The Best Times Of The Year To Visit Yellowstone National Park

From vibrant geysers and hot springs to herds of bison and packs of wolves, Yellowstone National Park is the best of what United States National Parks have to offer. Summer is peak season at Yellowstone, thanks to its gorgeous weather. As perfect as a hike through the park on a July afternoon would be, however, the best times to book your trips to this beloved national park are actually its shoulder seasons: April and May or September and October.

This iconic destination is obviously enormously popular, so it's no surprise that for its most popular season, lodges and campsites require reservations months in advance, and you'll probably need to plan ahead even more if you're hoping to visit Yellowstone on a budget this summer. Frustratingly, when the weather is warm, many of the park's most famous locations can be intensely crowded with flocks of tourists taking dangerous selfies with the park's wildlife. Fortunately, planning your trip just a few months before or after the summer rush can help you secure the trip of a lifetime.

If you're willing to brave slightly colder weather, don't mind that there aren't ranger-led programs, and can deal with some seriously muddy conditions from the snow melting, grab your America the Beautiful pass and book your flight for April or May. Arriving a month or two before the start of peak season can make for the perfect springtime Yellowstone trip. By the end of April, roads that were shut down for winter start to reopen, so as long as you're not planning to climb to the park's highest peaks where there will still be snow, you should be able to fully explore the park. Best of all, you'll see plenty of wildlife.

Yellowstone National Park comes to life in the spring, with the first wildflowers starting to bloom, bears coming out of hibernation, and fluffy bison calves (pictured) appearing all over the park. In the wetlands, you'll hear the singing of frogs and you'll hear bird calls throughout the entire park. If you're willing to get up early in the morning, you'll see an incredible amount of wildlife, many of which have new babies with them, all over the park.

While the park is still tremendously popular in the fall, as the season goes on, you'll have a lot more opportunity to see Yellowstone without getting swarmed by crowds. While the roads might start to close down for the off-season, there are still ranger-led programs available. Some campgrounds will be shut down, but if you're able to snag a spot at Mammoth Campground, which is open all year, an exciting autumnal adventure is waiting for you.

Just after the bulk of the summer crowds leave Yellowstone National Park, bursts of yellow and red color emerge throughout the park. If the pretty fall foliage isn't enough to convince you to wait until the temperature drops to visit, you can hear the sounds of bull elk bellowing to attract their mates while you hike around the park . If you're especially lucky, you might even see two rival elk smacking their antlers together in a dramatic struggle for dominance. September also sees an influx of birds of prey, so keep your eyes on the skies to see migrating raptors swooping overhead.