Yellowstone Trip

[kraven700]

Well here we are 6 months later and getting real close to heading out west. Excitement is starting to grow now for sure. We have our stopping points figured out for the trip out and will be meeting the rest of the group early to mid afternoon the day before our first ride to get trail passes and coordinate our route for the next day. None of us are going off trail as most of us our not only older but don't have the machines for off trail. Some decided to ride into the park on the last day (day 4). I'm not one of them.

We did decide to take a guide on the first day to learn the local trails and our way around. Supposed to be a great snow year so far which is awesome. Really looking forward to this.

We rented an Airbnb in Island Park, ID and the rest of the group rented another house in the same town. This (and west yellowstone) will be our base camp for the week. Does anyone have any particular routes, restaurants and any other tips for us?

# 1 MEADOWCREEK Lodge -great stop for lunch- Log cabin restaurant in the woods - located on the trail halfway between Island Park & West Yellowstone (a bit closer to West)

# 2 The PONDS for lunch or dinner in Island Park

# 3 MADISON CROSSING for dinner in West YELLOWSTONE

BEST BREAKFAST in West Yellowstone -RUNNING BEAR PANCAKE HOUSE -they even offer bagged lunch (Including sandwiches & snacks ) for you to take with you for eating out on the trail later in the day

We go to Yellowstone every 2-3 years, sometimes bring our own sleds (24 hour drive for us) sometimes we fly into Bozeman, rent a car & drive down to West & rent long track sleds with guys, or short track sleds with the families. 550 electric start short track sleds are only $ 135 +/- per day (top out at 60 m.p.h. at altitude) at POLARIS WEST across from the DAYS INN in WEST YELLOWSTONE

Rode the park numerous times on our own 2-stroke sleds (pre-2004) and as recently as 2 years ago on excruciating S-L-O-W 35 m.p.h. governed sleds with a tour guide for a group of 10 tourists

I've brought numerous friends to Yellowstone over the years and get a 50/50 like/don't like the park feedback response from them-It's definitely cool to see at least once

A few years back we were touring the park and the guide directed us to pull over to the side of the rather wide trail and allow for the (3) Bison to pass.
A few moments later, I was within arms reach and face to face with a bison, only thing between me and him was the rental sled and have pics .

Now, that's not something you'd be able to experience that up-close out on the trail

IF you do decide to rent a long track sled for a day, HI-MARK rentals in WEST YELLOWSTONE rents SILBER TURBO'd 163" long tracks with 3" paddles and a jug of race gas strapped to the tunnel to be added when re-fueling - Now-those were an absolute BLAST to ride in the powder, just off the groomed trail

I'm sure you'll have a GREAT trip

 

[kraven700]

BISON PICS from inside the Park tour 2018 -I'm having trouble uploading some pics- says the files are too large, while other pics load 1st attempt ????

 

[dfattack]

# 1 MEADOWCREEK Lodge -great stop for lunch- Log cabin restaurant in the woods - located on the trail halfway between Island Park & West Yellowstone (a bit closer to West)

# 2 The PONDS for lunch or dinner in Island Park

# 3 MADISON CROSSING for dinner in West YELLOWSTONE

BEST BREAKFAST in West Yellowstone -RUNNING BEAR PANCAKE HOUSE -they even offer bagged lunch (Including sandwiches & snacks ) for you to take with you for eating out on the trail later in the day

We go to Yellowstone every 2-3 years, sometimes bring our own sleds (24 hour drive for us) sometimes we fly into Bozeman, rent a car & drive down to West & rent long track sleds with guys, or short track sleds with the families. 550 electric start short track sleds are only $ 135 +/- per day (top out at 60 m.p.h. at altitude) at POLARIS WEST across from the DAYS INN in WEST YELLOWSTONE

Rode the park numerous times on our own 2-stroke sleds (pre-2004) and as recently as 2 years ago on excruciating S-L-O-W 35 m.p.h. governed sleds with a tour guide for a group of 10 tourists

I've brought numerous friends to Yellowstone over the years and get a 50/50 like/don't like the park feedback response from them-It's definitely cool to see at least once

A few years back we were touring the park and the guide directed us to pull over to the side of the rather wide trail and allow for the (3) Bison to pass.
A few moments later, I was within arms reach and face to face with a bison, only thing between me and him was the rental sled and have pics .

Now, that's not something you'd be able to experience that up-close out on the trail

IF you do decide to rent a long track sled for a day, HI-MARK rentals in WEST YELLOWSTONE rents SILBER TURBO'd 163" long tracks with 3" paddles and a jug of race gas strapped to the tunnel to be added when re-fueling - Now-those were an absolute BLAST to ride in the powder, just off the groomed trail

I'm sure you'll have a GREAT trip

All great info. Thank you.

 

[kevinj]

Curious to hear about your trip. My group just returned on Monday from Island Park. We stayed at an Airbnb house called the "West Yellowstone Cabin". we rented 600 EFI Renegades from an affiliated rental place to the airbnb right down the street from the cabin. The sleds did not have heated shield cable ports so we took our own wires and tools and installed them quickly directly to the batteries the first morning. We strictly rode the trails and explored a lot of the area. We stayed more or less local to Island Park due to weather the first day, but still managed 90 miles.

Day 1 - Sawtell and Meadow Creek Trails in the morning. We gassed at Robin's Roost and ate at Island Park Lodge. We had dinner the night before at Connies. In the afternoon we rode down to Ponds and hit the Chick Creek and South Black Canyon Loops Trails to Johnny Sack's Cabin at Big Springs before heading back to the house. (90 miles)

Day 2 - Headed north on the RR Grade Trail and then attempted Two Top in the morning, but at the tree line coming north, we ran into zero visibility so we turned around. We took the Mosquito trail north and then did the Madison Arm and Horse Butte Loops northwest of West Yellowstone. Riding the streets in W.Y. was really interesting. We had lunch at The Buffalo Bar (Really good sandwiches and the service was stellar). With better weather in the afternoon we conquered Two Top from the north. We re-rode the Mosquito and then came back down the eastern Two Top Loop Trail to the BPA Powerline trail. We attempted the North Black Canyon and Black Bear Cutoff trails but they were so rough we turned around and called it a day .(122 miles)

Day 3 - Headed south on the Elk Creek and Last Chance trails - all virgin ribbon. Headed dwon to Mesa Falls - Spectacular views!!! This trail is an open road and even though not freshly groomed still flat. The warm River Trail was used to come back north and that 15 miles was a little rough but we knew the Chick Creek trail was freshly groomed as we had seen the ribbon when we passed the turn off earlier in the day. Well at 11am no one had been on it yet so we ran that to the Chick Creek Flat and back to the Big Springs Warming hut. We doubled down on the Elk Creek Trail which only looked like it had seen our 4 sleds from a few hours previous. We headed west towards Shotgun and then came up the Stamp Meadows Trail. All of this was beautiful. We tried to hit Sawtell again but it had not been groomed so we took the highway trail north back to Meadow Creek again before heading back to return the rental. (117 miles)

This was an awesome experience and we will do it again. There are trails and areas that we did not get to, but I would say we rode the majority of the trails.

 

[dfattack]

We pretty much rode and ate all the places you did. It was simply awesome. Our Airbnb was 5 mins from the Phillips 66 just north of ponds literally right on the trail. I could hear sleds pass by in the middle of the night. I just sorted all the pics last night and kinda re-lived the week. We trailered our sleds out which wasn’t bad at all. Good quality time with my son. Just the two of us so that was good. We work together now so it was good to talk about other stuff instead of work all the time. There were ten of us total, 8 in their house and us two in ours .

Will definitely go back. Maybe not next year but soon. I was thinking about posting about it but honestly haven’t had time.

Thing I learned was that the U.P. And northern wisc trail systems are maintained really well and we are blessed. Grooming out west is NOT every night in fact sometimes maybe once per week. We had some rough trails and some perfect trails. Very hit or miss. Experienced the white out situation coming down from two top as well. In fact the day we rode it a guy from California became separated from his group and they found him a few days later dead. Sad for sure. Kinda pissed me off to be honest. How can you leave ANYONE in your group with conditions like that?

There’s tons more but want to keep it somewhat short

 

[wiharley02]

I'm looking to plan a (first) West Yellowstone or Island Park trip in early 2024. Main question is, I know weather can be a crapshoot, is there a better time to go from a trail base depth and temperature standpoint? Would like to ride below freezing but above 0F.....not sure how the average temps are in January/February. Early January timeframe would be nice, as I don't normally plan to trailer/ride at home (WI/UP), usually I give things time to shape up.

For this west trip, we are going to rent and trail ride, just want to have the out west experience and see the mountain sights/views. No deep off trail, not looking to go into the National Park.

Thanks

 

[dfattack]

we were there in February and temps were exactly like they were in the U.P. Go online and check historical temps like I did to get a feel for the weather. Things change quickly out there with winds and snow so be careful. The first day we rode with a guide just to trail ride and thank God we did. Winds picked up and authorities ended up closing the highway due to visibility. we were in a pass were we literally could not see any color other than white and that made it almost impossible to get a bearing on where we were. we just followed the person in front of us since that's all we could see. It would have been a mistake to go out that day without a guide. the last day of the trip we did the same route and it was a piece of cake. no high winds. Next trip we won't take a guide since there really aren't a ton of trails to take and we figured it out rather quickly, but would definitely pay attention to the forecast. hope this helps.

 

[kevinj]

We were there March 9-12. Keep in mind that most areas out there stop grooming 3/15, but last year was a record snow year so they kept going. It was pleasant riding, but the first day we had mid 30s and heavy wet wet snow. We were wet at the end of the day. The mountain tops can whip the cold. I would say second half of February to very early March and you should be good to go. Very comfortable.

I saw no reason other than bars/nightlife to stay in the town of West Yellowstone. I felt Island Park was more centrally located and provide more trail opportunities of loops to do. Without going into the park itself, you are limited to the "in and out" of West Yellowstone. From Island Park you can goa different direction each day and not double up on many trails. We rented an airbnb. We also rented sleds, but will trailer the next time.

We did not get a guide, but we someone who goes out there every year. The ice fog and white out conditions are real. We made it to about a mile from two top just coming out of the tree line from the south and had literally zero visibility. We turned around, took a different route and we were able to get up there after lunch coming from the north once the weather cleared for the day. The trail up there is marked with large poles painted (and faded lol) red/orange at the top. Even with record snows, they were still 10 feet tall, but there was no way you could see the next one to mark the trail.

Go for it and have fun. Our small group of 4 had a blast and other than the zero visibility issue that one time, we never felt lost or too far from anything. I will say that rental sleds do not get good gas mileage.

 

[dfattack]

We were there March 9-12. Keep in mind that most areas out there stop grooming 3/15, but last year was a record snow year so they kept going. It was pleasant riding, but the first day we had mid 30s and heavy wet wet snow. We were wet at the end of the day. The mountain tops can whip the cold. I would say second half of February to very early March and you should be good to go. Very comfortable.

I saw no reason other than bars/nightlife to stay in the town of West Yellowstone. I felt Island Park was more centrally located and provide more trail opportunities of loops to do. Without going into the park itself, you are limited to the "in and out" of West Yellowstone. From Island Park you can goa different direction each day and not double up on many trails. We rented an airbnb. We also rented sleds, but will trailer the next time.

We did not get a guide, but we someone who goes out there every year. The ice fog and white out conditions are real. We made it to about a mile from two top just coming out of the tree line from the south and had literally zero visibility. We turned around, took a different route and we were able to get up there after lunch coming from the north once the weather cleared for the day. The trail up there is marked with large poles painted (and faded lol) red/orange at the top. Even with record snows, they were still 10 feet tall, but there was no way you could see the next one to mark the trail.

Go for it and have fun. Our small group of 4 had a blast and other than the zero visibility issue that one time, we never felt lost or too far from anything. I will say that rental sleds do not get good gas mileage.

Completely agree with this statement on location being centrally located. Island park was a great location to stay. The airbnb we rented was literally on the trail. I could hear sleds go by in the middle of the night and minutes from gas station.

 

[600_RMK_144]

Anyone care to share their specific Island Park VRBO / AirBNB location they liked? We stayed in one several years ago. Cheap & clean, but seemed a bit "out there" in the middle of nowhere. Considering a return trip this season as the kid is ready for something "bigger" than The Black Hills. Not to mention they only have a season like they did last year about once every 6-8 years, so we need back-up options when The Hills snow sucks. Thanks!

 

[dfattack]

We stayed here. Nice house. Great location. Very nice hosts to deal with. Heat was all from fireplaces which believe it or not worked. Only issue I had was no 20 amp exterior outlets to plug my trailer in. only 15 amp outlets so only one heater worked instead of the two. Not a big deal. Big house and can sleep many people.

Cabin in Island Park · ★4.92 · 4 bedrooms · 7 beds · 3.5 baths

Big Pine Lodge

www.airbnb.com

 

[600_RMK_144]

We stayed here. Nice house. Great location. Very nice hosts to deal with. Heat was all from fireplaces which believe it or not worked. Only issue I had was no 20 amp exterior outlets to plug my trailer in. only 15 amp outlets so only one heater worked instead of the two. Not a big deal. Big house and can sleep many people.

Cabin in Island Park · ★4.92 · 4 bedrooms · 7 beds · 3.5 baths

Big Pine Lodge

www.airbnb.com

thanks. might be a bit too much for just me and my son. LOL! But if we bring the whole crew again it would be perfect! THanks!

 

[dfattack]

thanks. might be a bit too much for just me and my son. LOL! But if we bring the whole crew again it would be perfect! THanks!

Yes it’s definitely set up for a couple groups

 

[kevinj]

Our group of 4 stayed here.
https://www.islandparkrentals.com/rentals/island-park-cabin-rentals/west-yellowstone-cabin/

Ride the road (no worries about snow cover) to the trail. I liked being off of north big springs loop. That is a busy road for sleds and to be honest the house was far enough off that we really did not hear the sleds at all. North Big Springs Loop is the trail. To the west at Hwy 20 is gas and grocery. To the east you get into the woods. We picked this location since we rented from Island Park Rentals.



If you are looking for more of a hotel/suite kind of thing, this might be better.
https://www.sawtellemountainresort.com/

 

[pez]

thanks. might be a bit too much for just me and my son. LOL! But if we bring the whole crew again it would be perfect! THanks!

Ponds Lodge has some smaller cabins I have stayed in which is great for a small group
http://pondslodge.com/ Food and service is great as well

 

[wiharley02]

OK so I jumped into this thread on the 2nd page, with some "beginner" questions, for first time out west. We only want to ride groomed trails (hopefully we find that the groomed trails are smooth!) - we don't have experience mountain riding and don't want to get into it. Just ride the trails and take in the sights/scenery. We have now booked flights/made reservations for lodging and sled rental. Flying out Sunday, riding Monday-Tuesday, flying home Wednesday.

We wanted trail sleds since we just want to run the trails, I couldn't find anything with a 137" track and a trail ski stance in Island Park (and in the process learned that the town of Island Park is ~35 miles long and ~500 feet wide, along US20!). We wanted to stay away from the busy-ness of town of West Yellowstone. However unable to find (new model) trail sleds to rent in Island Park, we are renting in West Yellowstone, and taking them back to our hotel in Island Park for the night, and returning them at the end of the next day. Just a 2 day rental for this first time out.

This has been the best map I've been able to find so far: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5409481.pdf Does anyone have any other map recommendations?

For our first day riding, I think we'll be riding the area in between West Yellowstone and Island Park, maybe a little further south or further east or west depending on how things go. For our 2nd day riding when we start out in Island Park, and this is dependent on how our first day goes, considering riding further south then heading back north (trying not to re-cover too many trails) to end back in West Yellowstone to turn in the sleds. Does anyone have any experience with the Town of Ashton, ID, and the trails leading towards that area? It looks like flatter (farm) country, though still ~5000 ft elevation. Obviously will try and find out about snow conditions prior, main question, how is the Town of Ashton....snowmobile friendly, with good access to gas/food?

 

[600_RMK_144]

OK so I jumped into this thread on the 2nd page, with some "beginner" questions, for first time out west. We only want to ride groomed trails (hopefully we find that the groomed trails are smooth!) - we don't have experience mountain riding and don't want to get into it. Just ride the trails and take in the sights/scenery. We have now booked flights/made reservations for lodging and sled rental. Flying out Sunday, riding Monday-Tuesday, flying home Wednesday.

We wanted trail sleds since we just want to run the trails, I couldn't find anything with a 137" track and a trail ski stance in Island Park (and in the process learned that the town of Island Park is ~35 miles long and ~500 feet wide, along US20!). We wanted to stay away from the busy-ness of town of West Yellowstone. However unable to find (new model) trail sleds to rent in Island Park, we are renting in West Yellowstone, and taking them back to our hotel in Island Park for the night, and returning them at the end of the next day. Just a 2 day rental for this first time out.

This has been the best map I've been able to find so far: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5409481.pdf Does anyone have any other map recommendations?

For our first day riding, I think we'll be riding the area in between West Yellowstone and Island Park, maybe a little further south or further east or west depending on how things go. For our 2nd day riding when we start out in Island Park, and this is dependent on how our first day goes, considering riding further south then heading back north (trying not to re-cover too many trails) to end back in West Yellowstone to turn in the sleds. Does anyone have any experience with the Town of Ashton, ID, and the trails leading towards that area? It looks like flatter (farm) country, though still ~5000 ft elevation. Obviously will try and find out about snow conditions prior, main question, how is the Town of Ashton....snowmobile friendly, with good access to gas/f

I assume you are aware that you can't take your sleds into the National Park without a guide (and with the proper sleds). Don't get me started on that racket!

Can't speak specifically about that town, but in my experience pretty much everyone/ everything in the area was sled friendly. There isn't much else going for these towns in the winter, so they certainly appreciate the business. I would recommend the Two Top loop as it's beautiful at the top. You can ride right into town (Yellowstone) off that loop, so might be a "day 2" trip for you as you return the rentals. Only complaint being that all the rental shops point their riders that direction, so it get's tracked up pretty quickly. But certainly worth the trip. There are many directions to go, so I personally wouldn't map everything out ahead of time and see where the trails take you!

 

[600_RMK_144]

Ponds Lodge has some smaller cabins I have stayed in which is great for a small group
http://pondslodge.com/ Food and service is great as well

Great. Thanks!

 

[dfattack]

OK so I jumped into this thread on the 2nd page, with some "beginner" questions, for first time out west. We only want to ride groomed trails (hopefully we find that the groomed trails are smooth!) - we don't have experience mountain riding and don't want to get into it. Just ride the trails and take in the sights/scenery. We have now booked flights/made reservations for lodging and sled rental. Flying out Sunday, riding Monday-Tuesday, flying home Wednesday.

We wanted trail sleds since we just want to run the trails, I couldn't find anything with a 137" track and a trail ski stance in Island Park (and in the process learned that the town of Island Park is ~35 miles long and ~500 feet wide, along US20!). We wanted to stay away from the busy-ness of town of West Yellowstone. However unable to find (new model) trail sleds to rent in Island Park, we are renting in West Yellowstone, and taking them back to our hotel in Island Park for the night, and returning them at the end of the next day. Just a 2 day rental for this first time out.

This has been the best map I've been able to find so far: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5409481.pdf Does anyone have any other map recommendations?

For our first day riding, I think we'll be riding the area in between West Yellowstone and Island Park, maybe a little further south or further east or west depending on how things go. For our 2nd day riding when we start out in Island Park, and this is dependent on how our first day goes, considering riding further south then heading back north (trying not to re-cover too many trails) to end back in West Yellowstone to turn in the sleds. Does anyone have any experience with the Town of Ashton, ID, and the trails leading towards that area? It looks like flatter (farm) country, though still ~5000 ft elevation. Obviously will try and find out about snow conditions prior, main question, how is the Town of Ashton....snowmobile friendly, with good access to gas/food?

We rode south to Ashton “area” which would have been slightly east of town. You are correct some towns aren’t towns per se. Just like island park. We didn’t see any gas stations down there so we doubled back when we were at a half tank. Some in our group had to use spare tanks of gas to get back. They were mostly the 600cc group who had to pin it more to keep up in some cases. I saw that situation developing so me and my son broke off from the rest of the group who wanted to risk it. I did not. We took a shorter route back which meant we doubled back. Others wanted to take a different longer route back. We arrived back at our meeting place about 30-45 mins before the others but yes they did need the spare gas. That’s too close for me.

Another thing is they DO NOT groom like we do in the U.P. Maybe once per week. Very choppy mid week. Some older riders even took a day off it was so rough. Nothing you can do. It’s still worth it to go out. Just be prepared. We all trailered out so had our sleds set up for the chop. Not sure how rentals will be.

Good luck

 

[kevinj]

OK so I jumped into this thread on the 2nd page, with some "beginner" questions, for first time out west. We only want to ride groomed trails (hopefully we find that the groomed trails are smooth!) - we don't have experience mountain riding and don't want to get into it. Just ride the trails and take in the sights/scenery. We have now booked flights/made reservations for lodging and sled rental. Flying out Sunday, riding Monday-Tuesday, flying home Wednesday.

We wanted trail sleds since we just want to run the trails, I couldn't find anything with a 137" track and a trail ski stance in Island Park (and in the process learned that the town of Island Park is ~35 miles long and ~500 feet wide, along US20!). We wanted to stay away from the busy-ness of town of West Yellowstone. However unable to find (new model) trail sleds to rent in Island Park, we are renting in West Yellowstone, and taking them back to our hotel in Island Park for the night, and returning them at the end of the next day. Just a 2 day rental for this first time out.

This has been the best map I've been able to find so far: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5409481.pdf Does anyone have any other map recommendations?

For our first day riding, I think we'll be riding the area in between West Yellowstone and Island Park, maybe a little further south or further east or west depending on how things go. For our 2nd day riding when we start out in Island Park, and this is dependent on how our first day goes, considering riding further south then heading back north (trying not to re-cover too many trails) to end back in West Yellowstone to turn in the sleds. Does anyone have any experience with the Town of Ashton, ID, and the trails leading towards that area? It looks like flatter (farm) country, though still ~5000 ft elevation. Obviously will try and find out about snow conditions prior, main question, how is the Town of Ashton....snowmobile friendly, with good access to gas/food?

Start with these (hopefully you can download the attachments). We used this to plan and then got maps mailed out to us and then picked up new maps once we got there. The trails way to the east along the Wyoming boarder we did not get to on our trip. We did not venture to Ashton...Too far and yes doubling back. We did get to Mesa Falls...Very cool and Two Top. Some this as mentioned can be really rough and only small segments area groomed maybe twice week. Have a good time!!! I will definitely go back.