Staying near Yellowstone, and things to see in Yellowstone

In My Humble Opinion
21

There is plenty of motel type lodging in West, national chains and mom and pops. We stayed in a Best Western 6 years ago, it was nothing special, but all you need it for is a place to sleep.
Getting into in-park lodging at this date might not be easy, as many places book up a year in advance.

As for things to see, I concur with the other suggestions in the thread, and will add one of my favorites, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.
Once you’ve taken in the view from the rim, take the trail to the Brink of the Lower Falls. The trail is paved, but it’s 500-600 vertical feet of switchbacks.
Just be careful, clueless tourists have met their end here, both off the canyon rim and over the falls :eek:.

Here is another website for more info, and a discussion board.

22

I stayed in Cooke City for several nights a few years back. It was the first week in June and I stayed in a cabin at the High Country motel. Cooke City is just outside the NE entrance to Yellowstone, in Montana. Frankly, even beyond all of the usual tourist attractions in Yellowstone, I enjoyed the daily drive through the scenic La Mar Valley the most, with parts of the scary mountainous road notwithstanding. It’s what I look forward to the most when I go back.

We did get stuck in a huge traffic jam behind a herd of bison making their way down the highway alongside the river on the west side. It literally took hours as there were only a few places you could pass them. I saw enough buffalo that day to last me a lifetime. :slight_smile:

23

If you find yourself in Cooke City, MT do yourself a favor and hit the Beartooth Cafe and order up a Funk Burger. It’s garlic deliciousness. Then top it off with the chocolate eclair. I still have dreams of that place.

24

Gardiner and Cooke City also both have several lodging options and are just outside of Yellowstone.

25

Thanks for all the help, I ended up getting a room in West Yellowstone for four nights and one in Idaho Falls for two nights. We’ll have to figure out what exactly we want to see, but I think five days in the park will be good. I’ll probably be ordering a couple of books and I did see that BBC America has a three part series on Yellowstone too which I’ll watch.

26

This website is the best reference/forum for YNP:
http://forums.yellowstone.net//

Peruse the website and post your questions there–most users are frequent visitors and/or locals and have plenty of local knowledge.

Best book: Yellowstone Treasures, the best book for YNP. I don’t have a similar one for GTNP, as the one that I use is out of print.

Driving: plan on 25 mph average when figuring driving times. Bear and Buffalo jams are common. Accidents are unfortunately common as well. [My longest trip was 8 hours from Tower to Signal Mountain Lodge due to a major shunt at Lake Junction.] Bring meds (if required), water and snacks, and a flashlight in case nature calls. :o

Lodging: try to stay in the north end for half the trip and the south end for half the trip.

Post food, hike, photog, wildlife, lodging questions on YNET.

27

Missed the edit window…
since you are flying into Jackson, try to snag a room at Signal Mountain Lodge the first night, then do Oxbow bend at sunset and dinner at SML. If you drive up to the top of Signal Mountain after dark–late, the elk are thick as flies on the road up there, drive s l o w l y. There is usually a moose in the pond on the west side of the road, just north of SML. Colter Bay pizza/sandwiches are ok, better than Xanterra food.

28

What a great timely topic. We got an epic road trip from Spokane to Lincoln, Nebraska this summer! We live in Hawaii, so don’t have too many opportunities to be regaled with “Are we there yet?”

We’re heading to Yellowstone as well this summer; in late July. We’re driving in from an overnight in Cody, Wyoming. We’ll probably leave Cody around 8am, taking Route 20.

Day one is a half-south loop

  1. Mud Volcano
  2. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
  3. Norris Geyser Basin
  4. Prismatic Spring
  5. Old Faithful (duh!)

Then we’re staying in West Yellowstone for the night. It doesn’t really matter what time we get there; we’ll eat lunch and dinner at the park.

We’re a family of four with an 8 and 4 year old*, so it won’t be heavy backpacking while meandering through the wilderness. I’m not ashamed to say I won’t stray too far off the beaten path. Assuming we stop and park at each of those five locations, and do some hiking (on a boardwalk, or to a canyon overlook); is this do-able? It will be a Thursday, July 25, if that helps.

The next day, we’re leaving West Yellowstone, would it be better to save Old Faithful for the morning (it’s about 45 minutes away per Google Maps)? We’ll then head up to Mammoth Hot Springs on the way out.

*Both Anya and Grant are very excited about earning a Junior Ranger patch! I wouldn’t be opposed to a ranger-led tour of an area. Any suggestions?

29

You are going to be very, very rushed. Can you rearrange your schedule to allow at least two full days for exploring the park? Then you could do Old Faithful and the three major geyser basins in the southern half of the park on Day 1, and do a loop of the upper park on Day 2, ending with Mammoth Hot Springs on the way out of the park. Check the visitor center at Old Faithful as soon as you arrive; it’s worth it if you can time things to see one of the other predictable geysers besides Old Faithful go off. Grand and Great Fountain geysers are my personal favorites.

Do NOT underestimate the driving times! Traffic jams are common, because animals (and tourists gawking at animals) frequently block the roads. And there’s enough to see in Yellowstone to keep you occupied for a week or more, easily. I spent a month there (two weeks in two consecutive years) and never got bored. That’s overkill for most people, but walking around to see all the best sights features takes more time than you’d expect.

30

QFT. Yellowstone is quite a bit larger than several states in the Northeastern part of the country.

Teton is lovely, and lots of not-too-difficult hikes. We actually saw quite a few bison when we were there (this was in early June 1985 though).

31

Tourist facilities generally gear down for the season Labor Day weekend. It’s also traditionally the last weekend rush before kids return to school. Be prepared for half-assed customer service and smart ass tourists.

32

I’ll agree with artemis that that’s going to be a long day. Out of that list, I’d recommend saving Norris for the second day. Head to Old Faithful after the Canyon, take some time to walk around that area, then stop at Grand Prismatic Spring in the late afternoon or early evening. I think Norris is definitely a must-see, but it’s better if you’ve seen some other geysers first for perspective.

33

Thanks to both you and Twoflower for your advice. While I do defer to your expertise, isn’t my itinerary essentially the southern loop? Actually, half-loop in a day? Or is it just that I’m picking the most popular areas; and therefore most crowded? Should I try leaving Cody earlier on the first day?

That said, I do like the idea of saving Old Faithful and Norris and Mammoth for the second half-day. Maybe if I hit Old Faithful early (say, before 9am), it might be less crowded?

Is there a site where they post estimated Old Faithful eruption times. I couldn’t find it, only to say every 91 minutes of so.

34

I think that’s an excellent list of the best places to stop with so little time in the park. Sure there will be come crowds, but the main thing is just having enough time to spend in each place. Mud volcano is cool, but won’t take too long. There will be bison in Hayden Valley between there and Canyon. Probably blocking the road at times. Assume traffic will be slow, and the wildlife viewing excellent.

Give yourself 2-3 hours minimum for the Old Faithful-Grand Prismatic areas. And on second thought, saving that until the second morning might be a good way to see it less crowded. No irreparable harm will be done if you see Norris first the previous afternoon.

Check the visitor center for eruption times - the base the next prediction according to the duration of the previous one, so it isn’t really quite clockwork. But there are good trails/boardwalks and a lot of other thermal feature worth seeing in that area. Go for your walk and just plan to be back near OF at the right time.

35

:::looks up teton map on NPS website::::

dang. I wouldn’t have thought that that was the case due to how high the Teton Range juts out from Jackson Hole but it sure does look like some not-very-difficult hikes are to be had there. Are there any with great waterfalls?

36

No. Mud Volcano is in the southeastern part of the park, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is northeast near the center, Old Faithful and the main geyser basins are on the southeastern side of the park, and Norris Geyser Basin is on the northwestern side of the park (not too far from Mammoth Hot Springs). As originally scheduled, you were doing most of the southern loop and half of the northern loop in one day. That’s not practical! That’s why I suggested at least two full days to explore the park, and even that’s going to be rushed. Here’s my suggestion:

Day 1: Drive from Cody to the East entrance. Visit the Mud Volcano area, then drive south past Yellowstone Lake and West Thumb Geyser Basin to Old Faithful. Don’t worry about timing your visit to match Old Faithful’s eruptions; the geyser erupts so frequently you’re not going to miss it. Believe me, you’re gong to want to spend a LOT longer than 90 minutes exploring the Upper Geyser Basin. There are two full miles of boardwalks here, and dozens of geysers, hot pools, and other thermal features (many far more visually impressive than Old Faithful), as well as the colorful banks of the Firehole River. Stop by the visitor’s center when you get there, find out when the predicted eruption times for Old Faithful and the other big geysers are, and try to be near them when they go off. When you finish at the Upper Geyser Basin, dive north on the southeast part of the loop road and visit the Middle and Lower Geyser Basins to see the paint pots and Grand Prismatic Spring. Then head for West Yellowstone and your hotel room.

Day 2: Drive from West Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by taking the center loop road east. When you finish there, you have two choices of route: drive back west the way you came (faster), or continue east to Hayden Valley, then north, then west through Lamar Valley (much longer but more scenic, and this is the route that gives you the best animal sightings in the park). Once you’re back on the eastern side of the park, head for Norris Geyser Basin. After your tour of Norris, drive north to Mammoth Hot Springs, then exit the park via the North Entrance.

That’s one day for each half of the park. Rushed (very!), but you’ll see most of the big sights.

Edited to add: Twoflower’s proposed route in post #34 is good, too. But in any case, think of dividing the park into two segments (either north/south, or east/west) and seeing one segment each day. You may have to take into account road closures as well.

Leave from Cody as early in the morning as you can; the drive to the park is about an hour.

I’ll be happy to help you with any additional questions!

37

Here’s the brief summary, since everyone is extremely helpful. I have all of Thursday, coming in from Cody, Wyoming. I literally have all day, since I’ll leave around 7am and don’t really mind getting to our room in West Yellowstone until dusk.

I have about half of Friday. Our flight leaves Spokane on Saturday morning, and it’s about 7.5 hours driving from Mammoth to Spokane, so I probably want to be out of Yellowstone by noon or 1:00.

My A-list.
[ul]
[li]Old Faithful. [/li][li]Grand Canyon. Even if only to go to an overlook or two by the falls, like Artists Point and one of those right on the falls.[/li][li]Mud Volcano. The kids want to smell the rotten eggs[/li][/ul]

My B-list
[ul]
[li]Prismatic Spring. Although I’m told it’s not as impressive ground-level[/li][li]Norris Geysers. I remember how much I liked the steam-surrounded boardwalk, but also realize I’ll see a lot near Old Faithful.[/li][li]Mammoth Springs. It’s on the way out anyway.[/li][/ul]

My kids are doing the Junior Ranger, so will want to do a ranger-led program, preferably Old Faithful. For instance, there’s 9:30 “Stroll around Old Faithful”.

Sorry if I sound like a total amateur when it comes to road trips. I live in Hawaii, and multi-night road trips are few and far-between. This will be my first with two kids, who have been reading up and watching videos of the park.

38

UPDATE: Just found a room at the Grant Village Lodge, 28 minutes from Old Faithful, vs the 43 from West Yellowstone.

39

That definitely simplifies things!

Of your A-list, focus most on the geyser basins and the Grand Canyon. Mud Volcano sounds more impressive than it really is (which is not to say it’s not interesting, just that it doesn’t take a lot of time to see).

40

You will kick yourself if you don’t visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody.