Winter in Yellowstone
Visiting Yellowstone in winter is a completely different experience than in summer. While in summer a majority of the park is open all summer (except some of the passes or if there is snow), this is not the case in winter. The only roads in the park that are open year round are the road from Gardiner to Mammoth and the road from Mammoth to Cooke City. As far as lodging in the northern range of the park, Mammoth Hotel is open for the winter season from mid-December to early March.
The interior of the park, however, closes to normal traffic during the winter season. The only way to travel in and around the interior are through over-snow vehicles such as snowcoaches and snowmobiles. The number of both that are allowed in the park are limited each day.
Overnight Guests
You can book a shuttle (snowcoach) from the south entrance, west entrance, or the north entrance into the interior of the park. The only hotel that is open in the interior of the park is the Snowlodge, which opens around the same dates as the Mammoth Hotel. If you do decide to stay at the Snowlodge, there are many different activities and tours that you can participate in.
Of course you have an opportunity to see Old Faithful erupt several times and the chance to see other thermal features on the Upper Geyser Basin boardwalk. The visitor center is open everyday from 9 am to 5 pm, which has a great museum and will show different films on Yellowstone. If you are looking to get around the park, there are several different tours that you can sign up for through the front desk
If you want to try a winter sport, there is a ski shop located inside the Snowlodge. The Bear Den ski shop offers rentals on snowshoes or cross-country skis, as well as ski lessons, ski tours, or snowshoe tours. The ski shop also offers ski drops where they shuttle you to different drop off points. Even though they drop you off, they do not pick you up, which means you have to ski your way back to Old Faithful.
