 West Coast, National Parks in December |
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| Is the winter so hard that is better not to go there? | ||||||||||||||||||
ana3 ana Post Count: 2 Msg: #1 156 days ago, August 6th 2008 | Hello, I am thinking on going for a 30 days trip to the West Coast and National Parks: Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon. Does anybody knows if it is really cold there in December,January. Would you recommend not to do it? | Thank you  Stephanie and Andras Stephanie and Andras Post Count: 103 Msg: #2 156 days ago, August 6th 2008 | Hi Ana | Those three parks you mentioned will all have quite different temperatures during those months. Yellowstone is located in the Rocky Mountains so it will be completely snowed in. While it is very beautiful in the snow, many places and lodges in the park are shut down in the winter so it is an entirely different experience than it is during the summer. That is not to say you shouldn't do it (I've actually been wanting to plan a trip there in the winter) just keep in mind that it will be cold and snowy there and most cars cannot enter the park (you can snowshoe, cross country ski, hike or snowmobile in; otherwise you can arrage a snow-cat to take you to one of the lodges I believe). Yosemite is also in the mountains, so it too will mainly provide winter activities, although I don't believe access is quite as restricted as Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon is in the desert so while it certainly will be colder than usual it won't necessarily be freezing. It does occasionally snow there as well, but not as much. I've actually heard that winter is a great time to visit the Grand Canyon because the view is clearer (less humidity in the air), it isn't insanely hot (it was 140F when we were there in July!) and there are less people. All three parks are great to visit in the winter if you're planning on a winter trip! Pack warm, make the necessary arrangements to get there despite road-closures and get prepared to enjoy the snow! If you' don't like the snow, or cold, than I would not recommend visiting Yellowstone or Yosemite in Dec/Jan. ana3 ana Post Count: 2 Msg: #3 155 days ago, August 7th 2008 | Thank you very much, I think we are booking this week! | Number of Users: 2 | Number of Posts: 3 | |||||||||||
