have not been to Banff, so I can%26#39;t comment there. The Badlands is mainly a drive through park, so it will be good for your hubby, as not much walking is involved. If not hiking, you can really see the park in about a 1/2 a day. There are many scenic overlooks in the park with lots of photo ops.

Yellowstone, on the other hand, is much larger. If not hiking, I would allow a minimum of 2-3 days. We are planning to spend 11 days in this area this coming July and August. There are many ';boardwalks'; at Yellowstone that are flat and very navigable, but they can be long. They are handicapped accessible if he has a scooter or wheelchair, or he could just do what he can. Yellowstone is more of a park where you really have to leave your car to experience it.

We visited the Badlands in late August and actually had cool weather. It can actually get hot here, especially in July, but I think sometimes the temps cool down a little in later August. Although I have not visited here then, I would imagine early September would quite nice.

I can say that early September is a wonderful time to visit Yellowstone! Crowds are light, as kids are back in school, and the weather is pretty nice. When we visited the first time, we had the luxury of going when we wanted, as our daughter hadn%26#39;t arrived yet. We are now roped into the July/August vacations.

Hope this helps some. Posting in the other forums will allow you a wider variety of responses. Have fun planning.

best time to visit

I agree that late August or early Sept. would be the best time to visit. We also like late May/early June for Black Hills and Yellowstone but that is too early for Glacier. We are doing Glacier and YNP/GT in late August this year. We did YNP and GT in May, 2007 and Black Hills, YNP, and Cody in June, 2008.

Enjoy your trip planning and if you have more questions just let us know.

Snowpack and road closures at higher elevations make any time short of mid-June iffy beyond the Badlands and Black Hills. Even up through early July passes may have a lot of snow on the sides of the roads and in viewpoint areas. The Bighorns, Beartooth Pass, Glacier and especially farther north into Banff later in the season all face this.

We are planning to drive to Seattle via Banff this year and have selected mid-August. On the flip side though late June can mean any waterfalls along the route will be running heavier and be more spectacular than say, September. Also...beyond mid-September it starts to get cold and windy more often even in Yellowstone.

We were in Laramie, WY once on June 7 in a blinding whiteout. Later the same year on Sept 30 in Yellowstone we found many roads closed due to snow.

Thanks for the info...it will help. Seems like the weather out there is just like New England...wait a minute and it will change. Hope your enjoy your excursions...

Thanks for the info...it will help us to decide.

Thanks for the extensive info...I will take your advice and checks other forums.

Assuming this is a 2 to 3 week trip, my preference would be to start in South Dakota in mid-June and go west from there. You%26#39;re not quite at peak season but it%26#39;s close.

You don%26#39;t mention the Black Hills. If you%26#39;re going to the Badlands, you%26#39;ll want to include the Black Hills--Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore at a minimum. Also include Grand Teton with Yellowstone.

Thanks....appreciate your input.