Making the most of a Yellowstone trip.

We are in the planning stages of a summer trip to see the wonders of the Yellowstone/Teton area. I have looked at several options and am looking for input and what different folks have done for a trip like this.

I have looked into bus trips that leave from Ga and bring you back to Ga with some days in the Yellowstone area and other interesting stops along the way.

I looked at one trip that starts in Salt Lake City and makes a 5 day bus loop up through the area and returns to SLC.

I have considered going it on my own by either auto or plane and winging it for a few days.

The option I have looked at the I am most interested in is a deal where the travel agent sets you up with an itinerary and makes all the reservations for the trip including lodging and activities. No travel is included. You get to the starting city on your own and have your own transportation for this trip. The one I am looking at is this

http://www.wildwestvacationsandtravel.com/index.html

They have offered to customize a 7 night trip for us to arrive at Jackson WY., and spend 7 nights scattered into one 1 night at Jackson , and three different 2 night stays at Cody, Old Faithful, and Teton respectively with some activities,etc arranged in each location.

I know we have one resident expert on Yellowstone and hope he will have input.. anyone else want to share your experiences and thoughts?

we made a 5294 mile trip from bama to yellowstone and back seeing the tetons, yellowstone , devils tower (bear lodge) and mt rushmore. to me the 4 days we spent in yellowstone wasn't even close to being enough !!! i could have spent that long in the tetons and the rest of my life in yellowstone.... that being said, spend as much time as you can in the park and plan on multiple trips !!! we were going back this year but i will have to put it off a year.

our cost was just over 3000.00 for the trip. we spent 882.82 on gas and 1100 on hotels. our longest leg was an 850 mile stretch on the way home 'cause i knew my bed was just a few more hours away ! if i can help in any way, let me know !!!

Sort of depends

if you want to really explore Yellowstone or if you want to try and hit all the high spots, then move to another. Depending on your budget I would recommend flying if you are planning a 7 day trip. More time in/around the Park if you fly. One suggestion I would make is to take a look and see what type of road closures/road construction is planned for YNP this summer. Traveling through the Park takes time anyway, lots of folks pulling over checking out wildlife backing up traffic. Driving from Jackson (Tetons) to the NE Gate/Lamar Valley for example will be a full day....my suggestion would be to 'wing it' - if you control your own schedule you can spend more time/less time in area's based on your schedule/interest. I would also recommend taking a look at spending a few hours driving across the Beartooth Pass.

I have been all over (Jackson, Cody, YNP etc, etc etc.) making trips every year for the past 18. YNP is a place to experience in my opinion. Yes, you can probably "see" a sizable portion of it in a weeks time, but I would try to leave yourself some time to get out of the car and hike a trail, get off the beaten path a little. Doing this may limit what you can 'see', but the experience will be worth it. If you have any specific questions, I will try to help.

Hey, thanks for the replies.

I have been told that accomodations inside YNP are booked months in advance. Is this factual?

Is it possible in the summer months to fly to that area, rent a vehicle, drive/see/hike, etc. , and be able to find motels for the night without reservations?
That is my preferred method of travel and is the way we travel all the time in other areas.

Camp?

take a tent! There is a ton of good camping outside YNP, and of course campsites inside YNP - but they can be harder to get if you wait until late afternoon. But if you don't camp, my experience is that you can find something outside the Park that has a vacancy. Yes, you may have to drive a little farther than you wanted/hoped and it may not be the Ritz, but you can usually find some place outside the Park. If you want to be that spontaneous, plan on staying outside the Park.

You may want to start your planning by thinking about where you want to end up at the end of each day. If you make that destination one of the gateway towns then you could go ahead and start booking rooms. For example, Silver Gate/Cooke City (NE), Gardiner (NW), West Yellowstone (W)

Park attendance was down last year virtually everywhere due to the bad economy.

The best way to see the west is to focus on an area and spend the time there, instead of attempting a whirlwind tour of a big expanse.

I personally cannot imagine a bus trip or an organized tour being any fun, but to each his own. Then again, any time I am in the area I cannot have fun without taking a flyrod and a load of tackle, but some do not find that fun.

There is a bunch of info on the net and in books to permit one to plan a trip well. REI has a good book slection, there is always the MT and WY Gazetteer, and the NPS has a lot of info up too.

Lot of good information above. Been to West Yellowstone about four times snowmobiling and of course in the summer. If I had to suggest a "plan", I would say fly into Salt Lake City, rent a car and drive to Jackson then on to yellowstone. Good Hotels in West Yellowstone. See www. westyellowstonechamber.com. Yes, there is a lot to see in the park, but lot to see outside also. We like to visit the small towns in Idaho and Montana. The folks are friendly and gets you away from the tourist. Make sure you have a lot of room on your"memory stick". If you fly fish, check out the area around Macks Inn, Idaho.

Some great input !!!! Thanks.....

We hope to fly out to that area, and rent an SUV or pickup truck. We want to plan to stay in motels and not do any camping.
We mainly want to see scenery, natural wonders, and wildlife. One thing that is proposed which we want to do is a 3 hr raft trip down a river in the Tetons. Another is a 5 hour yellow bus tour wildlife viewing trip with photo guide from the Old Faithful area.

One of the proposed itineraries that I mentioned in the original post shows 2 nights in Cody. What the agent had planned there is Old west related. A trolley tour, Old West museums, and a rodeo.

Are the tourist attractions of Cody worthy of 2 days ? Or is our time better spent seeing the natural beauty of the parks ?

Ole Fuzzy said:

Park attendance was down last year virtually everywhere due to the bad economy..

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Not here. 2.3 million visitors last summer which broke the old record of 2.1 from 1999.

They have offered to customize a 7 night trip for us to arrive at Jackson WY., and spend 7 nights scattered into one 1 night at Jackson , and three different 2 night stays at Cody, Old Faithful, and Teton respectively with some activities,etc arranged in each location.

Click to expand...

That would be a good plan on your own by flying in and renting a car. You wouldn't be at the mercy of the tour co. schedule and you adjust your schedule to your suiting. You can easily burn up two days in Cody as there is a lot to see and do. Coming in from Jackson will bring you through the Tetons into the south entrance of Yellowstone. From there you could run the loop, work your way through Yellowstone, out to Cody, then back down to Jackson.

Wife and I went

two years ago. We didn't make a single reservation anywhere and just asked the folks at the visitor centers each day if there was a room anywhere in the park and ended up getting a room every night inside the park and usually very near by. Granted most of them were the rustic type - little tiny houses with shared bathroom facilities - sort of a small step up from camping really. I wouldn't really recommend this reservation tactic but it worked for us because the economy had just started to tank then and there seemed to be a good many cancellations available. Also if your wife is a real girly girl, she might not be that impressed as the rustic cabins are "rustic" for sure. Mine was just fine with it and actually that turned out to be part of the fun part. We had - uuhh - critters in a couple of them and a family of marmuts living under another one.

We flew into Salt Lake and rented a car. It's about a 4 1/2 hour or so drive to the west entrance and about a 1/2 hour to the main road around the park. The drive both to and from SL was gorgeous so you really don't miss the time anyway. Be sure to go the way by Bear Lake on the way back to SL from Jackson Hole after the park visit. Most beautiful blue fresh water lake you'll ever set your eyes on.

I bet you could get reservations now still for this summer as long as you're willing to take the rustic rooms. We actually liked those better than the two nights we stayed in the resorts. You're not in the rooms much anyway. You want to try to not travel more than a 1/4 of the way around the park road each day or you'll spend too much time in the car IMHO. We did a bus tour that went completely around the park in one day the first day to get a better idea of what was available and some of the history and background of the park. I don't recommend that - just buy a good book and read up before you go. The bus doesn't have the flexibility a car has for just stopping where you want to see something.

Food in the park isn't exackly the best and is a little expensive for what you get. I'd rather go to a grocery store and take along a little backpack stove and heat something up or make sandwiches than fight the crouds at the eating joints every day. The wife insisted on one "sit down" meal a day so that worked out fine too.

Absolute necessities are - binoculars or spotting scope - the best you can afford or borrow, light jacket - I know its summer but you'll be surprised at night, digital camera with tons of disk space - you'll take about a million pictures because the whole place is a postcard, and maybe some bug spray - some of the most wicked mosquitos you ever saw come out right at dark in some areas - particularly near Yellowstone lake.

Oh - and don't forget to go to Jackson Hole and take a whitewater rafting trip. First time I ever did that and enjoyed it immensely. They had a heavy snow fall early that year so the rapids were much better than usual - as much as you'll want for sure. The room in Jackson Hole was the hardest to get so book that one ahead of time if you want to go there. I'd do that on the way back to SL city - say 2 nights before you leave out from SL to come home. Probably don't need more than a day in Jackson Hole but I thought it was worth it.

My wife and I have been blessed to travel to some neat places - Paris, Ireland, and Colorado to name a few but Yellowstone still ranks as the absolute coolest most relaxing vacation I've ever been on and was actually one of the most reasonable.

PM me if you have any questions. I'd be glad to help you plan out what you might be able to accomplish in a day if you need it. Believe me you don't need a travel agent for this trip.

google beartooth pass to red lodge montana. I lived in wyoming for a little while and miss the weekends i spent wandering through those mountains.

the beartooth was closed when we were there last may/june. it is on my list !!!

Fly into Jackson Hole WY then rent a car and drive into Yellow stone, stay at the Old Faithful Inn right at the geyser, drive the 100 mile loop around the park stopping at all turnouts, sights etc. It is awesome. Bring extra memory sticks for your camera 2GB or bigger.

I've been fortunate enough to travel to that area roughly 20 times over the last 33 years and I've entered and exited Yellowstone about any combination there is and this is what I've found works best FOR ME. Flying and renting a vehicle hands down ! I personally wouldn’t even consider riding a bus that far nor would I consider riding a bus through the park. There is simply too much to see and do to be confined to a bus. I've drove there and back, flown into SLC, Bozeman and Billings and have found that you can fly into any of the three for near the same money IF you begin looking early and check fares often. Jackson Hole would also be a good choice even though I've never flown into that airport. SLC is typically the cheapest and offers the cheapest rental vehicles but I enjoy fishing SW Montana so Bozeman has been my choice the last few years.

In my opinion, the early fall is one of the better times to go but anytime is good. I would highly recommend a trip across the Beartooth Highway, northwest of the park through Cooke City as its one of the most beautiful drives in the country. The Tetons are nice and Lamar Valley in the northwestern section of the park is a wildlife haven. A great breakfast can be had at Flagg Ranch on the south end of the park, the Two Bit Saloon in Gardiner at the north entrance and the Old Saloon farther north into Paradise Valley in Emigrant, MT. The trip wont be difficult and I believe you’ll appreciate being able to plan your own agenda as you go. The fact is, there is no bad trip through Yellowstone so don’t think you have to have a guide or planner to see the place. When you go through the gate, they’ll give you a map and then you can decide which way you want to go. When we go into the park we typically pack a cooler and basket with picnic fixings and a small grill and eat on the go whenever we feel the need. We plan as we go and that sometimes makes the trip the most fun. Take your time and see what you can. You won’t see everything in one trip but there is always next time. Jackson Hole is a nice area to spend a few hours but the motels are typically higher than say Cooke City, Gardiner or Bozeman. With a little prior planning you’ll have one of the best trips you could ask for doing it on your own. That’s my .02. Hope you have a great trip whatever you decide.

Melvin, if it were me and I was going to do something like this, the last thing I would want was to be on a schedule. Just a thought

I am reading all of these suggestions closely and appreciate everyone's input. We are going to make a decision soon.

From the ideas Im getting from yall I am leaning toward a self planned itinerary. Something like fly to Jackson Hole , rent a car, 2 nights at Old Faithful, 2 nights at either Mammoth Springs or Canyon Village , and 2 nights at Jackson Lake in Grand Teton. From what I have found you make one call to reserve anything in the park.

From what I can see the room choices at the lodges in YNP are kind of simple and plain. Thats OK , just wondering if anyone has any specific suggestions in regard to motels. I have seen where some choices dont have individual bathrooms. I prefer accomodations with private baths.

Just a comment. this is a great thread. we are going in july also. we have 3 couples going.

We did a 2 week travel trailer trip in 05. Left Ga to St. Louis and the Arch (a must see). Drove on up through Iowa and across SD to Mt. Rushmore (Rapid City). Go to Deadwood. Then on to Devils Tower, across the Big Horn Mtns. to Cody. From Cody on into Yellowstone. 5 days in YNP is not enough. Try to go early in June for a summer trip. After about the 20th it gets crowded. Then down into the Tetons for 4 days. All together a great trip. We brought back a souvenir in the way of our now almost 4 yo son, Jaxon Stone, be careful they swim faster a high altitude. Going back next year for another two weeks, but think we will focus the entire time on YNP and the Tetons. CAUTION when you see the Grand Tetons for the first time prepare to be moved nearly to tears. A truly awesome and special place. Good luck and have a great trip. Once you go you will return.

Thanks for the great helpful info, details, & experiences. Hope to make a dream trip up there some day, Lord willin' & the crik don't rise.