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Take an ice chest with you, if you have room. Sometimes, its inconvenient to drop what you’re doing and find lunch. There's several picnic areas in the park. We ate mini bagels and cream cheese or breakfast bars. Smoked turkey and tortillas for lunch.
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Don’t be afraid to get up early for wildlife. They start early and you need to also. From places like Old Faithful you have a long drive to Hayden Valley and Lamar Valley.
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Xanterra Site for Reservations – They control all the reservations for accommodations in the park. I’ve found them easy to work with on the phone and their web site is pretty good. Don't be afraid to call them to check on cancellations if you can't find what you want.
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Yellowstone Chat Group – Forum of people who know and love Yellowstone and know a lot about the Tetons.
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Yellowstone Forum – A different forum of people with much knowledge of Yellowstone. Both groups have legitimate experts. This site also has pages on hiking trails, maps, etc. You need to go up one level from the forum.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Here’s some I get asked and that I see asked on boards. I may have taken some liberties on the phrasing.
Jackson Hole, WY, Salt Lake City, UT, Billings, MT and Bozeman, MT are possibilities. We’ve only flown into Jackson Hole but that’s what we’ll continue to do. The drive up through the Tetons is very pretty and we land around noon. It’s a short drive so we can get to the park pretty early. If you need to do any shopping, you should go to Jackson first. There isn’t much between the airport and Yellowstone. We found everything, including ice chest at Albertson’s.
Can I stay in Jackson and see Yellowstone
Only if you’re desperate. Yellowstone is huge in its own right. If you tack on the additional miles of a commute from Jackson or even the Tetons, you’ll spend a lot of time in the car. You'll lose around 4 hours each day getting to and from the park. If it’s the absolute only to make it work, then do it. It’ll be a long day but a good one.
Yes, in my opinion. It’s part of the experience. You meet nice people and shorten the drives to the areas where the wildlife are. If you simply can’t afford it or can’t get reservations, my first choice would be West Yellowstone. It’s a pretty drive into the park from there and it brings you into Madison Junction which is fairly central.
We've always rented at the Jackson Hole Airport since that's where we fly into. They offer unlimited mileage and one time we were able to get a one-way rental. The only thing you have to watch is whether or not the company is located at the airport or in Jackson. It doesn't make much difference unless you have an early morning flight home. If you do, renting at the airport is better than relying on a shuttle bus. Our last trip we did rent from Thrifty Car Rental in town and had no problems. We would have gone into Jackson for groceries in any event.
Where should we stay in the park?
I haven't stayed in all of the areas but have thoughts on them. Probably the best I can do is share those thoughts and tell you whether or not we stayed there. If you have trouble getting reservations, throw all these out the window and get what you can get. I should point out that I don't equate nice to luxurious. I get more interested in location. These are a quick list of the areas in the park
Old Faithful Inn. The oldest in the park. Very cool place. Some of the original rooms use bathrooms down the hall. The location is on the west side of the park. Its a long drive to Hayden Valley and Lamar Valley. On the other hand, the geysers are close. Some bison and elk are easy to find too. If your real interested in wildlife, consider staying here and one of the other lodges. Same comments for the other lodge and cabins at Old Faithful.
Canyon Cabins and lodge are located at Canyon Junction. This is one of my favorite locations in the park. Easy to get into Hayden Valley and Dunraven Pass. Not bad getting to Lamar Valley. OK restaurant and cafeteria. We were in a small pioneer cabin and it was OK. We didn't stay in the lodge. These make it easy to be in Hayden Valley when the sun comes up.
Roosevelt Lodge is another nice one. Located in a pretty area across from the road to Lamar Valley. Home of the cowboy cookout. The restaurant is quite nice and the front porch with rockers is great. The cabins are small unless you reserve early. They don't have bathrooms in most of them but have "facilities" within a short walk. Its kind of like camping with hard walls and a stove.
Mammoth. We've never stayed here but I don't like the location. Long drive back down to Madison and a 20 mile drive to Tower Junction. I don't like the area enough to want to stay here. In September during the elk rut, I might think differently.
Grant Village is way down south. The area on the lake looked nice enough but I didn't like the location. I suppose it would be OK if you had to and it would be staying in the park. We haven't stayed here.
Lake Hotel is probably the high rent area in the park. We walked around inside but haven't stayed here. We do have a cabin in June so that will be interesting. The Lake Lodge is near by and has a cafeteria and nice lodge area. The accommodations are cabins for the lodge. Lake is actually in a pretty good location. Its at the bottom of Hayden Valley and is on Lake Yellowstone. I think the hotel is maybe pricier than other places.
Should I stay in one place or move?
There are different opinions on this. It partly depends on how long you are there. I’ve never felt that packing to move out everyday and checking in somewhere else that evening is a good use of time. I suppose it depends on your tolerance for such things. The reason people do it is that the park is bigger than you think, if you’ve never been there. You also travel slower than you think because of the opportunities to get distracted by wildlife and assorted traffic jams. If you move around some, getting to Hayden or Lamar Valleys in the early AM will be easier. If you stay the entire trip at Mammoth, for instance, getting to Hayden Valley is a long haul. Especially if you want to be there at 6:00AM. We spent 3 nights at Old Faithful Inn and loved it. On our most recent trip we split the time between Canyon and Roosevelt. We had to spend some time organizing clothes for the move because we didn't want to mix dirty with clean. Other than that, I enjoyed being in two different places. If you can only stay at one place for your trip, by all means do it. You’ll still have a wonderful time.
How long should I stay in the park?
I suppose this depends partly on how long you can stay. If all you have to spend is one day, it will be a very good day. You’ll miss a lot though. You can see a lot of the park in 3 days. If you do much hiking, though, you’ll miss other opportunities. I think I’d suggest 4 days at a minimum but if you have to do less, go for it anyway. More is better.
What are the must see things in the park?
There are too many to really list them all. You might not even like the same things I do. I'll list a few things here but they will be more for people that have never been there. I'll try to add to it when we get back in June. You can get a map and figure out where they are.
Upper Geyser Basin - Much more interesting than I expected. Located right beside Old Faithful. It has a boardwalk so its an easy walk and OK for wheel chairs.
Upper Falls - Easily seen from an overlook. Trails give you better looks.
Lower Falls - Beautiful view up the canyon. Again it has an overlook and trails.
West Thumb Geyser Basin - If you come in from the south entrance, this is worth a stop. Maybe not if you're staying up north in the park.
Norris Geyser Basin - We didn't stop but drove by. On a 3 day trip we couldn't work it in.
Hayden Valley - Excellent place to see wildlife. Beautiful scenery along the Yellowstone River. We saw a large bison herd along and on the road. Get here early. We saw grizzlies, otters and the usual bison in June.
Lamar Valley - Another great place to see wildlife. Predators too. Keep an eye out for people with scopes. Get here early.
What’s the nicest resort in the park?
It depends on what you’re used to. If you’re thinking all-inclusive resort, go somewhere else. The lodges tend to be old with lots of atmosphere. They are also close to the things you came here to see. Wildlife and scenery. Seriously, worry more about location than luxury.
It’s March and I’m planning a late June trip. What should I do?
If you want to stay in the park, you might consider prayer and hope there are cancellations. West Yellowstone and Gardiner might be options, though. You need to plan park visits pretty early to get what you want.
No but you do need a decent pair of binoculars. People will usually share their scopes if you're nice. We took a fairly inexpensive Bushnell scope with us on a monopod. It worked pretty well. If you take one, you'll like it and don't look through the big Leica or Swarovski scopes. Scope envy can get expensive as we found out. While people will let you look through their scopes, you may not be able to watch them. That's only a problem if you want to spend time watching interactions between animals such as wolves and elk or bison.
I put this here so you wouldn’t think I forgot. We didn’t camp there so I really can’t help. Check the NPS or Xanterra sites to seewhat is available. Note that not all types of camping are available at all locations. For instance, some require hard-sided campers. (Use your imagination.)
Everywhere so pay attention. Bison and elk can show up pretty much anywhere. You have to be careful because the car ahead of you may stop to look without regard to your intentions. They can also cause traffic jams so you may get to look longer than you ever hoped for. In a big jam, you may never know what caused it.
Predators seem to be in Hayden Valley and Lamar Valley. Get there early or stay late. If you see a group with scopes and there’s a place to park, you may have found a good viewing opportunity. Be very nice and they might share their scopes.
Make sure you swing through Hayden Valley and Lamar Valley. If nothing else, you should see large bison herds. We usually saw elk below Madison when we were going back to Old Faithful.
We were there in June, 2007. We usually saw bears on the north side of Mt. Washburn. I think the area is called Antelope Creek. There was a grizzly and 2 cubs spending a lot of time there. Not a lot of places to pull off so be careful. As a hint, if the scopes are pointed out, the bear may be 3/4 of a mile away. If they area pointed more downward, you might actually be able to see the bear.
Last July was cool in the mornings and warm to hot during the day. In mid-June this year is was all over the place. It was mid 80's when we got there on Saturday. By Sunday evening, we'd seen snow, sleet, rain and sunshine. Monday morning in Hayden Valley was 23 degrees. Warmed up nicely though. Basically, you need to have some kind of layers. Ideally that includes rain gear. Also, having light weight gloves can be good in the mornings. We have some that do little more than provide a layer between the hands and the tripods and cameras.
No. Shouldn’t need further discussion. Don’t feed them or the elk or anything else, either. You also can’t pose your son/wife/self beside the bison and take a picture. You may irritate a ranger. Worse you might irritate the animal.
What’s that group of cars up ahead?
Its an opportunity for you to be very careful. They’ve almost certainly seen wildlife nearby. People get very excited and don’t pay attention. We saw a young child get hurt in a “bear jam” at Fishing Bridge. People were watching the grizzly and he popped out.
How's the Cowboy Cookout at Roosevelt?
We enjoyed it. We took the hour horseback ride to get there. That's a half hour out and back. The food was pretty good. Not the best steak I ever had but the prettiest place I had one. You can't carry a camera if you're on horseback. They will carry it for you on a wagon so keep that in mind. I didn't have a point-and-shoot with me so I just skipped the pictures.
Do I need reservations for the cowboy cookout at Roosevelt.
Yes. You need to call Xanterra to make them. Unless they changed, you can’t make those on the website. In mid-June, the wranglers told us it was already booked for the summer.
Can I park on the road to see wildlife?
NO. What are you thinking? You should be in a turnout. If not, you need all four wheels across the white line and off the road. If you can't do that, keep going. You may get a ticket if you don't. You may also get your car hit by another driver if you don't.