As a Goodreads author, my “Yellowstone Treasures” is eligible for their Giveaway program, which goes on from now through April 7th. Just go to:
this Goodreads link
and take a chance on receiving a free book. It will help you plan for your next trip to Yellowstone Park and enjoy the park to the utmost while you’re there.

As always, the West Entrance was the most popular, and more people visited in July than in any other month, with August and June just behind in numbers.

The NPS attributes this year’s popularity to lower gas prices, stepped-up marketing by Montana and Wyoming tourist bureaus, and the NPS’s own “Find Your Park” program. In addition, beginning last year, to encourage visitation, all families that have a fourth grade student may enter any national park without paying an entrance fee.

About vehicle passes

Beginning June 1, 2015, visiting Yellowstone for one to seven days goes from $25 to $30 per passenger vehicle. Grand Teton National Park will have a separate pass for $30. This is a major change, since previously one fee provided visitors with a seven-day entrance permit for both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. But people visiting both parks will now be able to save $10 by purchasing a $50 two-park vehicle pass, also valid for one to seven days.

Motorcycles can enter Yellowstone for $25 for one to seven days or both parks for $40, and
individuals (by bicycle or on foot, for example) will pay $15 for Yellowstone or $20 for both parks.

An annual pass for Yellowstone will be $60. This pass offers visitors in the local area an option that is less expensive than the $80 Interagency Pass. Interagency Pass rates remain the same: Annual ($80) and Senior ($10). Military passes and Access passes (for people with permanent disabilities) will remain free.

Free park admission

There’s still one way for people living near Yellowstone to save money. Fee-free days in the second half of 2015 will be:
August 25: National Park Service’s 99th birthday
September 26: National Public Lands Day
November 11: Veterans Day

About backcountry passes

Backcountry pass fees are going up this year from Memorial Day to Sept. 10. These fees apply per night for all individuals 9 years of age or older. Backpackers and boaters will pay $3 per person, per night, up to a total of $15 per night for groups of 5 or more. Stock users will be charged $5 per person, per night.

You can purchase an annual backcountry pass for $25, and the fee for advance reservations remains $25.

As you enter the park heading south on U.S. 191, you are greeted by this sign and Black Butte.

Not only are fees waived, but thousands of volunteers help out on this day every year. According to the National Public Lands Day website:

In 2013, about 175,000 volunteers worked at 2,237 sites in every state, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.
NPLD volunteers:

• Collected an estimated 23,000 pounds of invasive plants
• Built and maintained an estimated 1,500 miles of trails
• Planted an estimated 100,000 trees, shrubs and other native plants
• Removed an estimated 500 tons of trash from trails and other places
• Contributed an estimated $18 million through volunteer services to improve public lands across the country

The photo above, taken by Leslie Kilduff, can be found on page 33 of the guidebook’s fourth edition.

Three cheers for volunteers! And enjoy your Saturday in a park or refuge.
—Beth, editor of Yellowstone Treasures

Just enter your e-mail address at the right for this Yellowstone Treasures bonus!

Janet

The National Park Service tells us there are five more days in 2013 when entrance into all 59 of the national parks will be free “as a way to encourage people to get outdoors and enjoy the remarkable landscapes and historical and cultural sites national parks have to offer.”

If you live close enough to take advantage of this or can schedule a trip to Yellowstone for one of these days, you can save the $25 per carload fee on the following weekend dates:

• August 25 for the National Park Service birthday
• September 28 for National Public Lands Day
• November 9 to 11 for Veterans Day holiday weekend.

If only I could join you on the benches at Great Fountain Geyser or get to see one of this summer’s amazing dual eruptions of Fountain and Morning Geysers!

• January 14 to 16 (Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend). A great time for seeing wildlife and the beautiful ice-crusted trees around the geyser basins.
• April 21-29 (National Park Week). Not everything is open yet, but bison are giving birth to their little orange calves and crowds are nonexistent.
• June 9 (Get Outdoors Day). The full Yellowstone season is gradually getting underway.
• September 29 (National Public Lands Day). A good time for avoiding crowds and hearing the bugling of elk.
• November 10 to 12 (Veterans Day Weekend). Most facilities are closed by now, but you can still travel the Gardiner to Cooke City northern road to visit Mammoth Hot Springs and the wildlife-rich Lamar Valley.