Yellowstone and Grand Tetons

[Finnba]

Hey. We are holidaying in the US in August at Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Does anyone have any advice on what to see and what not to see? Should we do the aerial tram at the Tetons or not? Any advice on where to go when inside the parks?

I would appreciate any hints and tips. Thanks

Have you booked your accommodation already? Yellowstone is BIG and your accommodation will lead your itinerary.

Its been 20 years since we went but even then we needed to book well in advance.

Thanks for replying. Yes we are booked into the west Yellowstone

Following, as I want to do this trip next year!

We went a long time ago but it was beautiful. I remember the hiking in Yellowstone being particularly lovely - and a good way to get away from the crowds at more touristy sites. You could end up driving a lot so we tried to zone days in different areas with a 2-3 hour hike and then a visit to eg the geezers or the springs such as Old Faithful or Mammoth. The NP offices had lots of information on trails in each area. I probably have some names wrong now but specifically I remember hiking up Mount Washburn, swimming in a thermal river, a lovely brunch at Roosevalt Cabins , the wildlife in Lamar & Hayden valleys (take binoculars to see wolves) and the Grand canyon of Yellowstone. In Grand Teton we went horse riding and rented a little boat on the lake. It was cold in the mornings but sunny later. Amazing trip.

The park is really huge and speed limits are low (it’s not a motorway), plus it gets very congested if someone sees eg a bear and her cubs on the side of the road. Assume it’s going to take you 60-90 minutes one way to get to anything from West Yellowstone so ideally you
plan one area per day to explore. We stayed in Gardiner, West Yellowstone and the Yellowstone Lake lodges to facilitate seeing a lot.

Food options are awful and very expensive in the park so do pack a good picnic to take for the day. Purchase a cooler box when you arrive.

My favourite part was Yellowstone Falls and the Canyon. Grand Prismatic Spring was lovely. The lake was very pretty. I wasn’t actually that taken by Old Faithful but it’s a must do.

The drive to Jackson through the Tetons is stunning scenery, but about 3 hours each way. I would suggest staying in Jackson at the other end if you can.

the area is huge.
keep in mind that the park staff has been decimated and capacity at national parks is reduced. without pre-booking you might not get in.

we stayed in the lake log cabins.
it can get very cold at night, it's high altitude and far north.

Curious - where do you/have you flown into and out of when visiting the Yellowstone, Grand Tetons area ?

We flew into Seattle and then internal flights to Bozeman which is a big regional airport. Another option is SLC and Jackson’s Hole.

We’ve stayed in the park when we’ve been there, usually in two places because of the time it takes to drive anywhere. A highlight of our last trip was a horseback ride, from one of the smaller lodges, I don’t remember which one. We finally saw a bear.

We usually camp for some of the time, which is only slightly disconcerting when they have signs up saying when a bear was last seen on the site, it does focus the mind on not having food in the tent. One useful thing to know is that several of the lodges have laundrettes, but your hotel will probably have washing machines, most of the ones we’ve stayed in in the US do, unless they are very upmarket,

In all US national parks the best advice is to get away from the road, walking a few hundred yards will get you away from the crowds. There are loads of well marked trails and also ranger led walks which are very worth doing. Don’t forget to sing in the woods to warn the bears that you are coming!

@cyclingmum67 You could go to Seattle and Bozeman (Montana) and drive down to Gardiner to see Lamar Valley area. Then on to South Yellowstone and stay around Old Faithful. Go to Jackson and go back via Denver. I’ve seen some people use Salt Lake City as a gateway.

We have just come back around 1 month ago. @FinnbaIt will be horrendously busy. Cars everywhere if there’s a bear sighting. The rangers are still there but will move you on if it’s congested. It will be. Everyone gets out of their cars! Yellowstone only has main roads and it was a shocker to find it so busy in early June. Saw a dot of a wolf in a scope and quite a few bears. Lots of bison. Lodges are very average and so is food. Convenient though. The prismatic spring is a must see and we really enjoyed the geothermal areas.After Old Faithful lodge we went up to Gardiner and did self catering.

We also stayed in The Grand Tetons at Jackson. Rustic lodge. Lots of loops to drive around. Both areas have endless walking trails. Jackson is expensive. Don’t do a dinner river float. Go in the day in the park.

We did in and out of Denver (BA companion flight) but flew back to Denver from Bozeman . Went to Estes Park first after flying into Denver. Also drove the Beartooth Highway. Amazing route. I would not want to be there in high season though!

Thank you @applegingermint and @TizerorFizz

Currently trying to decide on next NA trip and have shortlisted this area alongside Canadian Rockies.

Ideally would take 4 / 5 weeks and combine the 2 - unfortunately a small thing called employment had vetoed that 😀

@cyclingmum67 Are you stuck with school holidays? End of May/June is a good time to be there and weather was reliable and mostly pleasant. The 2 lodges at Old Faithful get booked up quickly.

Yes, take the aerial tram.
Bring warm and windproof jackets for this as it gets pretty chilly at the top and it's windy too.

@TizerorFizz- no, school holidays are a thing of the past now.

Our preference is for September/October holidays now. We did a road trip from Denver to San Diego, via Utah and Arizona NPs, in the first 2 weeks of October last year - the weather was perfect: low 20s every day, aside from first morning in the Rockies where it snowed.

We did Canadian Rockies and Yellowstone in the same trip. The drive through Idaho was fascinating. Glacier National Park was very beautiful. We visited in June to July.

Accom around Yellowstone was pretty underwhelming. I love American self catering/aparthotels but they dine out on proximity and scarcity in that area. Within the park, accom goes on sale one year in advance and it will get booked up very quickly.

October risks being a bit too late for anywhere that becomes a skiing area in winter. We drove through the Utah parks in Sept to very early Oct. The Utah parks were desert so very hot, but at the end of our trip we were met with a deluge of snow (requiring snow tyres) as we came through on Highway 70 towards the American Rockies and our stay in Breckenridge was covered in snow.

Early November is when the northern part of Yellowstone shuts for winter, but if it’s icy then roads will begin to shut early.

Hi @applegingermint- agreed, October is too late for anywhere north of highway 70- although I would love to see some of these parks in the snow, its just too risky.

@cyclingmum67There are wildlife trips to Yellowstone in the winter but they are with organised groups. Wildlife worldwide does one. You also don’t get the mountain passes open until after May 24 and even later. Jackson is a ski town for Jackson Hole and it snows! I think to get a greener, more pleasant time in Wyoming, June is better at altitude but it’s already hot in Cody, Wyoming, by mid June.

I would also caution about constant driving and not giving yourself time to see anything. The geothermal areas in Yellowstone have car parks but in June, they were already overwhelmed at 10 am. You need to plan because the area is huge and takes time to explore.

We really enjoyed our holiday but good restaurants are thin on the ground and accommodation is definitely a case of booking early and accommodation in Jackson is expensive!

We went in 2001 I think so any info I have will be way out of date, although it is disappointing to read the food and accommodation is still underwhelming.

Can't really help with getting there either as we were living in Washington state and just drove our car (via San Francisco, and Colorado). It's not somewhere you would choose to start from if you have a choice.

I would like to go back though and see the effects the wolves have had as they are supposed to have actually changed the physical geography of the park. Amazing....

@Specialnameforanoutingthread We had a wolf guide. Dreadfully expensive for a trip up and down main roads. No evidence of much having been changed by wolves but of course they and bears are competing for prey. However the wolves are very difficult to find and hundreds of folk are scouring the horizon for them. Views will inevitably be distant.

If anyone is interested:

3weeks: Denver (BA from Heathrow) and we then moved on to Estes Park. Day trip over the Trail Ridge Road and back (All American Highway). Estes P to Jackson with a stop half way. Consider Flaming Gorge All American road too. From Jackson we went over the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge. Then to Cody to see the museums. Then into Yellowstone Old Faithful lodge via Chief Joseph highway and then moved north and stayed in Gardiner - finished holiday in Bozeman. Flight back to Denver and home. 4x4 vital! We did some self catering in Estes Park and Gardiner and enjoyed that except price of food is high and so much is pre packed in large quantities! However the mix of self catering and hotels worked for us.

denver has good international connections.
drive up via laramie, hell's half acre.
proper rural us (an experience in itself)
approaching the tetons from the plains makes them even more impressive.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful suggestions. Sadly we have to do school hols so are limited to August and accept it will be busy and we need to get in there early. We are flying in and out of Denver and doing Estes Park one side and Mount Rushmore and Badlands the other side it will be very busy!

@Finnba The other side of what? After Yellowstone? That’s a lot of driving! Around 8 hours. How long is this trip? We took nearly 3 weeks or you are on the move all the time.

It’s two weeks and a lot of driving! We are veteran road trippers though so it will be fine, especially as one of kids is now old to help out too

@Finnba We like to delve a bit deeper and not drive all the time. That itinerary would not suit us.

@TizerorFizz it’s good that different people like different things. We like to go to a place, see all the highlights and then move on. Holidays are very full but we enjoy that. We like to feel we haven’t wasted any time in a place we probably won’t return to given just how many places there are to see in the world.