by 
This week in Yellowstone National Park, from October 30th, 2025, through November 5th, 2025, I try to convince you to visit a closed campground, update you on what the gateway towns will look like after the roads close, share a hike I absolutely adore out of Mammoth, and tell you about Yellowstone’s least-visited month. I will also give you the complete weather forecast, the snowpack update, the wildlife report, the news, and everything else you need to have an incredible time, “This Week in Yellowstone.”
LISTEN TO THIS AS A PODCAST!
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/id1789397931
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/41E5WWldz4s7n6NXh2Lahr
RSS: https://rss.com/podcasts/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/
Disclaimer: I may miss a few details, so please feel free to reach out with any questions. I also mention park locations casually—if you’re unfamiliar, a quick search can help. This report only covers drivable areas of the park.
Also, this podcast is a passion project—I’m not paid or sponsored. If you enjoy it, I’d love a review or a quick email! To support my work, check out my guidebooks on hiking and wildlife watching, or join me for a guided Yellowstone tour. For details, visit outdoor-society.com or reach out directly!
THIS WEEK’S YELLOWSTONE NEWS
Last Week’s Snow Storm
In case you missed the news, last weekend through Monday, the park’s interior roads were shut down due to dangerous conditions and dozens of cars off the road. More than 30 vehicle accidents were reported in a short span of time. Heavy snowfall combined with icy conditions made stretches of the Grand Loop Road and access routes, especially those at higher elevations, particularly hazardous.
Park management suspended travel on all interior roads and advised visitors to adjust their plans or avoid certain areas altogether until conditions improved. The closures highlight how quickly Yellowstone’s fast-changing weather can impact safety, access, and travel schedules.
Officials urged those in the park, or planning to visit, to check real-time road and weather updates, exercise extreme caution when driving, and be prepared for rapid changes in conditions. The story serves as a reminder of the combination of winter weather and mountainous terrain that makes even familiar drives in Yellowstone potentially risky.
Roads Are Closing
After October 31st, nearly all roads and entrances in Yellowstone National Park will be closed to regular vehicle traffic as the park shifts into winter mode. According to the NPS, the West, South, and East entrances, along with the interior park roads, will shut down until the spring. Starting in December, only oversnow travel (such as snowmobiles and snowcoaches) will be permitted in the interior.
The only section remaining open to conventional vehicles through the winter, weather permitting, is the corridor between the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, and the Northeast Entrance at Cooke City / Silver Gate, Montana, via Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower Junction.
Sunrise and Sunset Times
This weekend, we will be changing clocks back an hour, meaning that sunsets will now be in the 5 pm range. Sunrise will be around 6 am. I normally wouldn’t mention this, but early sunsets mean shorter days in the park and a need to plan ahead. They also mean that if you want to wake up early and get to Lamar at sunrise, you need to get up earlier than most probably want. Plan ahead and enjoy!
EXPERIENCE OF THE WEEK
Take a Walk Down to the Slough Creek Campground
One of my favorite things to do this time of the year is head to Slough Creek. I don’t hike the trail out to First Meadow or beyond, at least not right now. I do that once snow sticks around a bit and real winter starts. Instead, I walk down to the Slough Creek Campground, along the closed section of road.
What makes going to the campground so much fun this time of year is seeing all the animal tracks in the snow/mud in the area. You’ll see where animals cross Slough Creek, you’ll have a chance to watch for wildlife, listen for birds, and generally, just be along a tranquil stretch of this iconic creek all alone. Usually, in November, I see plenty of bear tracks out here, so make noise, carry bear spray, and keep it readily accessible and know how to use it.
So, the gate may be closed at the start of Slough Creek Road by the time you listen to this. If it is, do not bail on this as an adventure. Instead of a short walk, it will be a five-mile round-trip hike, but it is still amazing. It is along a dirt road, mostly flat, except for one big hill near the start/finish, and super scenic and calming. I’ll definitely talk about this more as a snowshoe trek, but for now, it is a fantastic walk that I absolutely love, and I think you will too. If five miles sounds too long, consider walking from the pit toilet parking area down to the big bend of Slough Creek. It is one mile each way and offers an awesome view of the creek, the hills nearby, and should give you plenty of wildlife sightings.
Oh, one other thing to be aware of here, and everywhere else in the park, for that matter, is that bison will be around. If a herd of bison, or even a single bison, is blocking the road, you have two options. The first is to wait. If you wait, it could be hours. Seriously. The second option is to go around them. This is what I do, but it isn’t always simple or easy. While the park rules and regulations say you can be 25 yards from a bison, do not do this when passing them, if you can. Try to move around them and give them 50 to 100 yards. It may mean you have to walk up a hill, through the prairie, or even get your feet wet in a swampy area, but all of these things are better than getting charged and rammed by a bison.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Minimal Amenities Outside the Park
If you are visiting Yellowstone this week, don’t expect much to be open in Gardiner, Silver Gate, or Cooke City. November is shoulder season out here, and many businesses have drastically reduced hours or even full closures until the winter season starts in December. Because of this, finding a place to eat in the gateway towns will be harder than normal. I wish I could give you a definitive list of what will be open and when it will be open, but part of the charm of small-town life in Montana is a lack of up-to-date information on websites. For your trip this week, and pretty much all of November, I wouldn’t trust Google Maps or Apple Maps to give you correct information about business hours. I would barely trust the restaurant’s website or Facebook information. The best thing to do is to talk to your hotel’s front desk. They should have a good idea.
I do want to mention that this year, the dining room by the hotel in Mammoth will be open. The food there is quite tasty and definitely worth eating when you are in the area.
For grocery stores, your best bet will either to stock up on supplies in Bozeman or Livingston. Bozeman has tons of options for groceries, while Livingston has two main grocery stores. Gardiner also has a grocery store, but it is small and may not have what you are looking for, so plan ahead and consider stopping in Bozeman or Livingston before making your way down to the park. There is no grocery store in Cooke City or Silver Gate.
RANDOM YELLOWSTONE FACT OF THE WEEK
November: Yellowstone’s Least Visited Month
Thinking of heading to Yellowstone National Park in November? You won’t see many other people. November is historically the least-visited month for Yellowstone National Park. Over the last five years, Yellowstone National Park averaged 23,241 visitors in November. This means that just over 774 people enter Yellowstone each day in November. It is rational to assume that weekends are twice as busy as weekdays, so if you are visiting the park in November on Monday through Friday, you may be one of just 300 or so people in the park that day. What makes this even crazier to think about is that with only 51 miles of open road in the park, there will be fewer than six people each mile on a weekday, if everyone is spread out equally. What I am trying to say with these numbers is that if you are visiting the park in November, you’ll be mostly alone if you choose to be.
Why Does Visitation Drop So Sharply?
The park’s interior roads close at the end of October, leaving only the northern road, between Gardiner, Montana, and Cooke City, Montana, which passes through Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Junction, and Lamar Valley, open for travel. Those hoping to visit the interior, with sights like Hayden Valley, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, and Old Faithful, and the geyser basins, will have zero luck during November. Snowmobile and snow coach tours also don’t start until mid-December.
With Seemingly So Little To Do, Why Visit Yellowstone in November?
The answer is simple. Even without access to the entire park, this is still Yellowstone. You’ll still have access to thermal areas, have world-class wildlife sightings, experience incredible hiking, and make memories that will last a lifetime. You’ll also have an entire corner of the park largely to yourself.
With a potentially limited snowpack, cool temperatures, and mostly empty roads, pullouts, and trails, November has the potential to be a truly magical time. Sure, you won’t get into the geyser basins to see Old Faithful, Fountain Paint Pots, or Grand Prismatic, or down to Canyon to see the majesty of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, but the park is more than that. A November trip to Yellowstone will surround you with wilderness beauty that helped inspire the region’s protection. You’ll get the last of the bear sightings, witness the bison “migration,” watch the mountains get draped in more and more snow, and hear wolves howl in the dwindling daylight.
Yellowstone Wildlife Watching in November
While many of the professional wildlife-watchers will leave the park in November, the potential sightings are still incredible. A few wildlife-watching events that occur during November are bighorn sheep mating season, the last glimpses of bears before they enter torpor, the expanding hunting movements of wolf packs, more moose visible as they leave the higher elevation landscapes, and the herding up of bison as they begin to start their search for food sources. Be aware that, unlike the true winter months, there won’t be a lot of people monitoring wildlife movements, making encounters with them a little harder. If you want tips and tricks to better spot wildlife, I strongly recommend picking up a copy of my wildlife-watching book for Yellowstone. It is based on my lifetime of park visits.
Hiking Conditions in Yellowstone For November
If you talk to most locals and guides (I am both), they will tell you that many of the best hikes in the park are found in Yellowstone’s Northern Range. This happens to be the region that is accessible year-round, which is a bonus.
While higher mountain trails will likely be inaccessible due to snow, there are dozens of trails to choose from in the lower landscape, leading to breathtaking valleys, sweeping river views, incredible canyons, frozen lakes and waterfalls, and even miles of ridgelines. Along the trails, you’ll see animal tracks in the frost and snow, and witness the transition of the landscape from fall to winter.
However, that may change, so be prepared. You should also bring traction devices for your boots, just in case the trail is icy. Trails also may get muddy, so always bring an extra pair of shoes and socks for after a hike.
I could list every single hike that you may enjoy, or you could just contact me via email, or buy my hiking guidebook to the region. Maybe both? You could also book a winter hiking/snowshoe tour with me!
Typical Weather for Yellowstone in November
November weather in the park can be slightly chaotic for those not used to the Rockies. Highs could be in the 50s, or they could be far below freezing. Lows could be in the 40s or below zero. It may be sunny. It may rain. It may be windy. It may snow. It may do all of those things in a single afternoon. Because of the somewhat unpredictable weather in November, you’ll need to layer your clothes. Bring a hat and gloves, a thermal layer, a heavy layer, and something light, giving you clothing options for everything that may happen.
Expect Variable Road Conditions
In November, roads are usually in manageable condition, though occasional snowstorms can bring snow, leaving the roads snowy and sometimes icy in patches. During and after snow events, the park staff works hard to keep the roads clear, plowing as much as possible.
Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding areas can experience severe winter conditions in November, including snowstorms, nighttime temperatures near zero, and weather reminiscent of the coldest winter days across the country. Road conditions aren’t likely to be perfect, especially as you get later in the month; you may encounter stretches of snow and compact ice. Drive slowly, maintain a safe distance from other vehicles, and always be alert for wildlife, as animals may suddenly appear on the road. Also, note that there is little to no shoulder on the side of the road. Driving off the road as little as an inch in the snow can quickly leave your car stuck and unable to move, requiring a possibly expensive removal. AAA and private towing coverage do not cover national park roads.
Even if the road is great in Mammoth or Cooke City, that doesn’t guarantee that every mile of the road will be in good shape. Ice can linger in areas where daylight is minimal, and black ice is always a possibility. The section between Mammoth and Tower Junction is particularly twisty with elevation changes. Snow is also typically deeper the closer to the Northeast Entrance you get.
As a reminder, the only park road open to personal vehicles in March is the route from Gardiner, Montana, to Cooke City, Montana. This year-round road travels through Mammoth Hot Springs and the renowned Lamar Valley, offering views of Yellowstone’s rugged Northern Range. The park plows this road regularly, ensuring it remains as clear and safe as possible despite drifting, melting, and refreezing snow.
SNOWPACK UPDATE
As of October 28th, the snowpack is about 125% of normal for this time of year. Last year on this date, we were at 25% of our normal level.
ROADS CONDITIONS
All interior roads will be closed starting November 1st. The only road that will be open after that is the road between Gardiner, Montana, and Cooke City, Montana. Please be aware that this road can close at any time due to inclement weather.
For up-to-date information, call (307) 344-2117 for recorded information, or sign up to receive Yellowstone road alerts on your mobile phone by texting “82190” to 888-777.
CAMPING INFO
There is only one campground open in the park right now, and that is the Mammoth Campground, which is open year-round.
WILDLIFE WATCHING UPDATE
You have to listen to the podcast to get this information. Sorry.
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/id1789397931
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/41E5WWldz4s7n6NXh2Lahr
RSS: https://rss.com/podcasts/this-week-in-yellowstone-national-park/
PICK UP A GUIDEBOOK
Love what you have heard on this podcast and want more information on wildlife watching? Get a copy of my wildlife-watching guidebook to the region! Available in both ebook and paperback formats, my book will help you spot wildlife like a seasoned local. Please consider buying a book directly from me, as I make next to nothing when they are sold on Amazon. Grab your copy now at outdoor-society.com!
TRAIL ALERTS AND UPDATES
As of November 1st, all interior trails will be off-limits, unless you hike to them from the nearest closed gate. That leaves only the northern range trails available for easy access. Please note that higher elevation trails will have snow on them, and appropriate gear and clothing will be needed. The Yellowstone River Overlook trail is open, but you’ll need to follow the signs and park to the east of the regular trailhead. Other than that, enjoy hiking!
TREK OF THE WEEK
Howard Eaton Trail- Mammoth to Golden Gate
If you’re looking for a hike in Yellowstone that’s equal parts history, scenery, and pure adventure, the Howard Eaton Trail from Mammoth to Swan Lake Flat is hard to beat. This 8.4-mile round-trip journey follows one of the most beautiful and historic stretches of trail in the park. It starts just behind Mammoth Hot Springs and climbs steadily, a little over 1,000 feet in total, up toward the wide, open meadows of Swan Lake Flat. Along the way, you’ll move through landscapes that feel like snapshots of Yellowstone’s past: steaming hot springs, ancient rock formations, and sweeping mountain views that tell the story of both geology and early exploration.
The hike begins near the Beaver Ponds Loop Trail and quickly heads uphill, passing Narrow Gauge Springs & Terrace. Within the first third of a mile, you’ll gain about 200 feet before crossing Upper Terrace Drive near Orange Spring Mound, one of the park’s most photogenic travertine features. Be sure to watch for the orange trail markers that guide you safely through this thermal area. Around 1.4 miles in, you’ll wander into “The Hoodoos,” a maze of ghostly gray limestone boulders scattered across the hillside. These massive chunks are actually remnants of ancient hot spring terraces that broke off Terrace Mountain thousands of years ago, tumbling downhill to where they rest today.
As you continue south, the trail begins to open up, hugging rocky slopes before revealing breathtaking views. To your east, you’ll spot Bunsen Peak, with Cathedral Rock rising sharply nearby. Look farther out and you’ll see the broad expanse of Swan Lake Flat framed by the peaks of the Gallatin Range, Mount Holmes, Antler Peak, and Quadrant Mountain, all make an appearance on the horizon. Directly below, the road winds through the dramatic “Golden Gate,” named for the yellow lichens that color its canyon walls. This stretch of highway dates back to the 1880s, when early engineers built a daring plank road along the cliffs above Glen Creek. One of Yellowstone’s most famous visitors, author Rudyard Kipling, described the drive in 1889 with both awe and terror, saying his “stomach departed” as the stagecoach “sailed out around the curve… on a plank-road built out from the cliff.”
After soaking in those views, the Howard Eaton Trail climbs a bit more through forested terrain, about 150 feet of elevation gain, before leveling out and eventually meeting Glen Creek Trail near the highway, just south of Rustic Falls. From there, the path follows the creek for another short stretch before ending near the Bunsen Peak parking area. Consider having a snack here before hiking back the way you came.
This route is more than just a scenic day hike; it’s a piece of Yellowstone’s living history. The Howard Eaton Trail was dedicated in 1923 and originally stretched 157 miles around the park. It was built for horseback tours after automobiles began to dominate the main roads, connecting abandoned wagon tracks and game trails into one continuous route. Named after Howard Eaton, the “Dean” of Yellowstone saddle-horse guides, the trail was designed to give riders, and now hikers, a quieter, more intimate view of the park.
I am recommending this hike this week because it will be doable before the snow falls, and will give you the experience of getting into Swan Lake Flats when the roads are closed to everyone else. I mean, who doesn’t want to wander Mammoth, the Hoodoos, Golden Gate, and then Swan Lake Flats without anyone else around?
As always, be incredibly aware of wildlife in this area. Bears, bison, elk, and occasionally wolves are spotted here, so be loud, be alert, and always have your bear spray out and quickly accessible.
NEXT WEEK
In next week’s episode, I’ll return with all of the information you need to have a good week in the park, including wildlife, weather, and trail updates.
Until then, happy trails!
