Summer is a busy time for Yellowstone National Park. More than half of the park’s guests come in June, July or August, with July just nudging out August for the park’s busiest month.
Lodging
Make reservations early or plan to get to first-come, first-served campsites early in the morning if you want to stay in the park. They are all open by the time summer rolls around, helping to ensure that everyone has a place to stay. There are also options outside the park in the Montana towns of West Yellowstone and Gardiner if you find that the park is full on the days that you seek to visit.
Crowds
July and August are the busiest for the national park as families take their children to the nation’s first national park. Visit the park’s leading attractions such as Old Faithful during the morning or evening to avoid some of the biggest crowds during mid-day. If you plan some extra time and have a healthy attitude about the possible traffic jams from a bison herd on the road, you can still have a great time.
Weather
July and August are the park’s warmest months, although it has been known to occasionally snow even in the summer at the higher elevations. Be prepared for late afternoon thunderstorms which can roll through the area.
Grand Prismatic Spring
Summer is the best time to see the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest in the world. On cold days, the difference between the air temperature and water temperature produces fog that obscures the beautiful rings of colors of the Grand Prismatic Spring. In the summer, the temperature difference is less and it is possible to actually see the hot spring from the boardwalk and the overlook.
Fly Fishing
Fly fishing shortly after the late May opener is confined to a few rivers such as the Firehole. Spring runoff makes it difficult to fish many of the others. By July, it is prime time for fly fishing in Yellowstone’s rivers. Higher water temperatures, low water flow and heavy pressure can make August more difficult fishing, but there are still plenty of places to toss a fly in some of the best trout streams in the country.