We are very fortunate to live about an hour from Grand Teton National Park and just under 2 hours, from West Yellowstone. We are right in the heart of the greater Teton/Yellowstone region. Spring is our favorite time to visit the National Parks because for a few weeks the roads are plowed and public vehicle traffic is not permitted. Bikes are permitted during this time and we love taking advantage of the vehicle free roads on our Fargos, with April in tow in her Burley.
We visited Teton National Park the first weekend of April this year. The temps were low, but we were three of maybe a dozen people in the park, on bikes. It was worth going out in the cold weather, to have the park almost to ourselves. The roads are plowed from the Taggert Lake Trailhead to Signal Mountain Lodge. There is also access to the Inner loop which goes along Jenny Lake through the park.
When we took our spring ride through Teton National Park, this year we parked at the Taggert Lake trailhead and biked 14 miles out to where the road barricade is, by Signal Mountain Lodge. The wind blew snow across the road frequently, as we gradually climbed and descended through the park. After we reached Signal Mountain Lodge we turned around. On our way back to Taggert Lake we turned into the Inner Loop. The Inner Loop led us along Jenny Lake and then back out to the main park road.
We swapped our plus tire set on April's Burley for her street tires, for this ride. Bryon and I rode our Salsa Fargo's to increase efficiency on the pavement, as well. We rode just over 30 miles in about 3 hours on our ride through Teton National Park. It truly is awesome to be able to take in the beauty of the the Tetons and Mount Moran and the frozen Jenny Lake before the roads are open to cars.
Yellowstone is the other park, nearby that offers Spring Biking. Over the summer months, over 700,000 people visit Yellowstone each month. During the spring, as the park begins to thaw, the roads are only open to bicycles, hikers, and the vehicles of vendors and National Park personal. We prefer to visit the park during this time of year.
We drove to West Yellowstone from Victor, on Friday, and checked into our lodging at the Grey Wolf Lodge. We unloaded our gear and hit the road into the park just after noon. Flurries fluttered in the sky and the wind seemed to be blowing in more than one direction.
The first 14 miles or the ride took us out to the Madison Junction. Along the way we passed, a herd of bison, geese, and ducks. We stopped to photograph bison wading through the Madison River.
At the Madison Junction we headed left towards Norris Hot Springs, which was an additional 14 miles from the Junction. Norris was our turn around point. We climbed along the Gibbon Falls overlook, saw a canine pair eating a kill, and also several more bison on the ride to Norris.
At Norris there was still plenty of snow, so we were unable to go out on the boardwalk. We did stop and have lunch in the parking lot.
We headed back to West Yellowstone, after our late lunch. Back in West Yellowstone we soaked in the hotel's hot tub, swam with April, and then enjoyed some pizza from Wild West Pizza.
We went for a shorter ride out to the Madison river and back the next morning. We felt very fortunate to see bison on this short ride, as well.
It is truly awesome to experience both Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks by bike. Yellowstone roads are closed to cars until April 20th and Grand Teton keeps the Inner Loop to Signal Mountain closed until April 30th. We highly recommend spring biking in the parks!
For more information on biking in parks check out the following website: https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/spring-fall-bicycling.htm
