Yellowstone/Grand Tetons/South Dakota (Rushmore/Badlands) Trip Help!

[princesscinderella]

We are going to Yellowstone this summer and are staying in these two places, I’m loosely following the Yellowstone adventures by Disney itinerary

https://bar-n-ranch.com/ (adventures by Disney stays here)
https://www.howlersinn.com/
I haven’t booked activities yet but am planning to book in the next couple weeks before they fill up. Rental car prices are crazy there, I’m so happy I booked a couple months ago at $620 as now the same car is $2200

 

[1GoldenSun]

You are very smart for planning so far ahead! I'm currently planning something similar for THIS summer and the options are incredibly limited. I was able to make suitable arrangements but oh how I would have loved to have been able to stay IN the park!

Have fun planning!

 

[bcla]

One other thing about Yellowstone. Be prepared for "Bear Jams" and "Bison Jams."

If you get caught in one, STAY IN YOUR CAR, and keep the windows closed. Both animals can be very dangerous. Last trip we got caught in a bison jam for more than an hour in Hayden Valley. They cross the road when they are good and ready.

Bison can be pretty nasty, but usually individually. I've heard of people trying to sneak up on them where they got gored. However, we drove right by bison cow and its calf running in a parking lot and they were actually quite calm.

Bears actually aren't so bad if there are a lot of people. The rangers were far more concerned that cars were being parked on the road and blocking traffic than anyone coming in to watch a bear from a reasonable distance. We found a place to park and there was no problem. But he was threatening to write tickets for anyone not parked in a proper space or completely off the road.

The biggest problem with bears is usually with grizzlies, and then it's when they're surprised or they're crowded. Especially a grizzly sow with cubs. Even then - they'll usually avoid a crowd.

 

[Becky Mouse]

Hello!

My family (myself, DH, 16-year-old twin sons) are planning a trip to Yellowstone/Grand Tetons and South Dakota next summer. From a map, I can tell the area we want to visit in South Dakota is far from Yellowstone/Grand Tetons, but we don't mind driving. We have about 2 weeks for this trip. We have never been out west so this whole area is new to us. I'm a little unsure on an itinerary. I don't know if it is best to start in Yellowstone/Grand Tetons and head back towards South Dakota or do the trip the other way around. I'm looking for suggestions on hotels (although I know we want to stay in some of the lodges in Yellowstone), places to eat, and things to do. Like I mentioned above, our boys will have just turned 16, literally about two days before we leave on this trip, and I don't want them to be bored so I'm looking for things teens would enjoy. Are there any other areas we should consider in or around these areas? Lastly, I'm clueless on airports, so any help there would also be appreciated. We will definitely be flying as we are coming from PA.

Thanks for any help!

When you say "next summer," do you mean in a few months, or in a year? Lodges at Yellowstone typically book out when they open, a year in advance. May you can still find something around Yellowstone if it's this summer, but inside Yellowstone might not happen. If you're going this summer, I'd recommend looking for availability now to see if you can make your trip work. I just pulled up a random week in July for a family of 4, and there is no availability at all.



I've been to Yellowstone a few times, once in high school and once just out of high school when I was 18. I had fun doing all the hikes. I'm sure your teenagers will like that stuff. It's just so beautiful there. Depending on where you end up driving from, maybe look into a white water rafting trip with a guide. You can do some that are just a couple hours long, and that might be a lot of fun for your kids.

Edit: I saw that you're planning for 2022! That's good... glad everything won't be sold out for your trip
Something else you might consider because you have 2 weeks... drive up to Glacier National Park! I've visited a lot of our national parks, and both Yellowstone and Glacier are two of my absolute favorites.

 

[aggiedog]

We did YS and Glacier in 11 days, and it was a nice pace. We changed lodging every 2 days. Two weeks would be good to add Custer, etc, in. I would not also try to squeeze Glacier, though it is my favorite place in the US. (I'll be hiking up there in July.)

Good you're looking at 2022. Definitely get on the ball for lodging when it opens. YS is HUGE, and it can take hours to get from one "must see" spot to another. I would not want to tack another 1-2 hours on either end just to get in the park. Definitely move lodging around the park, to limit your driving as well. Only get in park lodging reservations thru Xanterra. Do NOT use a third party. Xanterra opens their reservations usually 1 year ahead and it is crazy that first day. If you can't get rooms, just keep trying night by night and string a full set of lodging together over time. Xanterra is nice in that the cancelation is just 3 days prior, without penalty, so you can hold on to rooms until you get a combo that works for you.

Consider a wildlife safari for your family. I thought it would be an extravagance, but we really, really liked it. Someone else to drive us around, a full spotting scope and binoculars for everyone, walkie talkie communication with the other guides to know where all the good viewing is, and if you want to see something specific, they'll take you. It was a high light for our family.

Go over the the TripAdvisor forums. There is a LOT of activity and good info regarding YS and GT.

I think it would be so much fun to take a trip like this in an RV. We won't be RVing, but I always wondered, how is it navigating the roads, especially roads with a lot of turns, in an RV? We were in the Smoky Mountains last summer and I cannot imagine driving some of those roads in an RV.

I wouldn't RV thru YS unless you have a toad. The roads are narrow and winding, and parking is at a premium at the main sites just for regular sized cars.

 

[1GoldenSun]

Xanterra is nice in that the cancelation is just 3 days prior, without penalty, so you can hold on to rooms until you get a combo that works for you.

This reminds me of a few years back when we were thinking about taking a Yellowstone trip. I got my reservations a year in advance, which is something I've NEVER done. We ended up changing our minds and doing something else that summer and I forgot all about the Yellowstone reservations. When the date of my reservation rolled around, something about the date triggered my memory and I remembered those reservations began THAT DAY and I hadn't cancelled. I called Xanterra and they were so nice! They cancelled my trip and didn't charge me for anything, when they could have charged me for the first three nights. They didn't even charge for that day, and I was scheduled to check in in about two hours! They told me they would have no problem filling my reservation, that they are constantly getting calls looking for last-minute lodging.

 

[Colleen27]

I think it would be so much fun to take a trip like this in an RV. We won't be RVing, but I always wondered, how is it navigating the roads, especially roads with a lot of turns, in an RV? We were in the Smoky Mountains last summer and I cannot imagine driving some of those roads in an RV.

I'm with you on driving an RV on mountain roads - I can't even imagine it. But campervans are great for that kind of travel and there are quite a few companies now that rent them if you're interested in going that route. When we were in SD/WY, it was in my own van with a DIY campervan setup, but I'm really looking forward to checking out the professionally converted campervans we're renting in Alaska and Washington this summer to get more ideas for improving my own rig.

The only downside of a campervan as opposed to an RV is that they generally don't have an onboard bathroom so you are somewhat locked in to camping in places that at least have an outhouse and will probably want to find a campground with showers every few days. But with the sheer number of NP/NF/BLM campgrounds in places like Wyoming,, Montana and South Dakota, that's not too hard to do in that part of the country.

 

[China Expat]

Second the urgency to make bookings asap. I spent a week in March looking for lodging in Yellowstone for August. FInally found a house to rent for a week on VRBO in N Yellowstone, outside the gates. Will just need to drive in each day.

 

[fivikse]

We went to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons a few years ago, flying in and out of SLC. We had originally booked a year out (Roosevelt Cabin and one of the hotels in the Old Faithful area) but had to reschedule everything a few weeks out. There are often last minute cancellations, but I didn't feel like checking every day, so we stayed in West Yellowstone and Cooke City for the Yellowstone part. It was fine. I'd prefer to stay in the park, but I don't have any complaints about staying in the gateway towns. We stayed in Jackson Lake Lodge for GTNP.

I recommend a whitewater rafting trip from Jackson. I also recommend picking up some picnic supplies for easy lunches in the parks. The areas with cafeterias and restaurants always seemed packed. We enjoyed being able to pull into a nice picnic area and eat our lunches away from the crowds. Look into the swimming areas in Yellowstone (Boiling River and Firehole river). They are currently closed, but if open when you go, they was a fun spot for our then preteens.

 

[bcla]

We went to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons a few years ago, flying in and out of SLC. We had originally booked a year out (Roosevelt Cabin and one of the hotels in the Old Faithful area) but had to reschedule everything a few weeks out. There are often last minute cancellations, but I didn't feel like checking every day, so we stayed in West Yellowstone and Cooke City for the Yellowstone part. It was fine. I'd prefer to stay in the park, but I don't have any complaints about staying in the gateway towns. We stayed in Jackson Lake Lodge for GTNP.

Not sure which cabins, but the Roughrider cabins are as basic as it gets. I've heard of groups staying there and complaining about it, even though it's sold as a "rustic experience". The only heat is via a wood burning stove. I stayed there one night and yeah it's does feel like one is roughing it. The bathrooms were fairly updated and the showers were extremely clean. I'd stay there again, but I know what I'd be getting into.

 

[JimMIA]

Two things to know about booking lodging inside any national park:

1. The earliest possible date to book (typically one year and one day from arrival)
2. The latest date to CANCEL. A lot of people book a year out, their plans change and they wait until the last minute to cancel. So if cancellation is one month out, a week or so before that would be the time to re-try often to see if there have been cancellations. At parks with a lot of lodging (like Yellowstone or Grand Canyon) there are very frequent cancellations.

 

[aprilgail]

In Yellowstone we stayed in cabins right next to old faithful and in Grant Village- Neither had a TV, A/C or wifi- made for some VERY long nights with me and my teen! I would not stay in the cabins again- they were dark, one tiny little light in the whole thing, our DID have a bathroom but some of the others did not so they had to use shared bathrooms/showers and that is NOT for me. The wall was so thin that I was kept up most of the night by the guys snoring in the adjoining cabin- banging on the wall stopped it for a short time until he fell back asleep then the noise started right back up. Couldn't get a cell signal for a phone call in either place.

 

[JBRB828]

We booked 10 months in advance with a ranger from YS, he was excellent and answered so many questions I had. If you have the senior pass for National Park's, there's no admission fee, which we were.

We flew into Rapid City's airport, nice and small compared to what I am used to! Got our new car at the cheapest rate for 23 days! We stayed there for 4 days, did all the attractions that everyone mentioned. Headed to Devils Tower and stayed over night in that area. We headed to Cody for 2 days, the museum was excellent! Went to a concert at the Cody Theatre and saw the Buffalo Bill Dam. Then off to Yellowstone for 9 days, we actually stayed in different hotels in the park. I loved everything about Yellowstone, bison, bears, elk and others. While staying at Mammoth, right across from our window, a mother elk gave birth! It was amazing to say the least! I got pictures of the baby nursing.

From Yellowstone we headed to the Teton Mountain Lodge at the Teton Village for 6 nights. You can take a ride on the aerial tram or the gondola which goes up the mountain and has wonderful views. This location was a short drive to Jackson. Along the way, we always saw moose, something we didn't see at YS.

Traveling back Rapid City to fly home, we drove through the Shoshone Mountains and headed to Casper for an overnight stay. We took the long way because we had time and we wanted to really see all of Wyoming. We actually plan to go back to Wyoming within the next few years.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[bcla]

We booked 10 months in advance with a ranger from YS, he was excellent and answered so many questions I had. If you have the senior pass for National Park's, there's no admission fee, which we were.

We flew into Rapid City's airport, nice and small compared to what I am used to! Got our new car at the cheapest rate for 23 days! We stayed there for 4 days, did all the attractions that everyone mentioned. Headed to Devils Tower and stayed over night in that area. We headed to Cody for 2 days, the museum was excellent! Went to a concert at the Cody Theatre and saw the Buffalo Bill Dam. Then off to Yellowstone for 9 days, we actually stayed in different hotels in the park. I loved everything about Yellowstone, bison, bears, elk and others. While staying at Mammoth, right across from our window, a mother elk gave birth! It was amazing to say the least! I got pictures of the baby nursing.

From Yellowstone we headed to the Teton Mountain Lodge at the Teton Village for 6 nights. You can take a ride on the aerial tram or the gondola which goes up the mountain and has wonderful views. This location was a short drive to Jackson. Along the way, we always saw moose, something we didn't see at YS.

Traveling back Rapid City to fly home, we drove through the Shoshone Mountains and headed to Casper for an overnight stay. We took the long way because we had time and we wanted to really see all of Wyoming. We actually plan to go back to Wyoming within the next few years.

Have a wonderful trip!

What was it you booked? Rangers don't normally handle any kind of lodging. At Yellowstone it's 100% handled by Xanterra, which is the largest concessionaire at US national parks. There's another concessionaire at Yellowstone, which is Delaware North, which runs Yellowstone General Stores.

I've dealt with rangers regarding camping reservations, but that was a very specific issue I had. I made the reservation on recreation.gov.

Teton Village is part of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, which is a massive ski complex. It's not that close to Jackson though. We went there years ago to take the tram, but got back to Colter Village via the Granite Canyon entrance.

 

[aggiedog]

I also recommend picking up some picnic supplies for easy lunches in the parks. The areas with cafeterias and restaurants always seemed packed. We enjoyed being able to pull into a nice picnic area and eat our lunches away from the crowds.

Totally this. You don't go to YS for the food. LOL And with traffic (there is a surprising amount of traffic - slow speed limit, people stopping to look at animals, animals just standing/walking in the road, and only a few intersections that everyone uses) it can take a lot of time to get anywhere. Trying to schedule that so you end up at a dining service location for meal times just adds another layer of structure you don't really need. There are loads of places to pull over and eat. We did picnic lunch every day, and after one overpriced and uninspired dinner while staying in Canyon, ate the next dinner from our cooler also.

 

[JBRB828]

What was it you booked? Rangers don't normally handle any kind of lodging. At Yellowstone it's 100% handled by Xanterra, which is the largest concessionaire at US national parks. There's another concessionaire at Yellowstone, which is Delaware North, which runs Yellowstone General Stores.

I've dealt with rangers regarding camping reservations, but that was a very specific issue I had. I made the reservation on recreation.gov.

Teton Village is part of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, which is a massive ski complex. It's not that close to Jackson though. We went there years ago to take the tram, but got back to Colter Village via the Granite Canyon entrance.

Sorry, yes, Xanterra handled our YS accommodations in the park.

Jackson isn't far from the village. About a 15 minute drive.

 

[bcla]

Two things to know about booking lodging inside any national park:

1. The earliest possible date to book (typically one year and one day from arrival)
2. The latest date to CANCEL. A lot of people book a year out, their plans change and they wait until the last minute to cancel. So if cancellation is one month out, a week or so before that would be the time to re-try often to see if there have been cancellations. At parks with a lot of lodging (like Yellowstone or Grand Canyon) there are very frequent cancellations.

Another is to avoid the resellers. Many charge an additional booking fee and have more punitive cancellation policies. I don't believe that Xanterra has a cancellation fee. There's one called "National Park Reservations" that some have found and realized it just cost more without any real benefits.

For the OP, all of the reservations at Yellowstone are handled through Xanterra:

https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/stay/plan/reservations/

For Grand Teton it's a combination of the Grand Teton Lodging Company (most of the lodging) and Signal Mountain Lodge.

https://www.gtlc.com
https://www.signalmountainlodge.com

Anything else you'll have to look up individually. Jackson Hole has everything from a Motel 6 in Jackson to a Four Seasons at Teton Village. For Yellowstone some stay in West Yellowstone, Gardiner, or Cody.

There's also one place in an oddball location, which is Flagg Ranch, which is technically in the Rockefeller Memorial Parkway, which is administered by Grand Teton NP. I guess it's now operated by the Grand Teton Lodging Company.

https://www.gtlc.com/lodges/headwaters-lodge-at-flagg-ranch

 

[JimMIA]

One of the things to be careful of when booking major parks is to be SURE you are actually booking directly.

Example. I just Googled "yellowstone lodging." I got nine responses on the first page:

• 3 paid ads from booking sites
• 6 responses, of which 3 were from the same lodging broker
• only ONE that was the actual concessionaire

The problem with booking through a booking service is that you will pay more, and if you have to cancel you have both the actual hotel AND the booking company cancellation policies to deal with.

 

[JimMIA]

Another is to avoid the resellers. Many charge an additional booking fee and have more punitive cancellation policies. I don't believe that Xanterra has a cancellation fee. There's one called "National Park Reservations" that some have found and realized it just cost more without any real benefits.

For the OP, all of the reservations at Yellowstone are handled through Xanterra:

https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/stay/plan/reservations/

For Grand Teton it's a combination of the Grand Teton Lodging Company (most of the lodging) and Signal Mountain Lodge.

https://www.gtlc.com
https://www.signalmountainlodge.com

Anything else you'll have to look up individually. Jackson Hole has everything from a Motel 6 in Jackson to a Four Seasons at Teton Village. For Yellowstone some stay in West Yellowstone, Gardiner, or Cody.

There's also one place in an oddball location, which is Flagg Ranch, which is technically in the Rockefeller Memorial Parkway, which is administered by Grand Teton NP. I guess it's now operated bu the Grand Teton Lodging Company.

https://www.gtlc.com/lodges/headwaters-lodge-at-flagg-ranch

Great minds think alike. We were typing at the same time!

 

[bcla]

Sorry, yes, Xanterra handled our YS accommodations in the park.

Jackson isn't far from the village. About a 15 minute drive.

Yeah. It's kind of tucked away, but the location is really at the base of Rendezvous Peak for all the skiing in winter. And I've seen summer skiers there who just take the tram to the top and ski on whatever snow is there. And it's close to that less used entrance I mentioned. However - that road is really slow, although it's a really nice drive.