We've just returned from a pretty stunning June road trip from San Francisco to two spots in the Rockies - Crested Butte, Colorado and Yellowstone National Park.
A flower-filled walk near Crested Butte
How was it? The short version: amazing!
Both places have a reputation for majestic natural beauty - and, conversely, dreaded crowds. Crested Butte, a well-preserved old mining town surrounded by dramatic peaks, is often called the wildflower capital of Colorado, or the US - or even the world, depending on who you ask. The place attracts a lot of people, and it's easy to see why. And then - there's Yellowstone. Perhaps you've heard of it?
Grand Prismatic Basin, Yellowstone
As author Jim Harrison wrote back in 1972 -
"Yellowstone is indisputably America's No.1 travel cliche. But this doesn't seem to diminish her magnificence."
Yes, back in the '70s - and probably much earlier than that - Yellowstone was already known for traffic jams and crowds as well as its famous geysers, grizzlies and grand canyon (not the capital G one, of course). It is supposedly the first national park in the world - the place that inspired the very idea of creating national parks. And you know no hum-drum place is going to do that. Of course lots of people want to see it (which was exactly the intent of the railroad barons who helped fund and promote the park back in the 1870s).
Crested Butte, however, actually was under the tourist radar back in the 1970s. It was then a small-town hippie artist paradise where kids ran free and very unsupervised (Meals? You kids can figure it out.) all summer long amid the mountain flowers. A couple of those (now grown) free-range kids are friends of ours, and they have an intense love for the place - and some understandable wistfulness for the way things used to be. Crested Butte is no hippie paradise now - the secret is definitely out. Crowds pour in during the summer and winter tourist seasons, and the real estate is $$$$.
But I'd say both places are still paradises of a kind.
Mt Washburn, Yellowstone
How to best enjoy these very on the radar places?
In my experience, it's worth taking time to strategize about your trip with avoiding crowds specifically in mind and doing some advance planning. If you do, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Both CB and YNP have an embarrassment of riches to offer.
So, some thoughts -
Sneak up.
Get out of the car.
Scale is your friend.
Let's elaborate -
Consider yourself, if you will, a tiny chipmunk, like the noble Yellowstone citizen below.
If a chipmunk encountered a stampeding herd of mountain goats head on, he'd probably get trampled. But, he can avoid, outwit and evade the stampede, can't he?
Sneak up - Can you take the road less traveled?
(Sometimes these are actually the better/more scenic routes anyway, right?)
This doesn't only apply to your arrival, but let's use arrival as an example. We took the less obvious routes into both Crested Butte and Yellowstone, thankfully missed the potential traffic snarls, and arrived in a good mood instead of frazzled.
Crested Butte - If you look on the map, it appears that there is one way in and out of CB - Rt 135 from Gunnison. But, you can actually get there another way - over Kebler Pass from Paeonia. It helps to have all-wheel drive and maybe a high-clearance vehicle - some of this route is gravel. We had the road to ourselves (paradise), and it was a beautiful drive through the Gunnison National Forest and down into Crested Butte.
Yellowstone - The very same day we left CB for Yellowstone, the New York Times had a front page article on the traffic in National Parks this summer. Their featured photo? A traffic jam at the northern entrance to Yellowstone! Yikes. But - if you come into the park through the south entrance (there are five park entrances all together), through Grand Teton National Park, like we did, you get a gorgeous drive through a bonus park, and, probably thanks to the fact that you have to pay entrance fees for both parks if you go this way, there was pretty light traffic. And if you have the annual National Park pass (highly recommend), then you don't care how many park fees are involved because you don't have to pay them.
Be the chipmunk, friends, and go around the back way.
Also, of course, it helps to be strategic about when you choose to go. Would I want to be in CB for the Fourth of July (or really any time in July)? Nope, ideally, I wouldn't. That is the highest of high season - it's harder to stay out of the way of the stampede of tourists then. You know a great time to be in CB? Fall - the aspens are stunning and the crowds have thinned out. It's probably a great time to be in Yellowstone, too, though I think bear activity may be higher then, so something to consider.
View of the observation tower on Mt. Washburn in Yellowstone
Get out of the car - and away from the road.
To my mind, places like CB and YNP reward the curious chipmunk more than the herd.
A lot of people are going to do the easiest possible thing, right? They may have legit logistical reasons for that (little kids, mobility issues, a large RV, etc), but whatever the reason, if you can get a little bit away from the road itself and the easiest possible sights to reach, you are almost guaranteed relief from the crowds.
This seems to be even more true in blockbuster locales like CB and YNP than in general travel. A few spots get the lion's share of publicity, and people flock there to check them off the list. Old Faithful in Yellowstone or Elk Ave in CB - attractive sights, for sure, but hardly your only options (or, I'd argue, even your best options) for sublime grandeur or local color. They're simply the ones most people have heard of.
You know what else a lot of people don't do? Get up early-ish. If you can get an early start you are ahead of the crowd game - and also more likely to see wildlife than if you got a later start. We saw lots of wildlife on this trip, including two grizzlies in Yellowstone, and it was generally in the early morning or early evening.
Both bear sightings were from the car, thankfully, but that brings up an important point: despite how many visitors there are in Yellowstone, it's still a wilderness filled with wild animals. Don't hike there without bear spray! You can buy it lots of places in the park and supposedly also rent it, but that option wasn't as easy to find, FYI.
I saw this book in CB's lovely independent bookstore, Townie Books, and while I didn't add it to my stack at the register, later in Yellowstone, as a huge bison wandered casually in front of our hotel, I thought - I hope I'm not going to regret not buying that book...
Thankfully, we had no wildlife issues, but it's definitely worth being mindful of our guest status.
View of Mt. Crested Butte
Scale is your friend - these places are huge.*
So many trails, so many vistas, so many waterfalls, so many flowers.
There's room for us if we take time to look for it.
Which brings up another point - good intel is gold. Find sources you trust. Evading the stampede is something best done with a little prep. We did research a few places, among them the Wildsam Yellowstone guide below. This company's guides are pretty tightly edited, rather than exhaustive of all the tourist options, but I like that they have a point of view and include a lot of big picture context and interviews with local experts about the history, ecology and culture of the place. (My one gripe - would it kill them to use a bit larger type? My old eyes would appreciate it if they did.)
*Well, not the town of Crested Butte itself - that's tiny. But the scenic area it sits within is huge and riddled with trails and sights. And Yellowstone - yes, staggeringly huge.
Paradise is out there, friends.
It may be grandeur, or it may be a seat by a murmuring creek.
Or perhaps something else entirely.
You get to decide - follow your inner chipmunk.
Crested Butte, CO