Archive for the 'Montana' Category
At Yellowstone, wolves and winter deals
October 24, 2009 9:00am
While it can’t compete with the 25-cent hotel rooms recently offered in the U.S. Virgin Islands, or $20 rooms at Hooters Casino in Las Vegas, Yellowstone National Park is offering up some interesting snow packages that include wildlife tours, snowmobiling and ice skating.
The “Winter Getaway” packages are available just after the holidays, Jan. 3 to March 6, a period often ripe with snow-play specials.
Particularly appealing: “Trail of the Wolf,” a guided snowmobile trip to the interior of the park, which is known for its wolves, and wildlife watching by special van in the park’s northern range. The package includes three nights of lodging at Old Faithful Snow Lodge or Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, two breakfasts per person, a one-hour hot tub rental, unlimited skating and skates. Prices begin at $411 per person pretax, double occupancy, for two nights at Mammoth Hot Springs and one night at Old Faithful. Two nights at Old Faithful and one night at Mammoth Hot Springs runs $546 per person.
Yellowstone fire abates under rain, snow; road may be reopened
September 30, 2009 3:35pm
A hoped-for cold front blew through Yellowstone National Park today, Sept. 30, bringing rain, snow and a welcome break for firefighters, who have been battling a lightning-sparked blaze for more than two weeks. After scorching more than 9,000 acres, the so-called Arnica fire appeared to be retreating, allowing abatement efforts that have involved more than 200 firefighters to be scaled down, officials said.
In the meantime, the National Park Service today was working to clear fire-damaged trees so that it can reopen about two miles of a roadway between the junctions at Lake Village and West Thumb. Regardless, drivers can expect delays in the park because another key route, between Norris and Madison, is scheduled to be closed until Nov. 2 as part of ongoing road construction.
Most of Yellowstone, including the iconic Old Faithful geyser area (pictured above), has been unaffected by the blaze, which is in the Lake Village region on the west side of Yellowstone Lake. The park is huge, with more than 2 million acres, and spreads across three states: Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
For updates, check the Yellowstone website or call its fire-information line, (307) 344-2580 or its road-information line, (307) 344-2117.
— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor
Photo: Old Faithful’s spray hits cold air above the snow-dusted grounds in this shot taken from the park’s webcam about 1:40 p.m. PDT Sept. 30. Credit: National Park Service
Wet and cold may douse Yellowstone fire, officials hope
September 29, 2009 5:11pm
Mother Nature may be coming to the rescue at Yellowstone National Park, where a lightning-sparked wildfire has burned more than 9,000 acres since Sept. 13. Firefighters just have to hang tough through high winds today and tonight before hoped-for cold and snow arrive Wednesday, said Tom Kempton, a National Park Service spokesman on the scene.
“The winds are what we’re watching very carefully now,” Kempton said.
Most of the giant park, which sprawls over more than 2 million acres in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, has been unaffected by the so-called Arnica fire, which is in the Lake Village region (pictured above) on the west side of Yellowstone Lake. The Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Lake Lodge Cabins in Lake Village were undamaged, Kempton said. The area of the Old Faithful geyser, he added, was unaffected and was showing partly cloudy skies on the park webcams this afternoon.
But the blaze was spreading smoke in other areas and, along with ongoing road construction, was blocking some key in-park routes.
Looking for a lodge room? Try national parks in autumn
September 12, 2009 2:10pm
If the first family’s recent trip to Yellowstone National Park had you dreaming of geysers and bison, now is the time to act. Fall is one of the best seasons to snag reservations at popular national park hotels, including Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Snow Lodge, which is often sold out during the rest of the year.
Other parks with lodges that have vacancy signs include Grand Canyon in Arizona; Crater Lake in Oregon; Bryce Canyon and Zion in Utah; and Death Valley in California. Read the rest of this entry »
Obamas in Yellowstone and Grand Canyon: Expect traffic delays and some temporary closures
August 14, 2009 7:34am
If you haven’t heard, President Obama and the first family will be heading West to take in, among other stops, Yellowstone National Park on Saturday and Grand Canyon National Park on Sunday. You can’t blame the man for wanting to take advantage of a good deal every now and again: Aug. 15-16 is the last of three summer weekends when free entry has been offered to these and other U.S. national parks.
Of course, this isn’t really a vacation for the president. Besides town hall meetings in Montana and Colorado, he and his family will be visiting the parks “partly to highlight our national park system, to highlight the weekend, where we hope millions of Americans will enjoy the national park system,” according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in a recent press briefing.
But will the Obamas’ seemingly well-intentioned travels create a headache for everybody else visiting the two popular tourist destinations this weekend?
Big Sky, Montana: End of summer $99 dude ranch special rate
August 10, 2009 8:13am
Never mind that it’s been 18 years since you went into the American outback with Billy Crystal in the movie “City Slickers.” The life of a cowboy is a permanent fantasy for some urban dwellers, myself included. If you are counting the weeks until summer’s end, pencil in some time for a quick escape. Only 30 minutes away from Yellowstone National Park, 320 Guest Ranch in Big Sky, Mont., offers a dude ranch experience for a fraction of the cost of other ranch properties.
Changes ahead for U.S. national parks?
January 25, 2009 2:05pm
There were the attempts to gain approval for oil and gas leases to be auctioned near the boundaries of Utah’s Arches National Park. And the uranium-mine project a couple miles from a visitors center in Grand Canyon. The return of snowmobiles in Yellowstone. And permitting visitors to carry concealed weapons within park boundaries.
The Bush administration kept the National Park Service’s operating budget intact, Interior Dept. spokesman Chris Paolino has been reported as stating, yet its policies made the administration unpopular with environmentalists and left the parks service “demoralized,” according to a Los Angeles Times article: “Bush legacy leaves uphill climb for U.S. parks, critics say.”
Now, following an era in which conservation and preservation often took a back seat to commercial and energy-related interests, are changes to come? Read the rest of this entry »
Roundup: Bird flu strikes again; Montana forest development deal; tough times for Greenbrier Resort
January 5, 2009 8:22am
Bird flu is back, the fate of certain forest lands may be in question, and 2009 is predicted to be a lonely one for many hotels. Grab your coffee, and get your day started with this dollop of news:
Bird flu | The H5N1 virus — more commonly known as the bird flu — reared its ugly head among poultry in Hong Kong last month, even though the government thought it had rid the Chinese territory of all cases after a 2003 outbreak. Bird flu outbreaks have also occurred elsewhere, including India and Vietnam, and human cases of the virus were reported in Cambodia, Egypt and Indonesia, according to this L.A. Times report. Read the rest of this entry »
Yellowstone National Park: Explore its wintry wonders
November 9, 2008 11:08am
Take in the wintry-white Yellowstone National Park aboard a snow coach; watch elk, bison and otters; cross-country ski or snowshoe to geysers; ring in the New Year with Old Faithful. Tour operator Off the Beaten Path, whose Greater Yellowstone trips have found a place on Travel + Leisure’s recently published “20 Life-Changing Trips” list, has a “Winter Wonders” tour promising fun adventures amid a comfortable, relaxing setting.
The company — whose tours offer, according to T+L, the “best veteran tour guides in Yellowstone National Park” — already has a few of these trips scheduled for 2009 and 2010, but if you’d like to bid farewell to this year and usher in 2009 in style, consider the next trip, departing Bozeman, Mont., on Dec. 29, 2008, and returning on Jan. 3, 2009.
You’ll be staying at two in-park hotels: Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Old Faithful Snow Lodge. And things wind down quite nicely on your last night with a stay at the Chico Hot Springs Resort in Pray, Mont., 30 miles north of the park. Read the rest of this entry »
Family Travel: Ski deals, kids fly & ski free
October 15, 2007 10:25pm
Skiing can get expensive, especially when there’s the cost of taking the whole family. Ski.com knows this and is trying to help skiers and boarders keep their favorite sport a winter family tradition. A partnership between Ski.com and United Airlines means free flights for kids, and free ski passes & rentals at participating resorts in Colorado, California, Idaho and Wyoming and more.
Deals: Kids 12 and under can fly free when their parents book a ski package on Ski.com for Vail, Beaver Creek, Crested Butte, Steamboat and Jackson Hole. There are additional resorts that offer kids free ski and board rentals, or free lift tickets. So now the question becomes, where do mom and dad want to go skiing this winter? Package deal prices vary depending on where and when you go. Be prepared to travel midweek.
When: Select dates this winter.
