Yellowstone in the Fall of COVID

Usually from Jackson Hole we take the 57-mile drive north on John D. Rockefeller Jr. Highway up to Yellowstone because the south entrance is the closest access from Jackson Hole.

But, because we were visiting friends in Pocatello, this time we took the West Entrance — thru the town of West Yellowstone. Here is where the tourists mostly skipped any advisories and recommendations for masks and distancing. West Yellowstone is pretty much a tourist trap with a multitude of gift shops where you can get cheap t-shirts and trinkets. And the tourists were out in numbers while we were there.

We stood in line at an ice cream shoppe at one point with about 10 families with their kids running all over touching everything. Barely a mask in sight and even the ice cream shoppe employees didn’t care. Or at least they acted like they didn’t care, more annoying was probably the kids running their hands over the glass.

From the west, we were able to do most of the famous tourist attractions like Old Faithful, Geyser Basin, and Grand Prismatic Springs.

Masking up was a little more than we expected in the park, at Old Faithful, most people there kept their masks on, or stayed at a respectful distance. At the Springs it was more miss than hit, with people getting WAY too close without masks, the boardwalk path through the springs is just not big enough to give proper social distance.

I’ve been to Yellowstone many times from Jackson Hole so was not first rodeo, but first time I was acutely aware of the people visiting with me. And while polite and pleasant enough, most didn’t care about Covid precautions. But I didn’t catch it so what do I know?