I just got back from a trip to the Big Horns and Red Lodge/Beartooth pass (outskirts of YNP), a few days in both places. Didn't go into a National Park though.
It didn't seem unusually busy to me ... more Americans are out, but still hard for most foreign tourists to get here. Mostly limited by number of campsites available, and that hasn't changed. They definitely do get reserved early, but that's not a new thing. As mentioned, there are cancellations. Also, national forests have different camping rules, but those are on roads that are often "minimally maintained".
One other item that I haven't seen mentioned here ... know your animals before you go. We stopped for some pictures and a guy comes around the bend in a side-by-side (ATV). He stops and helpfully tells us there are some moose around the curve. We're on a treeless slope so that surprises us, but we thank him, and soon we're on our way. Get around the curve, and all we see is a big herd of cattle
Maybe he meant some moo's?
If you want to identify plants, PictureThis is a good app, but you need cell phone service, not available in the cool places (you can take the pictures and it will store them until you get data service). There's a similar app for bird songs, not sure about animal photos.
Last edited by bogwalker; 07-27-2021 at 08:48 PM.