I’m Going on a Horsepacking Trip next summer in the Tetons...

[heathpack]

Every year I need a certain amount of continuing education, and I get a little budget from my employer to spend on conference registration, travel, food and lodging, plus I get 4-5 paid days off work. This little budget of money and time is a use-it-or-lose-it deal. Anything unused by Dec 31 is lost to me.

I was planning on a conference in Moab UT in early Oct but that just got COVID cancelled. I’ve scrambled to find some online CE that I can do remotely from Moab, but although I can still take the time, I won‘t be reimbursed for travel expenses (because there’s no need for me to travel to Moab to do online CE).

So that left me scrambling to spend my remaining monies by Dec 31 (I don’t need to do the CE by Dec 31, just spend the money).

Today I found the perfect solution: a four day horsepacking CE seminar in the Grand Tetons for July of next year. Leaves out of Jackson Hole Wyoming. You arrive the day prior, then head out into the wilderness via horseback, camp for four nights, talk about Practice Management (the subject of the seminar), then return to Jackson Hole. The cost of this CE was exactly the dollar amount that I have in my budget to spend. So I registered today.

I know I know. Who knows if this will go down as scheduled next year? But: Very Cool Thing if it does. If it happens, husband and dogs will join afterward. We want to visit Grand Teton and Yellowstone NPs. We’re thinking about renting an RV. Not sure yet. Looking into details. We’d probably have 11-12 days after my CE course, and then take 2 days to drive back to LA.

My main point is to share my stroke of good luck. But also wondering if anyone had done such a trip in the Tetons, and what you thought of it? And would definitely welcome travel advice. We’ve never rented an RV or been to Wyoming. Want to bring the dogs 100% for sure, even if it means renting AirBnBs and doing day trips into the parks. We know the dogs can’t hike in the NPs, but they are good travelers and we only leave them behind for timeshare trips.

 

[DaveNV]

That sounds like a lot of fun. You have all the great luck, don't you? LOL!

Been to both Tetons and Yellowstone numerous times, but never in an RV or on horseback. You may find driving an RV in the Parks more hassle than it's worth. Parking (in season) can be rather difficult, and moreso if you're in an RV. In my opinion, it's better to stay wherever suits your needs, rent/drive a vehicle, and make day trips into the Parks.

Dave

 

[heathpack]

That sounds like a lot of fun. You have all the great luck, don't you? LOL!

Been to both Tetons and Yellowstone numerous times, but never in an RV or on horseback. You may find driving an RV in the Parks more hassle than it's worth. Parking (in season) can be rather difficult, and moreso if you're in an RV. In my opinion, it's better to stay wherever suits your needs, rent/drive a vehicle, and make day trips into the Parks.

Dave

What towns should I look for AirBnBs in?

 

[DaveNV]

What towns should I look for AirBnBs in?

Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and West Yellowstone, Montana would be the two best, I think.

Dave

 

[heathpack]

Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and West Yellowstone, Montana would be the two best, I think.

Dave

How many days at each location would you recommend?

 

[DaveNV]

Saw this RV backed off the roadway at Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park last September. Bumper to bumper traffic into the parking lot. Rental RV driver decided to turn around where he definitely shouldn't have. He backed right off the roadway and put his undercarriage on the ground. They had to call a semi-sized tow truck from somewhere well outside the Park. We drove past the area several times over the course of the day, and he was there ALL DAY long. Not a fun way to spend his time, and who knows if he did damage to the underside of the rented RV. Don't be this guy.

Dave

 

[DaveNV]

How many days at each location would you recommend?

I think it depends on what you want to do. There is a lot of hiking to do in both places, more at Yellowstone than Tetons, I think. You can spend a couple of days at Tetons and see it pretty well, along with downtown Jackson Hole. A pretty cool town - great galleries and restaurants. Nearby is the National Museum of Wildlife Art, an extraordinary mixed media museum that is really nice. https://www.wildlifeart.org The park website is https://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm

Yellowstone is a world unto itself. The Park is square, 50 miles on a side. Two major loop roads make a "figure eight" route through much of the Park, with different scenery around every corner. You could spend days, even weeks, exploring it, and not see it all. TONS of hiking trails. Geysers, wildlife, "Parkitecture" buildings - so much more. Visiting the high points of the Park in pieces each day would easily take up a week, at minimum. Going back to favorite areas, or exploring the back country will add to the time. You can't see it all, no matter how much time you have. The Yellowstone website is https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

Dave

 

[heathpack]

Saw this RV backed off the roadway at Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park last September. Bumper to bumper traffic into the parking lot. Rental RV driver decided there to turn around where he definitely shouldn't have. He backed right off the roadway and put his undercarriage on the ground. They had to call a semi-sized tow truck from somewhere well outside the Park. We drove past the area several times over the course of the day, and he was there ALL DAY long. Not a fun way to spend his time, and who knows if he did damage to the underside of the rented RV. Don't be this guy.

Dave

View attachment 26720

Oof. I would be that guy but Mr. H would never be. The dude can fly an airplane, park a boat (although so can I), back a trailer and oh yeah tie *all* the knots. Cooking: not his gig. But 3 dimensional vehicle related or survival related thing: totally his gig. (Also: getting stuff off the top shelf)

Just checked out Jackson Hole AirBnB prices. Double oof. I wonder if driving to Jackson Hole would make sense, then renting an RV there, using it in the parks and then returning it locally... So we‘d have the RV for lodging and the car for touring around.

 

[DaveNV]

Oof. I would be that guy but Mr. H would never be. The dude can fly an airplane, park a boat (although so can I), back a trailer and oh yeah tie *all* the knots. Cooking: not his gig. But 3 dimensional vehicle related or survival related thing: totally his gig. (Also: getting stuff off the top shelf)

Just checked out Jackson Hole AirBnB prices. Double oof. I wonder if driving to Jackson Hole would make sense, then renting an RV there, using it in the parks and then returning it locally... So we‘d have the RV for lodging and the car for touring around.

I suspect he'd do fine with an RV. The guy in the picture obviously was not nearly as skilled.

Not sure about renting an RV in Jackson. You'd probably have to rent one in a larger city, like Pocatello, Idaho, which is kind of on the way. If you drove your car from LA to wherever the RV rental lot was, picked up the RV, drove both vehicles to a destination, parked in an RV lot, and stayed for a length of time while driving your car around, that might work. Then you could move to an RV park near the other Park, or even a campground in the Park itself. Using your car to drive around would let you see the Park more easily. Also note that rental RVs normally charge by the mile for how far you drive it. Can get spendy. (Note that Yellowstone only has one RV campground with hookups, and it's on the southeasterly side of things. You'd be better off parking the RV in West Yellowstone, which is right at the West Entrance to the Park, and driving your car in each day. When you were done, it's an easy drive west from there to Pocatello, and you could turn in the RV, and drive your car back home. Lots to see along the route in both directions.

Dave

 

[heathpack]

Well I found some more-expensive-than-I’d-like-but-not-entirely-out-of-question places: one in Jackson (4 nights, because there’s a 4 night minimum- however, I might be able to get reimbursed from work for 1 day. Waiting to hear back if theyre flexible on the one dog minimum, given my two dogs together weigh less than 20 pounds!) and the other in West Yellowstone, about 20 min from the park entrance.

I went ahead and booked the West Yellowstone cabin, it has a fenced yard and sounds ideal for the dogs. Plus it’s totally cancellable.

Now I can parse out the economics of the trip and see if I can find some kind of bargain out there...

 

[DaveNV]

Well I found some more-expensive-than-I’d-like-but-not-entirely-out-of-question places: one in Jackson (4 nights, because there’s a 4 night minimum- however, I might be able to get reimbursed from work for 1 day. Waiting to hear back if theyre flexible on the one dog minimum, given my two dogs together weigh less than 20 pounds!) and the other in West Yellowstone, about 20 min from the park entrance.

I went ahead and booked the West Yellowstone cabin, it has a fenced yard and sounds ideal for the dogs. Plus it’s totally cancellable.

Now I can parse out the economics of the trip and see if I can find some kind of bargain out there...

Good finds. That area at the height of Summer is much in demand, so the higher rates are to be expected. I'd suggest starting with a map and zooming out, figuring where you'd like to visit along the way. It's a remarkable area.

20 minutes from West Yellowstone, if out west on Highway 20, should put you around Island Park. That's a great area, and a convenient drive to West Yellowstone, and from there, into the Park. If that's the area, there are some great hikes you can take with your dogs.

Dave

 

[heathpack]

Yep it’s Island Park. I just got a photo from the AirBnB host of the HUGE fenced in half acre yard. The house is in Targhee National Forest and 10 min from Henry Lake SP, both of which have dog-ok trails (per the host).

I booked it for a week. Which would give me 4 days on the pack trip, then both of us 4 days in Jackson and 7 days in West Yellowstone. Then two days to drive home. And a day at home to relax before going back to work. A 17 day trip!

 

[BJRSanDiego]

First, the Tetons are gorgeous.

I took a few months (a couple of decades ago) of tutoring in French for business purposes. I learned a bunch of conversational French and through various means (my counterparts in France) I learned some slang. I could probably converse at the level of a five year old.

The Grand Tetons translates into "Big Ti_s". (hint: think of the udders of cows).

While we are in a situation where we are removing statues and names from various things because someone isn't "comfortable" about the names, I find it humorous that we are leaving some colloquialisms and slang in place.

But YES, the Tetons are beautiful and I think that the name should stick.

 

[sue1947]

If you plan on hiking, dogs aren't allowed on the trails in either (or most) National Parks.

 

[heathpack]

If you plan on hiking, dogs aren't allowed on the trails in either (or most) National Parks.

To quote my original post: “We know the dogs can’t hike in the NPs, but they are good travelers and we only leave them behind for timeshare trips.”

 

[DaveNV]

Yep it’s Island Park. I just got a photo from the AirBnB host of the HUGE fenced in half acre yard. The house is in Targhee National Forest and 10 min from Henry Lake SP, both of which have dog-ok trails (per the host).

I booked it for a week. Which would give me 4 days on the pack trip, then both of us 4 days in Jackson and 7 days in West Yellowstone. Then two days to drive home. And a day at home to relax before going back to work. A 17 day trip!

Excellent! Talk to @Passepartout Jim. He knows the Island Park and Henry Lake area very well. He'll have a lot of ideas for you.

I've stayed a week at a timeshare in Island Park, and drove the 20 mins to "West" every day (locals don't bother with the word Yellowstone for the town - they just call it "West.") There are plenty of services available there, and the park entrance is right at the edge of town. Once inside the Park, it's a 14 mile drive to Madison Junction, where the road connects to that "figure eight" loop road I mentioned previously. It's probably the most convenient (and sometimes most crowded) access into the Park.

Dave

 

[geist1223]

A place most people do not visit or know about is Earthquake Lake. It is about 20 to 25 miles NW of West Yellowstone. There was a large earthquake in the middle of the night on August 17, 1959. It tilted the Lake that was there and a mountain slide created a new Lake. The Visitor Center is at the West End and a good place to start. Then stop and see the different sites/locations as you drive back towards West Yellowstone.

These own the roads in Yellowstone.

 

[Laurie]

Rather than Jackson Hole, consider Teton Village if you can find a rental there. We traded into the timeshare there (may have been named "Teton Village" ) and location was excellent - closer to a secondary entrance to the NP, and we saw moose (or 2: mama and baby) very close to the road almost every day driving back and forth. Plus: convenient to go up the cable car there, for a beautiful hike. We visited Jackson Hole a couple of times which was fun, but didn't need to stay there.

IMO you have allocated your days perfectly. On our first trip we traded into Yellowstone for a week and Teton Village for the second. We used a day or 2 of that Teton week to get back to Yellowstone b/c we hadn't seen everything we'd hoped to. But you can see a lot in 7 days. Then you'll just have to go back - as we did.

 

[heathpack]

Rather than Jackson Hole, consider Teton Village if you can find a rental there. We traded into the timeshare there (may have been named "Teton Village" ) and location was excellent - closer to a secondary entrance to the NP, and we saw moose (or 2: mama and baby) very close to the road almost every day driving back and forth. Plus: convenient to go up the cable car there, for a beautiful hike. We visited Jackson Hole a couple of times which was fun, but didn't need to stay there.

IMO you have allocated your days perfectly. On our first trip we traded into Yellowstone for a week and Teton Village for the second. We used a day or 2 of that Teton week to get back to Yellowstone b/c we hadn't seen everything we'd hoped to.

Ok I’ll check it out. My first search of VRBO and AirBnB showed Teton Village to be significantly more expensive than Jackson (probably because it’s nicer) and there were comments made on rental property reviews about the area being closer to Grand Teton NP but actually being a longer drive on account of the road being lower speed. Is this not so?

Anyway, I heard back from the VRBO in Jackson and I booked it. More than I really want to spend but the pet friendly options were scarce. It’s right on a river so that’s a plus. It’s cancellable so I can still look for cheaper options.

Ive been looking at RV Share and Outdoorsy, which are like AirBnB for RVs and trailers. Many of these owners are willing (for a fee) to bring the trailer/RV to a locale and set it up for you. It looks like it would definitely be cheaper to go that route. If we did, we’d still have our car for touring. I’m just not entirely sure about leaving the dogs crated in a trailer all day. Would it be too hot? Would we worry about it being too hot, and then hurry through our day to get back to check on the dogs? It might be a false economy to try to save money with the RV route. I still need to figure this piece out. Comments welcome BTW. We’ve never RVed but we’ve camped a lot. @Timeshare Von ?

 

[DaveNV]

Ive been looking at RV Share and Outdoorsy, which are like AirBnB for RVs and trailers. Many of these owners are willing (for a fee) to bring the trailer/RV to a locale and set it up for you. It looks like it would definitely be cheaper to go that route. If we did, we’d still have our car for touring. I’m just not entirely sure about leaving the dogs crated in a trailer all day. Would it be too hot? Would we worry about it being too hot, and then hurry through our day to get back to check on the dogs? It might be a false economy to try to save money with the RV route. I still need to figure this piece out. Comments welcome BTW. We’ve never RVed but we’ve camped a lot. @Timeshare Von ?

My 2 cents: I'd stick with the stick-built accommodations, for the reasons you name, and a few others: July can be hot, and your dogs may be uncomfortable in an RV all day long. When you return, you'll also be more comfortable in a regular place, rather than an RV. They can be fancy, but RVs are not the same as a house. If you're traveling with it, an RV is great. But just as a place to sleep? Go with the AirBnB.

Dave

 

[Laurie]

Ok I’ll check it out. My first search of VRBO and AirBnB showed Teton Village to be significantly more expensive than Jackson (probably because it’s nicer) and there were comments made on rental property reviews about the area being closer to Grand Teton NP but actually being a longer drive on account of the road being lower speed. Is this not so?

Anyway, I heard back from the VRBO in Jackson and I booked it. More than I really want to spend but the pet friendly options were scarce. It’s right on a river so that’s a plus. It’s cancellable so I can still look for cheaper options.

It's a dirt road, plus may be even slower than that, because of the photo stops! I'm sure you're fine in either place, but do take that drive at least once or twice, maybe on your way out of the park -- right before dusk was a reliable time for moose viewing.

 

[heathpack]

My 2 cents: I'd stick with the stick-built accommodations, for the reasons you name, and a few others: July can be hot, and your dogs may be uncomfortable in an RV all day long. When you return, you'll also be more comfortable in a regular place, rather than an RV. They can be fancy, but RVs are not the same as a house. If you're traveling with it, an RV is great. But just as a place to sleep? Go with the AirBnB.

Dave

Mr H said the same thing. His sense is we‘d worry about the temps in the RV even if it wasn’t that hot, and that it just wouldnt be worth the savings in the end.

 

[Passepartout]

Sounds like a fun trip at a great time of year there. It will be crowded around the attractions, and (fair warning) air conditioning is rare around there- locals will tell you that it's only occasionally needed, but towards the end of July that's the warmest time of year.

As said, hiking inside the parks with pets is pretty much verbotten. But outside, there are many miles of trails they'll love. Just be careful with them- the wildlife doesn't know the difference between 'pets' and 'prey'. There are many wonderful attractions outside the parks. The Harriman State Park at Island Park is a fine example.

I think you'll LOVE the horsepacking. The outfitters there really go all put to make the experience memorable. Great 'chuckwagon' meals and 'cowboy entertainment' around the campfire will make it so.

I hope you'll bring your MTB. There are many miles of mountain trails and logging roads to explore.

One thing is sure- boredom won't be an issue. There is so much to do that you will just have to schedule another visit to the area.

Jim

 

[Laurie]

Also somewhere along that loop down from Teton Village & back up to Jackson Hole, I remember we saw white trumpeter swans, and then pronghorns. This was in July as well. You will have a wonderful time - and so great you've found some dog-friendly digs.

 

[chellej]

I would stay at west or Island Park vs Jackson or Wilson for the Yellowstone part of your trip. It is a long drive up through Teton Park into Yellowstone. I would do it once but it is not something you would want to do every day. The speed limit in the park is 45 but it is often much much slower because of animal sitings. We were there 2 weeks ago and one day it took 1 hour to go from west to the Madison Junction......14 miles. Also this summer the road from tower to the canyon was closed completely (Northeast portion of upper loop).

Our annual list of must-do:
Quake Lake
The grizzly discovery center/Imax
Big Springs - you can rent canoes at Macks Inn and they will drop you at big springs and you float back down - very easy float - also visit the cabin
Upper and Lower Mesa Falls
Warm River - you can feed hundreds of fish at the bridge also good flyfishing area
Sawtelle Peak - amazing views and will often still have snow in July.
Harriman State Park - you can tour the old ranch and also see trumpeter swans

DH did a guided flyfishing trip with Henrys fork Anglers... they will do flyfishing or regular fishing. He landed 12 trout....lost about 12 but had a great time.