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Arizona to Wyoming in April, how bad of an idea is it?

Tantjjim

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I have a trip to Yellowstone planned for early April and have been debating the risk of taking a bike on the trip. I was wondering how terrible of an idea it is based on the cold and the possibility of snow? Has anyone done something similar or familiar with the area that can tell me how bad of an idea it is?
 
Weather in the mountains is anyone's guess...they didn't go to meteorology school!

Wind will always be a factor out here in the spring no matter the status of sun or precipitation.

I did ride Beartooth Pass in the third week of June and the road was plowed but the snowbanks on either side of the road were about 7 feet tall.

Heated gear and a good radar/weather app on your phone are your friends here.
 
How bad is it? As someone who has ridden and driven through WY many times all I can offer is this:
WYO%20windsock-M.jpg
 
But seriously, ALL of WY is windy - some parts more than others. I've found that the only semi-calm part of WY is the northwest corner. The eastern 3/4 of WY is always windy with occasional gusts that have sent me to the road's edge. Wyoming's southern half is windy and will have you adapting a leaning profile into the wind to keep moving forward. The problem with that is when a semi truck passes you on one side it kills the wind force so you have to get upright ASAP and then get back into a leaning position as soon as the truck passes you.

I used to work in the energy industry hence my previous reference to driving through WY. Even in July you have to wear a jacket because it's so friggin windy with low temps blowing in from Alaska. The only times I've intentionally ridden into WY was to get to rallies in Montana, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Some parts of WY are so desolate that it can be difficult to find a gas station and when you do it usually offers only regular unleaded fuel. Oh, and hail. Did I mention hail?

On the way to MT
May%201%202007%20download%20307-M.jpg

May%201%202007%20download%20315-M.jpg


On the way to SD
IMG_2069-X2.jpg
 
Weather in the mountains is anyone's guess...they didn't go to meteorology school!

Wind will always be a factor out here in the spring no matter the status of sun or precipitation.

I did ride Beartooth Pass in the third week of June and the road was plowed but the snowbanks on either side of the road were about 7 feet tall.

Heated gear and a good radar/weather app on your phone are your friends here.

Good to know, I'd likely come in the west side from Idaho falls, I'm assuming going through the tetons would still have a fair amount of snow. If it's clear that would be a great ride though! Do you know about when that route typically opens up?

But seriously, ALL of WY is windy - some parts more than others. I've found that the only semi-calm part of WY is the northwest corner.

Hopefully that's the only corner I'd be riding through, I think the worst wind I've ridden in was maybe 50mph gusts and really wouldn't want to ride through anything much worse than that. Will definitely avoid anything east of Yellowstone. I've been through Laramie and Cheyenne in a car in higher winds and want nothing to do with that on a bike!

Thanks for the advice, looks like it's time to try some warm gear while the temps are still in the 30s where I'm at now to.
 
Come from the Idaho Falls side. Usually by April the road to West Yellowstone is dry. Definitely be prepared for bad weather though as we get most of our snow/ rain in the spring. Beartooth pass will likely be closed during that time. However, the road to Cooke city is maintained year round.
Be really careful if you do ride as the tourists in cars are NOT looking for motorcycles. I live really close and I dont ride there too often as a result. Not to mention that the wildlife can pose more danger to a motorcycle.
Either way have a good trip
 
Thank you for the advice! Our hope is to beat most of the crowds by going a little early in the season and during the week, will see how that works out for us. I'll be joining my parents and they'll be in car so if the weather gets iffy I'll hop in with them. It should be a good trip on a bike or otherwise.
 
Well, it's April......what happened? :dirtdog
frozen solid by the side of the road! Im just north of Yellowstone and this April would have been a bad idea to ride near there but then again april is not over yet even though the forecast to May 1 shows highs of low 50's
 
He died in a cataclysmic snowstorm, never to be heard from again.
This.

We realized pretty much everything is closed until this weekend so we postponed our trip until next week. Still planning on going, looks like I'll still be taking a bike, I'll update when I get back if I don't turn into a frozen statue like Jack Nicholson from The Shining 🥶
 
Well, we wrapped up our last day in the park today. Got to West Yellowstone Sunday afternoon so we went out to Old Faithful real quick and a couple stops on the way back, took the bike and it was fine

Rode in the car with the folks Monday and Tuesday. Went back out on the bike today, weather was sunny and 40s, roads were good, bison were everywhere. It was a great trip, now to make it back home!

Thank you all for the tips, made the trip much more enjoyable!
 
Tomorrow may take me over the Douglas pass south of Rangely, CO, does anyone in the area know what that pass may look like now?
 
Thanks, I'll have to take a look at that tomorrow before I head out. Was really hoping that would only be rain tonight but hopefully it'll melt quick tomorrow.
 
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