You guys were so awesome with recommendations for last year’s Rocky Mountain National Park vacation (which was fantastic) I thought I’d get opinions for this year’s trip to Montana and Wyoming. We have three weeks to explore Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We thought we would go in mid-July; is there a better time in summer, when school is out, to go? I’ve been looking around online and there’s so much to see it’s a bit overwhelming so I’m trying to get a handle on it.
Our kids will be 9 and 7, and are experienced tent campers and hikers. Which campgrounds in the parks did you like best? What hikes are not to be missed? We’re hoping to stay away from the crowds (although we’ll see Old Faithful, of course). Should we divide our time evenly between the two parks or should we spend more time in one or the other.
I can tell you this. When you want to move from one camp area to another you need to do this. Get up early. Like absurdly early. Like almost everything is ready to go the night before, you wake up, just throw the tents and kids in the car and GO. Skip breafast. Eat some poptarts in the car. Then, when you get to the next desired camping area, you can grab the first space that opens.
If you get a late start, all you will be doing is fighting major traffic and fighting with everyone else who is now up and about to find the next open camping spot.
Least, thats how it was when I was there decades ago. And I doubt its gotten better.
That sounds about right, from what I’ve been reading. Some of the campgrounds take reservations, so we may just try to stay at those, even though they’re more expensive than the national park-run ones. We are so not good at doing early.
One of my favorite outings in Grand Teton starts by taking a scheduled boat across Jenny Lake and then taking a trail up on the other side. If you’re feeling good after the climb, walk around the lake. If you (or the kids) are pooped, go back to the dock and catch the next boat.
In Yellowstone, I like the trails along the south rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The first mile may be crowded, but after a while, you’ll be by yourself.
If you have enough time, don’t limit yourself to just the parks. There are (literally) millions of acres of public land around here, including the Beartooth Wilderness, three National Forests, pictograph caves, and more.
The hike up Mt. Washburn is not to be missed, but the earlier in the day the better. That way you can chuckle at all the people who are attempting it in the heat and sun. Additionally just doing the boardwalk hikes (like at Old Faithful) all the way out to their end is really rewarding. Most people only get to the first geyser/paint pot and turn around. You will have the really flat trail all to yourselves very quickly.
I also second the south rim trails at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
We had a lot of success in our week last summer (with 4 & 6 year old) by going first thing in the morning to an activity (hike or one of the geyser basins). We’d be up by 5-6 and hop in the car and eat breakfast en route (the kids liked it because the car was warm). We’d then also have supper around 4 and go back out for a drive or another short hike in the evening. The best wildlife viewing was definitely this evening hike and drive. The roads were really clear and the destinations empty as everyone else is starting to bed down for the night.
How far are you comfortable hiking in a day? One way to get a longer hike is to take tram at Jackson Hole and then loop back from the top down Death Canyon or Granite Canyon.
Mt. Washburn sounds great. How much would you miss if you didn’t make it all the way up? (MY husband says the kids would be fine, but we’d never make it. ) Disheavel, which of the two routes did you take up?
Gary, the Jenny Lake trip sounds great, as does the South Rim trails of the canyon. We’ll have to get your books for scat identification. They look great. (Pictograph caves? Where?)
I don’t think Mt Washburn is that strenuous-- the route I took was pretty even grade (i.e. not steep) the whole way. Obviously you know your kid’s capabilities better than we do, though.
There are definitely campgrounds in the park that take reservations; we did that. It was a nice one, with plenty of trees and enough space. Went past one that was an open field next to the road, and not so nice.
You can take 2-hour guided kayak rides on Yellowstone Lake, seeing steamholes from the water. Not cheap, but a nice break from walking every day.
In the Tetons, you can take the tram up to the top, which is probably the only way to get a 7 year old up to good views. There’s a good, tough but doable, 4 mile or so loop around the top, which is a great hike, and might let the kids feel some accomplishment so they can enjoy the views from the top more, but you can always just wander around the top, turning around in time to keep the 7 year old alive and sane.
Be sure your camera is accessible when you’re driving. You will see many many many more bison while driving than while hiking (my approximate score: 300 or so to zero).
I recommend “Day Hikes in Yellowstone National Park” and “Jackson Hole Hikes”, at least I hope that is their names. Both list all the day hikes in their respective areas. A lot depends on you, of course. I did not find Mt Washburn that strenuous, but it is somewhat long and if you aren’t ready to hike for most of a day, it isn’t for you.
There are many nice campgrounds at both places. I do not know the Grand Tetons nearly as well as Yellowstone, which I’ve been to four times. The Grand Tetons are gorgeous, and there are all sorts of flat trails with wildlife. On one run, early in the morning, I saw a bear with cub, two types of sandhill cranes, I believe an Osprey, and a Fisher, which was incredibly lucky. The next day, a Bald Eagle let me know it didn’t appreciate my presence by screaming at me from a tree top. It helps to me a morning person though, as animals tend to be out at dusk or dawn, and there are fewer people at dawn. It really is hard to beat the beauty of the Tetons just looking at them across a lake.
Except for the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, my vote for most awesome place on earth. We camped near there last year, and I just kept taking my morning runs back to the Canyon, because I can’t get enough of it. The subtleties of the colors will probably be lost on your kids, but they will enjoy the water and the canyon nonetheless. You must do the Old Faithful Basin area, and really, I’d do as many of the basins as I could. The ones north of Old Faithful are the most spectacular. And then there is Mammoth Hot Springs. Finally, rent a boat, or kayak, on the lake. It can be a nice, relaxing change of pace. And the drive through Hayden Valley is a must for all bison fans. Really, if you get bored at Yellowstone, you haven’t done your homework.
We did the Chittenden route. The first half-mile is the hardest. Once you get up above teh trees, it is a nice steady road. You can see the destination but the views out over the park (down into the grand canyon of the yellowstone and out to Lake Yellowstone). But it is exposed so if it is a hot day, you are going to need a lot of water. The last half mile is just to obtain the peak, the view doesn’t get better. You do see some crazy bighorn sheep often on the cliffs around you.
So start early, and go your own pace. When my oldest was 4 she did it, although she slept on my back for the last half of the way down. If you start now, walking a couple of miles several times a week- you can work up to Mt. Washburn. You’ll be very glad that you did it.
This is all great information. Thanks so much all! I really want to do Mt. Washburn. I’m glad we’ll have good views all the way in case we get too tired and need to turn around part way. I’m taking lots of notes.
Quercus, do you remember what campground you stayed at? It sounds great.
If you only go partway up Mt. Washburn, you still get a nice view and a good workout.
There are pictograph caves all over the areas between Cody (WY) and Billings (MT). There are some particularly nice ones near Thermopolis, which is a nice place to stop and soak (or play) in the hot springs. They’re generally locked up, so you need to arrange with the local rangers to get access.
The Day Hikes books that SlowMindThinking recommended are written by a local fellow (he lives just down the road from me), and he has done all of the hikes himself. They are good books. If you’re getting way into the back country, I’d advise having more than one book. Authors describe the trails and landmarks differently, and there are times that my wife and I have been unable to find the trail as described by Schneider (I recommend his book for overnight hikes, BTW), but we could in Marschall’s or Stone’s book (that was just an example, it’s just as frequently the other way around).
I think it was Madison that was wooded. We also camped at Grant Village which was a little more open and crowded (though the elk herd coming through in the early morning was fun).
I’ve stayed Grant Village, twice, Fishing Bridge, and Canyon Village (not quite sure if that is the name - it was the campground near the Canyon.) Grant and Canyon are nice in that they have showers. In all three cases, our campsite was in the woods, but that doesn’t mean all sites were. There was a field at Fishing Bridge that had a lot of tent sites.
We stayed at Colter Bay, except for our first night, at Grand Teton NP. It was also nicely wooded. I do not remember the name of our first campground, it was somewhere near an abandoned Mormon settlement. It was not as nice, but it was the only time I had to turn around on a run because a bison herd got in the way. (With calves romping around and all, it seemed wise to keep a certain distance.)
Years ago I camped at Jenny Lake in Grand Teton and took the boat the next morning across to do the hike there. My wife and I really enjoyed that. All the wildlife comes out at sunset or the early morning, and there was more of it in Teton than in Yellowstone.
We stayed in a cabin rather than camping in Yellowstone due to the hassle factor with the campgrounds and the bigger crowds, but that was expensive. I didn’t have much of a problem with crowds even on the more popular trails because as others have suggested, people are lazy. Despite the huge crowds at Old Faithful, by the time you walk down to the Morning Glory pool and lesser geysers, you’ll be the only one there because everyone else will turn around.
For the record, the tent campgrounds at Yellowstone are not bad. You might structure your shower times around them, but other than that, they are far more of an issue when trying to find parking at Old Faithful or Mammoth Hot Springs. Or maybe when getting some ice cream.
Be ware the sun, though. You are at altitude so when the sun is out, it is strong. When it is not out, it is cold. One year we were there in August, and I think the warmest day was 55; one day they predicted better than even odds that it would snow at our campground. And you are far enough north that the days are pretty long. Take water, sunblock, and a hat on your hikes.
This is the Teton Crest Trail. My brothers and I did this a few years ago, and it was truly amazing. You can spend 3-6 days in the park, depending on how you long you want to extend it the further you get in. We saw 3 people the first day hiking - that was it. It was just us, some elk, and a lightning storm (that was kind of scary). Over the next few days, we encountered a few more people, but that trail is really pretty isolated and pristine. As more trails merge with it the closer you get to Jenny Lake, the more it becomes populated and harder to find a quieter camp.
We ran into a large group of cub scouts, so it’s certainly something experienced young kids would be capable of.
) Disheavel, which of the two routes did you take up?