I’ll be staying at the Old Faithful Inn for 4 nights. There are a few tours being offered, but is it better to just drive everywhere? I will be with 6 family members in 1 van. Also heading to Jackson Hole for 2 nights so any advice for that would be great too!
Well you have to check out Old Faithful–the Observation Point Trail there gives you a terrific look down on it, but of course you have to time it right. Another good spot to watch it erupt is from the sun deck of the Old Faithful Inn. The Grand Prismatic Spring and the other geyser basins are must-sees too. And there’s Yellowstone Falls, Tower Falls and…well, heck, you can’t go wrong hitting any of the main visitor areas.
I like the Sheepeater Cliffs, it’s a good spot for a picnic lunch and a stroll along the Gardner River.
**Stay on the Trails! **
Since you’re not camping, that’s all I got. Be prepared to have your mind blown, if you’ve never been there before.
I guess that wasn’t all I had. 
15 years since I was there last - was not aware of any tours. I had heard that traffic got bad at certain times/places, but we did not experience it at the time we went.
Our one observation was that the trailheads can seem crowded, but if you walk 100 yds down the trail, the people thin out tremendously.
In Yellowstone - and other Nat’l Parks - we tend to go on a 2 meal strategy. Wake early and go somewhere, carrying cereal bars. Then hit the tail end of a breakfast buffet at one of the lodges/campgrounds. Do some more stuff in the early p.m., then treat yourselves to a nice early dinner at one of the lodges. Seems to help avoid crowds - you’re sightseeing when others are eating - and keep food costs down.
As I recall, driving from one place to the other can take a while. It might look close on the map, but the roads are not expressways. You might want to plan on “missing” some things, instead of the stress of trying to adhere to a schedule and spending too much time in the car.
The ranger-led tours are DEFINITELY a “DON’T MISS.” Try to catch at least a couple. Check them out beforehand to see if you need any gear. I remember one being quite muddy…
The Tetons are pretty amazing. I’d plan on spending at least a part of one day to drive up to the lake/mountains and gape.
The hiking in GT is more accessible and quickly rewarding. Taking the tram up and looping down through Granite Canyon (or the reverse) is a good way of taking it in. If you’re game for a longer hike, you can make a loop with Granite and Open Canyon, or a hike up to Paintbrush.
In Yellowstone I’d go on your own so you can stay and linger or explore more where you like. The key is get out early and ahead of the crowds. You also get more wildlife spotting that way. Don’t approach the wildlife, no matter how tempting it is or how many idiots are doing so.
Thanks. I have my parents coming, so there won’t be much hiking. The tours that we are considering are called “Circle of Fire”, “Twilight on the Firehole”, and “Firehole Basin Adventure”, if anyone has any experience with those.
Well, if you are the one driving, consider that you will miss a lot of the scenery along miles of relatively narrow, winding roads.
We went last summer. Get up early to see the critters. Check out Lamar Valley…we stayed near West Yellowstone, a charming little tourist town.
DO NOT APPROACH THE ANIMALS. This is hard as some of them graze right by the side of the road (squeee!) so stay in your car and grab the binoculars and cameras.
The baby buffalo are called red dogs.
Generally, when you see a bunch of cars in a traffic jam, that means the animals are close by.
We would go again in a heartbeat.
While probably true, I think it is probably less true in Yellowstone than in other parks, since in most places the roads are wide enough and flat enough that one can see the scenery while driving to a degree and there isn’t much scenery you can only see without stopping. When I drove through there it was one of the few parks where I did not wish that someone else were driving at times so I could look at the scenery.
Driver gets to see everything, 'cause chances are good you’ll be stuck in a traffic jam.
People just STOP in the road when they see a fucking chipmunk! Most infuriating place I’ve ever driven. Be sure to pack your patience. 
I remember when we first got there, we saw some tiny brown dots out on the horizon we were pretty sure were bison, and we oohed and aahed. By the end of the road I was honking at them to get out of the road! 
And people are min-numbingly stupid about the animals. If there is a huge bison lying down across the boardwalk, don’t send the kiddies up to it to get a picture! :smack:
Just remember Yellowstone is huge. Road system is basically a big figure 8. I would target a different section of the park each day, then get there early. Otherwise you will spend all day in the car, especially in the summer. Last time we were there we moved between different lodges - one night at Lake Yellowstone, two nights at Old Faithful, one at Mammoth Hot Springs.
We spent hours wandering the various geyser basins. We saw all of the (somewhat) predictable geysers go off at least once, as well as a number of intermittent ones.
Grand Teton National Park (outside of Jackson) is a must. Tons of hiking (much better hiking than Yellowstone). Without hiking the boat ride on Jenny Lake is can’t miss.
The old Jackson Hole tram is no more, I am not sure if there is any way to get to the top in the summer – but if there is, it’s worth the effort.
There’s a new Jackson Hole tram. The old one was replaced back in 2007.