Gardiner Montana and Yellowstone National Park

ahschneid
Sep 22, 2024
5 min read

We arrived at Yellowstone RV Park in Gardiner Montana on 18 September 2024 for four nights. We had rain most of the way on our drive that day so we were tired when we arrived. That left three days for site seeing and checking out the area. Our next destination to Rock Springs Wyoming was shorter to drive through Yellowstone National Park, so on Thursday we checked out the roads for towing our camper through. Our campground was about a mile and a half from the North Entrance to Yellowstone, so we entered there and drove down to the South Entrance through the park, which was 98 miles. We drove down to Old Faithful (blue on the map) then over to Grant Village and down to the South Entrance (purple on the map). On the way home we decided to turn at Madison toward the West Entrance. We went out that Entrance and turned around re-entering the park which made it our third entrance into Yellowstone National Park that day. Even though we got a late start on Thursday, we saw some wildlife and beautiful scenery. The day we arrived there was a winter storm warning and we saw the snow from the storm during our drive on Thursday.

Absaroka Mountain Range on our drive 18 Sep 2024

Absaroka Mountain Range on our drive 18 Sep 2024

Map of the area we were in 18-22 Sept 2024

Map showing our drive through Yellowstone National Park on Thursday 19 Sep 2024

Yellowstone National Park Arch Entrance (North) - Road got washed out and Arch Entrance is not currently in use

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Mammoth hot springs

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Mammoth hot springs

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Grand Teton Mountains in background

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Grand Tetons

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Pronghorn antelope buck

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

same Pronghorn antelope buck

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Bull elk

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Lewis Lake

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Lewis Lake lunch stop

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Elk

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Bull Elk

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Cow elk

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Elk

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Gibbon Falls

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

Mountain range we saw on our drive in

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

We were on our way out of the park and saw this big bull elk with his harem

Drive (Road check) through Yellowstone National Park 19 Sept 2024

We stopped in Gardiner to get fuel and watched this elk walk up the sidewalk and stop for a snack. We also saw a cow elk with her baby walking on the sidewalk in front of shops in Gardiner. We were driving and didn't get the picture, but it was sort of funny as they looked like they were window shopping.

On Friday 22 Sept 2024, we drove to the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone and kept going through Cooke City and on to Red Lodge Montana. The Beartooth Highway was open again after being closed a couple of days before. That day was also lots of driving, but we saw more wildlife and beautiful scenery.

After all the driving two days in a row, we decided to stay around the campground on Saturday. We got laundry done and took a walk around the campground. In the afternoon, Steve soaked in the hot spring pools at Yellowstone Hot Springs, about 8 miles from the campground. It was a beautiful setting with mountains surrounding the pools.