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Cooke City Montana / Silver Gate Montana: Northeast Entrance To Yellowstone National Park
We just completed a brand new page on Cooke City Montana and Silver Gate Montana. These two charming mountain towns are located just a few miles beyond the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, and are wonderful places to visit and explore during your Yellowstone National Park vacation. Founded in 1883, Cooke City Montana and Silver Gate Montana are located only a few miles apart, and just over 100 people live in these fascinating towns.

There are wonderful eating establishments, gift shops, hotels, motels, cabin rentals and much more. And because of their unique location, these Yellowstone National Park entrance towns cater to park visitors all year round. And the two main reasons for this tourist traffic is that Cooke City Montana and Silver Gate Montana are located just up the road from the world famous Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park, and are also located at the end (or beginning) of the world famous Scenic Beartooth Highway. In addition, Cooke City and Silver Gate are located at the end of the only road that is open to wheeled vehicles in the entire Yellowstone Park during the winter season.

The landscape around these two charming mountain towns is breathtaking. No matter where you look there are towering mountains. In fact, it’s the more mountainous section of Yellowstone Park. So if you like getting close to tall, sharp, and jagged peaks, then you really need to check out the Cooke City Montana / Silver Gate Montana area.

Lamar Valley
The Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park is famous for its wildlife viewing. Grizzly bears, wolves, coyotes, black bear, bighorn sheep, moose, pronghorns, bison, river otters, elk, eagles and much more can be observed from the road running through this amazing valley, and is a favorite place for many visitors to observe and photograph these amazing animals.  The Lamar Valley is world-renowned for its wildlife viewing, and is truly a “must see” while visiting the northeast section of Yellowstone National Park.

And during the Winter in Yellowstone Park, the road from Gardiner Montana to Cooke City Montana, via Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley, is the only road in Yellowstone Park that is plowed and open for wheeled vehicles. And Winter in Yellowstone Park provides excellent opportunities to see and photo animals all along this entire roadway, and Cooke City and Silver Gate marks the end of this plowed road.

Beartooth Highway
The Beartooth Highway (aka Beartooth Scenic Biway) is one the most incredible civil engineering wonders in North America. This incredibly scenic highway starts (or ends) at Red Lodge Montana, and literally climbs up and over the top of the monstrous Beartooth Mountain Range. The highest point along this amazing roadway is just under 11,000 feet above sea level, and the views from up there are absolutely amazing. The Beartooth Highway then continues down the other side of the mountains and ends up at Cooke City Montana and Silver Gate Montana. The Beartooth Highway is an extremely popular attraction for those visiting Yellowstone National Park, and Cooke City Montana and Silver Gate Montana are there to make this drive even more special.

Winter Adventurer’s Paradise
Winter in Cooke City Montana and Silver Gate Montana is a winter adventurer’s dream come true. This area gets a TON of snow, so any sport having to do with snow is happening here…. It’s definitely a hot spot for a Winter in Yellowstone Park.

The Cooke City Montana and Silver Gate Montana area provides world class snowmobiling that is legendary, as well as cross country skiing, ice climbing and snowshoeing. And not only are there seemingly limitless snowmobile trails in the immediate area, but you can also snowmobile over the top of the Beartooth Highway in the winter and end up at Red Lodge Montana! (The highway is closed to wheeled vehicles in the winter.) So during your Yellowstone Winter vacation, you really need to visit this amazing area.

So check out our new page on Cooke City Montana and Silver Gate Montana. You’ll definitely find that these two Yellowstone National Park entrance towns are charming, fun, scenic and absolutely worth the effort to visit during your Yellowstone National Park vacation.

Click Here for all the details on Cooke City and Silver Gate Montana.

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In Yellowstone National Park, are the large hairy animals roaming the landscape called bison or buffalo? Well, some people call them buffalo, and others call them bison. Who’s right? Well, everyone’s right. The National Park Service states on their website, “In North America, both “bison” and “buffalo” refer to the American bison. Generally, “buffalo” is used informally; “bison” is preferred for more formal or scientific purposes.” So there you have it. You can call them buffalo or you can call them bison, whichever name you prefer. Most native westerners call them buffalo, and have been ever since the early pioneers first laid eyes on these magnificent animals. They looked similar to buffalo found on other continents, so the early pioneers called them “buffalo”. This name stuck, even though technically they are known as bison in the scientific community.

Vernicular Name
An animal’s “vernicular name” refers to the popular name given to animals that is understood by general society. The vernicular name does not have to be “scientifically correct”, but rather simply understood by the general public as to what animal you are referring to. Therefore, with bison (whose scientific name is actually “Bison bison”), the vernicular name for the bison is BUFFALO. Another example is the Mountain Goat. The mountain goat is actually not a goat, but the vernicular name “mountain goat” is completely understood by the general population as to what animal you are referring to. Other examples include the Lake Trout (which is actually a Char), or Antelope (which actually is a Pronghorn and not a true antelope), or Brook Trout (which is actually a type of Char and not a trout). Therefore, whether you use the animals vernicular name (popular name) or their scientific name, it’s all good and both are correct.

So even though the term “buffalo” is a kind of slang word for bison, it is socially acceptable to call them by that name in North America. This means that the famous Buffalo Bill Cody, the towns of Buffalo Montana, Buffalo Wyoming, Buffalo New York and the 25+ other towns throughout the United States named Buffalo, and the Buffalo Bills professional football team that has a buffalo on their helmet, and the Lamar Buffalo Ranch in Yellowstone National Park, the Madison Buffalo Jump State Park and all the other Buffalo Jump State Parks throughout the west, can all rest easier knowing that calling a bison a “buffalo” is just fine.

And here’s something else that’s quite interesting… Did you know that according to Dictionary.com, a group of buffalo can be called a “troop”, a “gang”, a “thunder” an “obstinacy” or a “herd”? We’re going to stick with “herd”, but you’re free to choose whichever name you prefer!

For more information on Yellowstone National Park, Click Here.

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WINTER IN YELLOWSTONE PARK
Winter In Yellowstone Park is a magical time and place, and if you’ve never experienced it, we highly recommend that you do. And when you do, there are some things to know that will make your Yellowstone Winter visit more enjoyable and more memorable, and that is what we’ll discuss in this article…. and just in time because the Yellowstone Park Winter Season opens December 15, 2013.

Two Lodges To Choose From, Two Different Worlds
There are basically two different worlds during a Winter in Yellowstone Park. One world is the “Mammoth Hot Springs Winter World” and the other is the “Old Faithful  Winter World”. These worlds are indeed different from one another, and which world you choose depends on what you are most interested in.

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Area
Located 5 miles south of the North Entrance at Gardiner Montana, the “Mammoth Hot Springs Winter World” includes Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and area, as well as the road between Gardiner Montana and Cooke City Montana, via Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley. This road is the only road open to wheeled vehicles all year long, including the entire Winter in Yellowstone Park. Only snowmobiles and snow coaches are allowed on all other roads throughout the Yellowstone Park winter season.

Outstanding Wildlife Viewing Opportunities
If you’re most interested in seeing wildlife, then you might want to consider staying at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, because the northern section of Yellowstone National Park receives the least amount of snow, and therefore many animals congregate here. Known as the “northern desert”, this area of Yellowstone National Park is home to a lot of bison, as well as a fair number of wolves, coyotes, fox, elk, eagles, and the occasional moose throughout the winter months. River otters are also found along the Lamar River all winter long. There are also bighorn sheep in the area, as well as pronghorns wintering just beyond the North Entrance at Gardiner Montana. Of course you more than likely won’t see any bears because they’re sleeping in their dens during the Winter in Yellowstone Park.

The world famous Lamar Valley, which is located along the road between Mammoth Hot Springs and Cooke City at the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone Park, is a great place to view wildlife during a winter in Yellowstone Park, but you will most likely see wildlife all along this incredible drive between Gardiner and Cooke City.

Additional Activities Near Mammoth Hot Springs
In addition to wildlife watching, there are plenty of places to snowshoe and cross country ski along this northern road throughout the Winter in Yellowstone Park. And of course there are the amazing geothermal feature known as the Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces right in the town of Mammoth that are open all winter for visitors to enjoy.

Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Area
The other “world” during a Winter in Yellowstone Park is the Old Faithful Area. The Old Faithful Inn is closed, however the gorgeous Old Faithful Snow Lodge is open for business, as well as a few restaurants and gift shops. The only way to get to the Old Faithful Snow Lodge is by snowmobile or snow coach, and the main hub for taking visitors to Old Faithful is West Yellowstone Montana. Other places of entrance is near the East Entrance, which Cody Wyoming is close to, as well as Flagg Ranch near the South Entrance of Yellowstone, which is north of Jackson Hole Wyoming. But West Yellowstone is definitely the most popular place to hop a ride on a snowmobile or snow coach to get to Old Faithful Snow Lodge.

Geysers and Snow
The Old Faithful Area experience is different than the Mammoth Hot Spring experience during a winter in Yellowstone Park because there is a lot more snow. So if you’re looking for an incredible “winter wonderland”, then this area is your best bet. However, because of all the snow, very few animals choose to hang out here in the winter. Bison (a.k.a. buffalo) are the most prominent animal in the Old Faithful Area. But even though there is not a large variety of animals in this heavy snow area, it does provide incredible opportunities to see thousands of geothermal features surrounded by snow. Seeing these super hot geothermal features in subzero temperatures, with snow all around them, is absolutely magical and something everyone should experience at least once.

Additional Activities In Old Faithful Area
Of course there is also snow shoeing and cross country skiing provided at the Old Faithful Area, as well as additional areas of Yellowstone Park in Winter.

Beyond Old Faithful
In addition to these activities, keep in mind that all the main roads throughout Yellowstone Park in winter are groomed on a daily basis, allowing snow mobiles and snow coaches to travel throughout Yellowstone Park on day excursions. You be able to visit the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, as well as Yellowstone Lake and Hayden Valley. The only road that is not open to any type of vehicle is the stretch between Tower Fall and Canyon, which is the Dunraven Pass area.

If You Have Time…
If you have time, and you’d like to experience it all, we recommend that you spend some time on the northern open road between Gardiner Montana and Cooke City Montana, via Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley to enjoy some incredible wildlife watching, and also spend some time at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge so you can enjoy an incredible winter wonderland of really deep snow, as well as seeing many of the major geothermal features of Yellowstone Park in Winter.

If You’re Too Late…
Now, if you’re too late in getting reservations for Old Faithful Snow Lodge or Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, then a great alternative is to stay at the entrance towns of Gardiner, Silver Gate or Cooke City Montana for the northern dessert excursions including the Lamar Valley, and West Yellowstone Montana is ideal for exploring the Old Faithful Area and beyond.

For More Information…
Yellowstone Park is such a magical place during the winter season, and it is impossible to adequately describe just how magical and incredible it actually is. You’ll simply have to find out for yourself… and more than likely, once you experience a winter in Yellowstone Park, you’ll come back again and again.

For More Details on Winter In Yellowstone, Click Here.

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