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Yellowstone trip planning

janej

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We have an exchange at Lake Condominiums at Big Sky this August. It is out first trip to this region. I am good really excited. I just started to read about Yellowstone and here is what I planned so far.

We will fly out on Saturday and return on Friday. So we have 5 days and 6 nights. I planned to stay two nights in the Yellowstone park. I'd like to do Yellowstone and Teton in 3 days. I have made reservations for Roosevelt Lodge Cabins and the Lake Yellowstone hotel. I did that mostly based on the distance on the park map. I still need to look more into where most activities are to see if these places make sense.

I am thinking maybe I should move one of the night to Teton.

I am looking for suggestions for the other two days and feedback on what I have planned so far. I was also thinking about the Glacier park. But that is probably too far.

Also is there a good tour book that combines text with pictures?

Many thanks for your help,

Jane
 

Passepartout

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Jane, you will be spending a lot of time in the car. the distances are deceptively large. Personally, I'd probably drop the Glacier Park idea simply to allow more time to stop and enjoy the Yellowstone/Jackson Hole scenery. Be sure to stop at all the thermal features. They are all different and amazing. Pack a lunch for a picnic alongside the Firehole river. Get a fishing license and use it. It is a drop-dead gorgeous area. I live about 5 hours from there and visit often.

Enjoy!

Jim Ricks
 

janej

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Hi Jim,

Thanks for your suggestion. What do you think about the 3 days and 2 nights for the 2 parks? Should I plan more day trips instead?

I think you are right about the glacier park. We will have to drop that.

Thanks,

Jane
 

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To give you an idea of time, we entered the park at 7:00 a.m. from Cody (east). We turned left and went to the lake. Did a short ranger presentation there. Then got in the car and headed north. By noon we were at the mud volcano ready for a ranger presentation and short hike, which is a "ranger discretion item"--sometimes it happens, sometimes not, depends on the group. Then we were back in the car. We stopped at major features. I read from the little 7" X 3" book that tells you what to look for all along the way. We stopped for moose; we walked back to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.....but we did keep moving. We arrived at Mammoth shortly before sunset and checked in at the cabin there. The next morning, we left Mammoth and started on the other side of the loop. We did a long ranger presentation at Norris and shorter presentations at other spots. I continued reading in my red 7" X 3" book. We arrived at Old Faithful lodge about 2:00, maybe 3:00. Checked in. Did a ranger presentation at Old Faithful.

The next day we drove back to the lake and took another look, then we exited and headed for Jackson Hole.

As you can see, our two full days were very full indeed. If we'd had to backtrack to lodging for the night, we couldn't have done it--that's why we scheduled one night at the north end and one night at the south end.
 

janej

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Thanks, Pat. I think my plan for two nights in the park is about right. If we run out of time, I can leave some west side activity for another day trip.

Will you share the name of your little guide book? It sounds like what I am looking for. I downloaded the video podcasts from the park web site. They are really good. I like the idea of a audio tour. But I will not be following the route offered by the http://www.yellowstoneaudiotours.com. The disadvantage of audio is that you cannot reverse the route.

Thanks a lot for sharing. I start to feel better now.
 

PStreet1

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I would gladly share--if I remembered it. You can get it at any of the park sales offices. At the time we went it was red, but the size is rather distinctive. It tells what to look for at virtually every mile post.
 

Jim Bryan

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We went in from Cody also. Had a great tour guide, Kit Cody. Kit is a friend from High School and knows his way around Wyoming. We went to Yellowstone twice, Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, spent the night in a trapper cabin in Pinedale, spent the day in Thermopolis. Alot of driving and thank goodness Kit did it. He loves his State. We are very taken with Wyoming, Cody in particular. The Buffalo Bill (Kit's Great Grandfather) Museum was fantastic! (spent two days there)
We plan to come back as often as we can.
 

gmarine

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Yellowstone is enormous. You should try to pick a couple areas that you want to focus on and forget about seeing all or even a lot of the park in two days. Distances and travel time are very deceiving. A 40 mile drive inside the park during August may take 2 hours or more between the traffic, road construction and the inevitable buffalo jam.

Lake Yellowstone Hotel is beautifull and very scenic however for your first time to the park I would choose Old Faithfull Lodge instead. The lodge is beautifull and provides spectaculr views and access to Old Faithfull and the geyser basins.

Roosevelt cabins are ok. A better choice in the northern part of the park would be to stay in Mammoth.

I spent 8 days in Yellowstone at three different hotels and hiked over 50 miles and still feel like I didnt see much of the park.
 

janej

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Yellowstone is enormous. You should try to pick a couple areas that you want to focus on and forget about seeing all or even a lot of the park in two days. Distances and travel time are very deceiving. A 40 mile drive inside the park during August may take 2 hours or more between the traffic, road construction and the inevitable buffalo jam.

Lake Yellowstone Hotel is beautifull and very scenic however for your first time to the park I would choose Old Faithfull Lodge instead. The lodge is beautifull and provides spectaculr views and access to Old Faithfull and the geyser basins.

Roosevelt cabins are ok. A better choice in the northern part of the park would be to stay in Mammoth.

I spent 8 days in Yellowstone at three different hotels and hiked over 50 miles and still feel like I didnt see much of the park.
The reason for me to pick these two places is just to avoid backtrack. Since the old faithful and mammoth are closer to the west entrance, the entrance we will use to enter the park, I figure we will most likely have to drive back to them to spend the night. I'd like to plan my route to minimize drive. Does it make sense?
 

gmarine

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You could enter the park from the West entrance and head south to Old Faithfull Inn then make your way around the park to Mammoth also eliminating backtracking.
 

janej

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You could enter the park from the West entrance and head south to Old Faithfull Inn then make your way around the park to Mammoth also eliminating backtracking.

Uhmm, I thought we would not be able to make it that far in a day. My current plan is

Day 1: West entrance -> Norris -> Mammoth ->Tower Falls

Day 2: Tower Falls -> Canyon -> Norris -> Madison -> Old faithful -> West Thumb -> Lake Yellowstone

Day 3: Lake Yellowstone -> Teton -> back to Big Sky

I planned this route based on distance. I have not mapped out the actual stops yet.

I am thinking about changing the second night to the Grant Village or Teton to further avoid backtracking. Then on the third day, we can go see the lake and canyon. Or we can change the route to go south on the east side on the second day, and come back through old faithful. If we cannot cover this much, we can always come back to old faithful on other day.

Am I on the right track?

Thanks a lot for your help,

Jane
 

gmarine

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Uhmm, I thought we would not be able to make it that far in a day. My current plan is

Day 1: West entrance -> Norris -> Mammoth ->Tower Falls

Day 2: Tower Falls -> Canyon -> Norris -> Madison -> Old faithful -> West Thumb -> Lake Yellowstone

Day 3: Lake Yellowstone -> Teton -> back to Big Sky

I planned this route based on distance. I have not mapped out the actual stops yet.

I am thinking about changing the second night to the Grant Village or Teton to further avoid backtracking. Then on the third day, we can go see the lake and canyon. Or we can change the route to go south on the east side on the second day, and come back through old faithful. If we cannot cover this much, we can always come back to old faithful on other day.

Am I on the right track?

Thanks a lot for your help,

Jane


You day 2 is going to be long either way. My suggestion of Old Faithfull first then west to Lake and north to Mammoth is about 10 miles shorter than your day two itinerary but it will leave you further away from Teton, which I overlooked as your next destination.

Your itinerary over two days isnt going to leave much time for sightseeing. Most of your time is going to be spent driving. Your basically trying to see the whole park in two days.

You might be better off concentrating on one section of the park rather than trying to get a quick peak at more of the park. The 100 miles of driving on day two may take 4-5 hours without stops. Take into account the ever present road repairs and buffalo jams and it could be longer.

Since you want to head south from Yellowstone into Teton you might consider entering from West entrance and then staying at Old Faithfull Inn. After that Lake Yellowstone Hotel or if you want to head further north, to Canyon.
I think you will get much more out of the park if you dont try to see everything so fast.
 

eal

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I agree, your plan sounds awfully ambitious.

We own at Lake Condos so we go every year. Typically we spend every night in the condo. We drive to Yellowstone every other day, leaving early and getting home for a late-ish supper. We have divided the park into six sections, and go to each one every other year. They are: Norris Geyser Basin, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Mammoth Basin, Upper Geyser Basin (with Old Faithful), Midway and Lower Geyser Basins along with the Firehole Drive, and Lake Yellowstone/West Thumb.

Yellowstone is an amazing place, and we look forward to going again and again. Teton Park deserves its own trip. Years ago we took our fifth wheel to the area. We spent 10 days in Yellowstone, 3 days on a backpack to Heart Lake, and then 7 days in Teton. It was a fantastic three-week vacation that our kids still talk about.
 

Jahosacat

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I've been enjoying the interesting comments everyone is writing. We head to Big Sky next month. We expect snow and mud, but, we have the whole week there and look forward to seeing the area differently from most tourists.
 

Red Rox

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Distances

Uhmm, I thought we would not be able to make it that far in a day. My current plan is

Day 1: West entrance -> Norris -> Mammoth ->Tower Falls

Day 2: Tower Falls -> Canyon -> Norris -> Madison -> Old faithful -> West Thumb -> Lake Yellowstone

Day 3: Lake Yellowstone -> Teton -> back to Big Sky

I planned this route based on distance. I have not mapped out the actual stops yet.

I am thinking about changing the second night to the Grant Village or Teton to further avoid backtracking. Then on the third day, we can go see the lake and canyon. Or we can change the route to go south on the east side on the second day, and come back through old faithful. If we cannot cover this much, we can always come back to old faithful on other day.

Am I on the right track?

Thanks a lot for your help,

Jane


I feel compelled to note that all too often, folks look at mileage and distances on maps and fail to realize how much time it actually takes to get from one place to another in the vast West, AND they also fail to allow for time to stop and enjoy the destinations.
When you're traveling in our national parks, you need to be thinking in terms of moving at an average of 25-30 mph, due to the nature of the roads, the scenery and the frequent stops that you SHOULD be making. 50 or 60 miles in an hour is an unreasonable pace and will not allow ANY time at the various destinations.
If you properly calculate that it will take you 2 hours to get somewhere, then you should also plan on spending close to 2 hours at the destination to hike, explore, photograph and enjoy the place. Hmmm, you've just spent half of your day...

I see this failure to plan in posts here and elsewhere almost everyday. Places like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon NP are bigger than many of the states that so many tourists come from every year, and it's hard for many to imagine just how much time they need to allow to enjoy a vacation. But just remember that it's not just how long it takes to get there, but how much time you should SPEND there. After all, that's why you planned the trip in the first place.

Enjoy your vacation.:cool:
 

Jahosacat

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We're planning our routes and realized we need to take the type of roads into consideration. We make better time driving a flat, fairly straight interstate than we will driving the mountains of Montana.
 

Kauai Kid

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Be sure and see Yellowstone Canyon. Incredible.

Also if you have any children make absolutely sure they are secured with leg irons and shackles plus a chain around their waist attached to your waist.

On our last visit to see the Canyon I pulled up and hadn't completely stopped and my wife jumped out of the car and went running over to the side of the canyon and there was a two year old squeezing between the boulders trying to see the waterfall a little better. :eek:

She grabbed him and took him screaming over to his folks who weren't even looking at their screaming kid until she put him in their arms.

She was so angry at their stupidity she couldn't even speak for 30 minutes.

I went over and explained to the "parents" how close they had come to loosing their little boy.

It really ruined the day for us and we don't even like to see a picture of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Sterling
 

derb

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[Quote)

Lake Yellowstone Hotel is beautifull and very scenic however for your first time to the park I would choose Old Faithfull Lodge instead. The lodge is beautifull and provides spectaculr views and access to Old Faithfull and the geyser basins.


Amen to the above and may I add, stay in the old section of the lodge, communal bathrooms are very clean and the log interiors are just great.
 

pointhound

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We have an exchange at Lake Condominiums at Big Sky this August. It is out first trip to this region. I am good really excited. I just started to read about Yellowstone and here is what I planned so far.

We will fly out on Saturday and return on Friday. So we have 5 days and 6 nights. I planned to stay two nights in the Yellowstone park. I'd like to do Yellowstone and Teton in 3 days. I have made reservations for Roosevelt Lodge Cabins and the Lake Yellowstone hotel. I did that mostly based on the distance on the park map. I still need to look more into where most activities are to see if these places make sense.

I am thinking maybe I should move one of the night to Teton.

I am looking for suggestions for the other two days and feedback on what I have planned so far. I was also thinking about the Glacier park. But that is probably too far.

Also is there a good tour book that combines text with pictures?

Many thanks for your help,

Jane

You'll love Big Sky and Lake Condominiums. Big Sky has become a booming resort area and is a great place from which to visit Yellowstone.
 

janej

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plan update

Hi all,

Thanks a lot for all your input. I updated my day 2 and 3 plan as following

Day 2: Tower Falls -> Canyon -> Lake Yellowstone -> stay at the Colter bay village in Teton

Day 3: Teton -> back to Big Sky

We will do at least one more day trip to explore the old faithful area.

Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jane
 
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