Yellowstone and Grand Teton Planning for next summer

[HelloChum]

ALL of your replies have really jumpstarted my research/planning! I'll be saving and printing this thread to have references for all the good restaurants, etc. Thank you everyone!

CowboyCo--thanks for the photo--simply put, Old Faithful is beautiful. I think we would enjoy staying there. I'll be looking into ressies there...

3boymthr and apnep--the horseback riding and float trips sound like something we would want to do--do you happen to remember the company or were they offered throught NPS?

lindsey--thanks for the tip on the book...Scenic Driving - Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks'

WilsonFamily4-- Would you mind if I ask how many days your trip is in total? We were also thinking of heading over to Mt Rushmore/Crazy Horse, etc. Now, after hearing great things about Cody, it makes sense to drive through/stop in Cody on the way to SD. After Cody, are you stopping along the way to SD or driving straight through? It sounds like I am trying to plan the trip your taking this June!! Would you mind sharing some of the details of your trip? Have a great vacation!

Your itineraries were helpful. I'll need to figure out where to fly into. We are in MA and usually take SW out of PVD or BDL (BOS works too)--so we could fly into Salt Lake City on SW and drive. (Looks like quite the drive though!) SW does not offer service to WY. Of course, if we head to SD we will need to fly home from there. I'll need to figure that out--at least I can do that after I get the hotel ressies--not really a rush on flights like with the hotels.

Thank again to everyone--if you have any more info to add, I'll take any and all suggestions!!

 

[3boymthr]

We booked our trip thru xanterra

http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/Yellowstone-Activities-Search-7168.html

We did the Old West Dinner Cookout. There are age restrictions on the horseback riding - I think the kids have to be at least 8. At the time my two youngest were too young for the horses, so we did both the horseback riding and the covered wagon.

In fact here DH and DS are getting ready to go on their ride:

also check out

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/concessn.htm

 

[Deb & Bill]

When we went for Christmas this year, we flew into Billings, MT (only the NW and West gates are open - and you can only drive into Yellowstone via the NW entrance since they have to keep the road to cooke City at Silver Gate open since the Beartooths shut down in Sept). You can also fly into West Yellowstone and Bozeman.

I had some friends who drove from Red Lodge, MT to Yellowstone over the 4th of July one year and they got caught in a blizzard in the Beartooths. So be ready for anything. When we arrived one year for Memorial Day weekend, Lake Yellowstone was till frozen and was just starting to break up. The entire NE section of road was still closed because they were still clearing snow.

We stayed in the Absaroka Lodge in Gardiner for one night before we spend two nights at Mammoth. The Absaroka Lodge is nothing more than a motor-hotel (think small town, back roads - NOT AK Lodge/WL Lodge). But it was handy and not that expensive.

We stayed at the Old Faithful Inn in 2004 when it celebrated 100 years. We also stayed in the Old Faithful Snowlodge this winter,when it celebrated 10 years since it was totally redone. We stayed in the Snowlodge in 1993 and it was totally renovated since then.

And we did buy points at VWL because we were homesick for Yellowstone after we moved from Montana to Louisiana.

The brand new visitors center at Old Faithful opens later this summer.

If you plan on doing any tours, activities, etc, check into them as soon as possible. We thought we could sign up for the winter tours when we arrived and were only able to get two of them because all the others were already booked up.

The road to Cody on the East side of the park has had a lot of problems in the past and I think they were still working on it. Landslide problems, damage from ice, etc.

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

WilsonFamily4-- Would you mind if I ask how many days your trip is in total? We were also thinking of heading over to Mt Rushmore/Crazy Horse, etc. Now, after hearing great things about Cody, it makes sense to drive through/stop in Cody on the way to SD. After Cody, are you stopping along the way to SD or driving straight through? It sounds like I am trying to plan the trip your taking this June!! Would you mind sharing some of the details of your trip? Have a great vacation!

We live in Oregon so we are fairly close, no flying in. Our trip isn't exactly the way I would have initially planned. We booked a house in Gardiner first, as there will be 10 of us for 5 nights. But they sold their house and left us scrambling for accomadations. We chose West Yellowstone because that was about all that was left for 10 people. We also found out our daughters camp was during our first planned trip so we had to move things around to fit nights we already payed for to get back in time for her to go. So not an ideal schedule but we are very excited nonetheless. I would love to have more days in Yellowstone but we have been before and will go again. 2 weeks is all we can take really with my husbands job, so this trip will have to work.

Night 1-- Boise, ID

Night 2-- Jackson, WY------- Tetons, shopping, tram ride
Night 3-- Jackson, WY

Night 4-- Thermopolis, WY--- Dinosaur dig & hot springs

Night 5-- Hill City, SD-------- Custer, Gold mines, mt rushmore, crazy horse, etc.
Night 6-- Hill City, SD

Night 7-- Buffalo, WY-------- spend the day driving through Lead, Spearfish and hiking some

Night 8-- Cody, WY--------- my parents and sisters family will join us for Cody and West Yellowstone
Night 9-- Cody, WY

Night 10-- West Yellowstone, MT
Night 11-- West Yellowstone, MT----- dinner reservations at Old Faithful Inn
Night 12-- West Yellowstone, MT

Night 13-- Ontario, OR

We plan on eating breakfasts and lunches out of our van and then eat dinners in restuarants. That will help the cost some. We are staying in a variety of hotels, a house, and cabins that will have beds and we provide bedding.

That is our loose itinerary, off the top of my head.
We cannot wait. I am packing for a variety of weather though. Should be interesting.

 

[jsmith]

One piece of advice from a "native"-and no i dont think anyone is foolish-but i have seen these things happen-When you come to a wildlife jam-determine what kind of animal is causing the jam and how far they are from the road BEFORE you get out of your car. It is perfectly safe to get out to get a better photo of elk lying down 2 or 3 hundred yards from the road, a wolf on a hill side half a mile away, a herd of buffalo a half a mile or so from the road or a bear on a distant hill side. It is NOT safe to get within a 100 yards of any of those-elk, moose and buffalo are unpredictable and will charge-my husband had a vehicle charged and hit by a large bull buffalo in Grand Teton Park once years ago-do you know what your insurance compay does when you file a claim because you were hit by an animal-not the other way around?
Grizzly Bears and wolves eat people-for real. It is not wise to follow a sow grizzly with cubs to get a better picture-she will hide those cubs and start to follow you-and yes i have seen this happen also.
If you are camping or staying in cabins-take the information on storing food seriously-they are there for your safety-bears are ominivorous-and strong. I live in Colorado Springs and we have issues with Black Bears in the dumpsters at the appartment complex i live in in the spring and the fall.

 

[SouthernExplorer]

To correct some mis-information above, the northern entrance with the Roosevelt Arch (Gardiner, Montana) is open year-round. As for Sturgis and motorcycles the top park speed limit is 45MPH.

HelloChum,

Based on extensive personal experience I would strongly encourage you to book your hotel, dinner, and activity reservations now. This is especially true if you want a cabin with a private bathroom at Roosevelt, or want to do the popular cookout at Rosy. Yellowstone is a large national park, and I would allow at least two days in each area. Yellowstone.net has some wonderful discussion forums with many knowledgable people to help you plan as well.

Also there are many discussions about the western National Parks on the California and West board here:
http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=131

The one book you should get before coming is Death in Yellowstone by Lee Whittlesley, the park historian.

*Please note that dates and rates are set by the National Park Service, and not by Xanterra. Please be friendly to the reservation agent on the phone who is trying to help you plan your vacation, and to those working the front desk when you check-in.

 

[2TxAgs]

Here is a message I sent to mickeygaga in January regarding the trip we took two summers ago....

We stayed for 7 nights. Flew into Billings (from Tx) and drove into the park thru the Northeast entrance. It was the first week of June - hot as all get out here, but snowing there. My kids loved it. We had 3 rental cars between the 14 of us. (Our minivan was $320 for the week) Saw a bear, coyote, bison, and just missed some wolves on that drive in. Stayed for 2 nights outside the North entrance in Gardiner at the Absoroka Lodge. ($115/night) Mini kitchens allowed us to whip up a batch of tacos and save on dinner expenses.

Next we stayed at the Colter Bay cabins in Grand Teton NP ($164/night). Had a laundry, and a mama fox with 3 kits which we watched and photographed for over an hour. We rented kayaks here and took the kids out on the lake for a few hours. Great pizza place just up the road. (Leeks) We also took a river float trip - all of us and a guide for about 2 hrs. Saw beavers, eagles.

Lastly, we wanted to be back in the middle of the park near the Lamar Valley, so we stayed at the cabins at Lake Lodge($150 or so). This is prime bear area, and in fact, the last morning my sister in law and I got up early looking for wildlife and photo opportunities - we ended up watching a grizzly chase a coyote off a dead elk and eat it - most amazing thing I've ever seen.

Take binoculars, take cameras and batteries and extra memory cards. Take layers, as it can be quite chilly/cold during the day as well as early/late. Stop a lot to get out and just scan the horizon and take some hikes.

We stopped for a picnic one afternoon - the kids were fascinated by some marmots up in the rocks near our table. Just down the lane, some folks had watched a bear working on a meal in the river.

There is a forum kinda like DIS - yellowstone.net I believe. Lots of good info on there.

It will be a fabulous trip - my kids were 13, 13, and 10, and along with cousins and two grandmas, we had a blast. They talk often of repeating that trip.

 

[apnep]

There is a forum kinda like DIS - yellowstone.net I believe. Lots of good info on there.

Yes, that forum is Yellowstone Net. Great, friendly people on that forum! They really helped us with our trip planning.

http://forums.yellowstone.net/

You can also get other info off the top of the board at...
http://www.yellowstone.net/

Other links:
Bearthooth Highway
http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2281/

Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center
http://www.bbdvc.com/

Interactive Wildlife Map
http://www.maxwaugh.com/yellowstone/map.php

Yellowstone Maps
http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/maps-of-yellowstone-197.html

And, I think the name of the guys we did the float trip with in the Tetons was Solitude Float Trips.

We did the horseback riding on the way out in Montana I think. It was a last minute stop and SO glad we did it!

Good luck. Hope I didn't inundate you with links.

Ang

Here's those coyotes that were chased by that bear...

And here he is eating their lunch! A spotter let us look through his scope and was kind enough to let me take a shot through it. By the way, if you get out early enough (5am) and drive around you'll likely see spotters in the distance. Don't be afraid to go up and ask what they are looking at. People are very friendly, generous and happy to let you look through their lenses.

Here's the kit at Colter Bay. I won a prize for this shot!

Sigh. I could post so many more awesome shots. Yellowstone is a wonderful experience.

OK, just two more...

Geyser Basin area. Now this is what I'm talkin' about!

Ang

 

[3boymthr]

Based on extensive personal experience I would strongly encourage you to book your hotel, dinner, and activity reservations now. This is especially true if you want a cabin with a private bathroom at Roosevelt, or want to do the popular cookout at Rosy. Yellowstone is a large national park, and I would allow at least two days in each area. Yellowstone.net has some wonderful discussion forums with many knowledgable people to help you plan as well.


The one book you should get before coming is Death in Yellowstone by Lee Whittlesley, the park historian.

Nope, to correct some mis-information, she can't book her activities now. She can book her hotel, but Xanterra doesn't book activities for summer 2011 until January 2011, this is because they contract out the horses, etc and they don't know how many they'll have of the animals until then or how much they'll be paying for them. The horses don't remain in Yellowstone over the winter but are removed from the parks and back to their home ranches. They are contracted from year to year to work at the park and while some go back every year not all do. Some handy dandy trivia I picked up from the wranglers on our cook-out.

IMO, while two days in each area might be nice you don't have to allow that long, and may not want to if your kids are little or have short attention spans. It all comes down to how much time you want to spend staring at the petrified tree or waiting for Old Faithful to erupt or whether you plan to do a lot of hiking or just want to see the highlights.

You definitely want to allow some flexibility in your plans, as we did run into a few areas that were closed when we were there for various reasons - and this was not something we could have planned for - in fact one area the park was taking it hour by hour on whether to re-open the area - some animals (bears I believe) had moved in while we were there and we lost out to them.



I definitely second the book. DH picked it up when we were there and it's both fascinating and terrifiying.

 

[HelloChum]

Yellowstone here we come!!

Thanks for your continued responses!

We are booked for early next July--spoke with a very helpful reservationist for Xanterra. I was thrilled to get a room for 2 nights at the Old Faithful Inn in the Old house with a private bath (most of those rooms are taken--he said people call May 1 and know what rooms they want and the rooms book FAST!!). I also have the following 2 nights in a cabin in Mammoth Springs followed by 2 nights in a cabin in the Canyon area. Both cabins have private baths. I'm sure the shared baths would have been just fine--but I'm relieved to have the private bath booked.

Apnep--great photos! What a GREAT photo of the fox kit! I just got a new zoom lense for my camera for mother's day--can't wait. I will check out those links as well--thanks.

Southern Explorer and 3boymthr--the reservationist I spoke with offered me the oppportunity to make dinner and activities reservations for our 2011 stay as well. I made reservations for dinner at the Old Faithful Inn for our first night and reservations for the Roosevelt Cookout/2 hour horseback ride for later in our stay. I also could have made reservations for a float trip on Yellowstone Lake--he highly recommended the trip. I just couldn't decide on a date for that !! He said they are offered every hour or so--hopefully when I call back there should be availability.

One worry--we will do the Rosy cookout from our stay at Mammoth--he said we should have time to drive back before it was too dark. What do you think? How bad is dusk driving in the park--just worried about animals in the road, etc. The horseback ride begins at 3:45.

Thanks for the wildlife reminder--I'm not one to approach wildlife--we've had the occassional bear, coyotes, etc. in our yard--I've seen the video clips on TV of the bears ripping the doors off of cars and vans to get food. Advice heeded.


Thanks again!!

 

[3boymthr]

Yellowstone here we come!!

Thanks for your continued responses!

We are booked for early next July--spoke with a very helpful reservationist for Xanterra. I was thrilled to get a room for 2 nights at the Old Faithful Inn in the Old house with a private bath (most of those rooms are taken--he said people call May 1 and know what rooms they want and the rooms book FAST!!). I also have the following 2 nights in a cabin in Mammoth Springs followed by 2 nights in a cabin in the Canyon area. Both cabins have private baths. I'm sure the shared baths would have been just fine--but I'm relieved to have the private bath booked.

Apnep--great photos! What a GREAT photo of the fox kit! I just got a new zoom lense for my camera for mother's day--can't wait. I will check out those links as well--thanks.

Southern Explorer and 3boymthr--the reservationist I spoke with offered me the oppportunity to make dinner and activities reservations for our 2011 stay as well. I made reservations for dinner at the Old Faithful Inn for our first night and reservations for the Roosevelt Cookout/2 hour horseback ride for later in our stay. I also could have made reservations for a float trip on Yellowstone Lake--he highly recommended the trip. I just couldn't decide on a date for that !! He said they are offered every hour or so--hopefully when I call back there should be availability.

One worry--we will do the Rosy cookout from our stay at Mammoth--he said we should have time to drive back before it was too dark. What do you think? How bad is dusk driving in the park--just worried about animals in the road, etc. The horseback ride begins at 3:45.

Thanks for the wildlife reminder--I'm not one to approach wildlife--we've had the occassional bear, coyotes, etc. in our yard--I've seen the video clips on TV of the bears ripping the doors off of cars and vans to get food. Advice heeded.


Thanks again!!

Wow, that's great. They must have changed that policy.

If I recall correctly you should have plenty of time to get back before dark, in fact this is what it looked like toward the end of the cookout and when our cookout was done.

As you can see while the shadows were lengthening the sky was still bright blue. Don't get me wrong we still had an hour ride back but I think you should be fine.

And if it makes you feel better we were delayed by construction getting in to Yellowstone (Beartooth highway was down to one lane in some places and was all dirt the whole way ) and didn't arrive at the Northeast gate until 10:45 PM. It was very late (the gate was actually unmanned) and very very dark but you have to drive very slowly anyway even during the day so driving after dark wasn't that much worse than driving during the day. We actually encountered more animals around dinner time than at night, in fact didn't run into any animals on the road when we drove that late.

 

[HelloChum]

Thanks for posting your photos! Looks like it was great-- I do feel relieved about the drive back to Mammoth now, too.

 

[Deb & Bill]

About June 21, the sun will be setting at nearly 10PM in Montana and Northern Wyoming.

 

[HelloChum]

Wow--we'll be there the first week of July, so we should be all set. Glad I mentioned it!!

Thanks!