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OT: Yellowstone NP 2016

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I took the family cross country in a RV. Yellowstone was fantastic. I say find the time and drive. I took 2.5 weeks and we had the opp to see a lot of things and places.

check it out. We stayed in the park and used it as a base of operations. http://ramblingrv.blogspot.com/
 
My son and daughter-in-law were park rangers at Yellowstone so I've been there a number of times. You've got some good information above, so I won't add to it. The web site will give you most of what you need to plan your trip. Bozeman is the closest 'major' airport, and it's an easy drive down. Do the touristy stuff, of course, but that should only take a couple of days. My daughter-in-law (whose name is, ironically, Dove) runs private tours of the back country through Yellowstone and Grand Teton. That kind of tour will get you to parts of the park that are not usually seen and see animals that you don't usually see as well.

Spend a day in Jackson. Great town! Be sure you have a beer at the bar where all the bar stools are saddles. Check out the old west gunfights. Raft down the Snake River. Also, (it's a little bit of a trek - maybe 3 hours) stop off at the Little Bighorn Battlefield.

Just don't treat the animals, especially the bison, bear and elk, as tamed zoo animals. Lots of people get hurt being stupid. I once saw some silly SOB taking his 4 year old son by the hand and venturing out very near a herd of bison. The bison, of course, were rutting and had calves nearby. The mommas were not amused.
 
Yellowstone is mind-blowing, like nothing else on the planet. I believe about half of all geothermal features in the world are in that park.

It's absolutely true that you should split your time between Yellowstone and the Tetons. You don't need twelve days in Yellowstone. The parks are right on top of each other. Teton has one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world and great hiking. Yellowstone is for gawking, Tetons are for walking.

At Yellowstone, set a day aside just to stalk geysers in the old faithful area - they post eruption predictions in the visitor's center right there. Stop in at the Old Faithful Hotel - this is the granddaddy of all National Park hotels and the lobby is amazing.

In Yellowstone, I absolutely would not miss, off the top of my head:
The Grand Prismatic Spring
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, as seen from Artist's Point
Uncle Tom's trail to the base of the giant waterfall at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
The Geyser Basin at Old Faithful - hundreds of geysers blasting off all over the place. Insane.
Wildlife watching in the Lamar and Hayden valleys

Could go on forever about this stuff. You might want to buy a guidebook that you can bring with you, usually worth the investment.
 
MTHusky said:
Since moving to Montana 13 years ago my wife and I have been in the park about 30 different times. Delta has a commuter flight during the summer from Salt Lake City that flying right into West Yellowstone. The next nearest airport would be Bozeman which is about 1.5 Hrs north of Gardiner, the north entrance to YNP.

All the Park roads open by the end of May If you fly into Billings, go thru Red Lodge MT which is a beautiful western town and than over Beartooth Highway which many people feel is the most scenic highway in America. If you take this road it drops you into Cooke City which is a cool town in summer and winter for snowmobiling. You would enter the Park at the NE entrance and go through the Lamar Valley which we feel is the best road for wildlife viewing The later in the summer you go, the fewer animals you will see since most move up into the high mountains by the end of June with the exception of buffalo that seems to be everywhere. Two years ago we went in the 3rd week of may and the first 2 days we say 18 bear, 15 of which were grizzly. If you want any more info from me, drop me a line.
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Entered park from NE - Beartooth Pass. Spectacular drive, best I have ever seen, but when road was built they must have run out of $$ because there are switchbacks galore and not a guardrail in sight - miss a turn and you are airborne.

You have plenty of time for Grand Tetons and trip to Jackson Hole is worth the drive, great history, food, etc.

If you plan to stay in any hotel in the park make your reservations now - fills up quickly.

And bring some clothes for chilly weather - was there in late June and it snowed twice.

Best National Park I have visited - you have a great time ahead of you.
 
  • Be sure to get volcano insurance.
otherwise - great place. Try to climb GT if you can. And the M$ Cowboy Bar in Jackson
 
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Not sure I can add much to the advice in this thread but I thought I'd share my experience. About 12 years ago, I decided to take a couple of weeks and drive around the west coast parks. Left LA and was in Jackson Hole the 2nd night. Jackson is really nice but definitely a tourist town. Prices are up there. In the summer you can still ride the Gondola to the top of the mountain and there are beautiful views. Drove through the Grand Tetons to Yellowstone and spent three days there. There are several different areas but waterfall is great. My favorite thing to see was the bubbling hot springs and terraces. I spent hours taking photos. Surreal and gorgeous. Old faithful is cool once but didn't need to spend a lot of time there. But the park is really amazing and there are things to see for everyone - wildlife, geysers, waterfalls, forests, more wildlife, and the most amazing crystal structures that look other worldly that you will ever see.

For the record, I think you'll get the best flights and car rental rates flying into SLC and driving from there.

If you have time, driving from Yellowstone to Glacier National Park in Montana is well worth it. It's about 6 hours. Glacier is just amazing - particularly the Road to the Sun if you can handle steep drops while 2 feet from your wheels when you drive.

I went from there to Little Bighorn which I would recommend skipping. Very depressing. A mound in the middle of a field with lots of flags where people died.

If you have enough time on the trip, you can drive from Glacier to Mt Rushmore in about 12 hours. Mt Rushmore isn't worth more than an hour or so, but you can see the Badlands which were cool and Sturgis in the same day. Both worth while.

Some of the best parts of the trip was driving between the different parks. Really cool landscape and geology and when they say big sky, you don't understand until you drive across Montana.

Hope this helped.
 
One more thing to consider - a camera. If you are not super proficient with a DSLR, get a good/great superzoom camera depending on your budget. So much easier than changing lenses. I love my DSLR, but I find I'm far more likely to pick up my superzoom point and shoot and get shots I would miss switching lenses with the DSLR. If you have a great DSLR, it's still not a bad idea to get one of these - you can hand it to anyone else you're traveling with while you're shooting with your fancy camera and they will get great shots with one of these.

This is the ultimate place to find out out about these cameras. If the review is too detailed (it is for me), just skip to the conclusions: Superzoom Camera Roundup
 
The thread has covered most of it. Definitely drive down to Teton and Jackson -- it's well worth the trip and you can cover Yellowstone in 6-7 days. I'll only offer two more tips.

1) Eat in the dining room at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. Tour the hotel and grounds as well.

2) Don't do what I did and fall and dislocate your shoulder on the first day.
 
jleves said:
Not sure I can add much to the advice in this thread but I thought I'd share my experience. About 12 years ago, I decided to take a couple of weeks and drive around the west coast parks. Left LA and was in Jackson Hole the 2nd night. Jackson is really nice but definitely a tourist town. Prices are up there. In the summer you can still ride the Gondola to the top of the mountain and there are beautiful views. Drove through the Grand Tetons to Yellowstone and spent three days there. There are several different areas but waterfall is great. My favorite thing to see was the bubbling hot springs and terraces. I spent hours taking photos. Surreal and gorgeous. Old faithful is cool once but didn't need to spend a lot of time there. But the park is really amazing and there are things to see for everyone - wildlife, geysers, waterfalls, forests, more wildlife, and the most amazing crystal structures that look other worldly that you will ever see.

For the record, I think you'll get the best flights and car rental rates flying into SLC and driving from there.

If you have time, driving from Yellowstone to Glacier National Park in Montana is well worth it. It's about 6 hours. Glacier is just amazing - particularly the Road to the Sun if you can handle steep drops while 2 feet from your wheels when you drive.

I went from there to Little Bighorn which I would recommend skipping. Very depressing. A mound in the middle of a field with lots of flags where people died.

If you have enough time on the trip, you can drive from Glacier to Mt Rushmore in about 12 hours. Mt Rushmore isn't worth more than an hour or so, but you can see the Badlands which were cool and Sturgis in the same day. Both worth while.

Some of the best parts of the trip was driving between the different parks. Really cool landscape and geology and when they say big sky, you don't understand until you drive across Montana.

Hope this helped.
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Why not fly into Jackson?
Beartooth is an amazing ride in early spring.
Secret to finding wildlife......find parked cars.
Lamar valley is amazing. Rent a spotting scope when you get there.
Go to the Grand Teton Lodge, go up the big staircase, keep your eyes on the huge windows in front of you. "Holy ####".
Enjoy your two weeks.
 
Excalibur said:
The thread has covered most of it. Definitely drive down to Teton and Jackson -- it's well worth the trip and you can cover Yellowstone in 6-7 days. I'll only offer two more tips.

1) Eat in the dining room at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. Tour the hotel and grounds as well.

2) Don't do what I did and fall and dislocate your shoulder on the first day.
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Wow ex that blew huh?
 
Dove said:
We look to be out there at least 12 days.
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As Hank Griswold taught us long ago, that's about 11 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 54 seconds more than you need to visit a national park:

 
Great stuff so far.

Do we need to make in park lodging reservations way in advance?
 
We can only do July so may be missing big animals.
 
I'm flying into Billings and driving down. I completely forgot SLC is within driving range but oh well.
 
Dove said:
Great stuff so far.

Do we need to make in park lodging reservations way in advance?
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Yes, unless you have someone that is willing to call every day to see if there were cancellations. We booked in March but my uncle lives in Bozeman and was able to check in regularly and get us spots at the Old Faithful Inn, Lake Yellowstone Hotel and others for July.
 
So what amount should I budget for a 7-10 day excursion seeing and experiencing as much as we can? I'm talking upon arrival at the park.
 
Letsgohuskies11 said:
I'm flying into Billings and driving down. I completely forgot SLC is within driving range but oh well.
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We flew in and out of Billings it was fine - your way into YNP will be through, up and over Beartooth Pass, one of America's most scenic drives, you will love it.
 
I'll add on because of previous conversations we've had. I've done a variety of outdoor adventures throughout all of Wyoming. The best wilderness hiking is actually in the Wind River range, to the southeast of Yellowstone. It rivals the High Sierra for mountainous beauty.

Happy Trails!
 
Well Dove you've received alot of info. about the park and many hiking adventures so I'll give you some info. about Jackson which most people will pass through on your way to the park. There's a lot of options on the restaurant front. Snake River is one of the nicest restraunts in town (somewhat pricey) as well as the Granary at Spring Creek Ranch where you have a view of the Teton. It's a good place for happy hour and a drink. For a mid priced restaurant, we have enjoyed the Trio. For something more casual, you can try the Lift. You can sit outside and the food is good. A couple of good bars are the Silver Dollar and the Cowboy. There's Dornan's at the entrance into Grand Teton National Park...great views there. The scenic float trips are very nice. I would suggest the one up in the park. You will float right by the Tetons. It is very slow, relaxed and beautiful. If you want more adventure, you can opt for the white water. The float in the park is way better than the one further south. You can drive through Antelope Flats (on the opposite side of the highway going north from GTNP). You can often see bison herds on that road. That's what comes to mind right now. If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know. Enjoy, and if you're going in September, bring some warm clothes, as it gets cold there real quick.
 
Personally always have flown into Salt lake City ; rented a car and drove up to Jackson. Drive is easy about 3.5 hrs. But as many have said you have some options.
 
Thanks donyell!. Before the weekend is over I will reread the thread and write down a lot of notes. My wife and steep slopes don, t mix so hiking will be minimal. Those float trips sound up her alley, too.
 
I would still like to know how much to budget for 7-10 days in park.

Lets say a modest to regular budget. Doesn't need to be high end, considering lodging, eats, park fees and attractions.
 
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