Yellowstone National Park

[firecadet613]

I'm in the early stages of planning a week in Yellowstone and looking for advice, as it's been 20+ years since I've been there.

The plan is to fly into Bozeman and rent a car. We'll likely stay in Hilton properties just outside the park and not be tied down to one hotel for the week.

What did your trips to Yellowstone look like?

 

[WanderingSol07]

I was in Yellowstone this July/August, very surprised it was not crowded at all, though Bison gave a total of 1.5 hours of standstill on the road. We did the north loop, not really to visit, but we did sight-see. Mainly to get from Cody, WY to Idaho Falls, ID. If you go after mid June there should not be any closed roads due to snow. Go during the week, there will be slightly less people in the park. Don't be a Touron!!! We been over Beartooth a half dozen times and another half dozen times it was closed due to landslides and snow (in August!) Going over Beartooth Highway, there will be no trucks or RVs, usually no traffic at all. We seen moose, elk, bear, wolves, bison, marmots, you name it on that route.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Cut and paste I posted last month:

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I think I've mentioned it, but if you rent from Budget and don't sign up for Fast Break you are wasting so much time. Bozeman didn't have a fast break area, but you got your own line. I waited for 1 person to finish as opposed to probably 50+ people. Small, but busy, airport. Very nice, though. Quietest airport I've ever been in.

We had a *very* fun trip to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Craters of the Moon, Caribou-Targhee, (National parks/monuments/forests) as well as Jackson and Cody WY. Stopped by CostCo in Bozeman first thing, which took care of most of our meals for the 9 days. We ate breakfast out twice (split an order of pancakes on the first morning and then I ate at the airport on the last day, wife just wanted coffee), lunch once (burgers in Yellowstone), and light dinner once (potato pizza in Idaho because HTF do you not try potato pizza in Idaho?) Lodging, as expected, was the major expense.
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Yellowstone is *BIG* and it takes a long time to drive from one end to the other with the distance, speed limits, animals in the road, and gawkers gawking at animals near the road. And construction near Lamar Valley. We stayed at several different places so as to avoid the constant looping.

West Yellowstone Montana - Westwood Motel
Silver Gate Montana - Silver Gate Lodging
In the park- Lake Lodge

Then went to Jackson, WY and stayed a few nights to see Grand Tetons, then Idaho.

Sept was an excellent time to visit. Somewhat lighter crowds, animals more active, good weather. Popular sites are busy but if you hike 15 minutes or hit some of the trails in Lamar Valley you won't meet many other people. It was a lot of seniors and tour bus riders on a week day during school, so they aren't getting much past the main tourist attractions.

We ignored the advice to go early to bypass crowds. We slept in and went late. Saw the last Old Faithful eruption before sunset, for example and the viewing area was very lightly attended, maybe 50 people tops. We *tended* to be going the opposite direction of traffic except in Lamar Valley where traffic is always clogged due to bison in the road, construction, etc as mentioned above.

It was a great trip, enjoy it!

 

[Brad69]

Look up "missing 411"

 

[firecadet613]

Cut and paste I posted last month:

****
I think I've mentioned it, but if you rent from Budget and don't sign up for Fast Break you are wasting so much time. Bozeman didn't have a fast break area, but you got your own line. I waited for 1 person to finish as opposed to probably 50+ people. Small, but busy, airport. Very nice, though. Quietest airport I've ever been in.

We had a *very* fun trip to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Craters of the Moon, Caribou-Targhee, (National parks/monuments/forests) as well as Jackson and Cody WY. Stopped by CostCo in Bozeman first thing, which took care of most of our meals for the 9 days. We ate breakfast out twice (split an order of pancakes on the first morning and then I ate at the airport on the last day, wife just wanted coffee), lunch once (burgers in Yellowstone), and light dinner once (potato pizza in Idaho because HTF do you not try potato pizza in Idaho?) Lodging, as expected, was the major expense.
**********

Yellowstone is *BIG* and it takes a long time to drive from one end to the other with the distance, speed limits, animals in the road, and gawkers gawking at animals near the road. And construction near Lamar Valley. We stayed at several different places so as to avoid the constant looping.

West Yellowstone Montana - Westwood Motel
Silver Gate Montana - Silver Gate Lodging
In the park- Lake Lodge

Then went to Jackson, WY and stayed a few nights to see Grand Tetons, then Idaho.

Sept was an excellent time to visit. Somewhat lighter crowds, animals more active, good weather. Popular sites are busy but if you hike 15 minutes or hit some of the trails in Lamar Valley you won't meet many other people. It was a lot of seniors and tour bus riders on a week day during school, so they aren't getting much past the main tourist attractions.

We ignored the advice to go early to bypass crowds. We slept in and went late. Saw the last Old Faithful eruption before sunset, for example and the viewing area was very lightly attended, maybe 50 people tops. We *tended* to be going the opposite direction of traffic except in Lamar Valley where traffic is always clogged due to bison in the road, construction, etc as mentioned above.

It was a great trip, enjoy it!

Excellent advice, thanks! I rent with National, as my corporate rate is unbelievable. $319 for the week vs $1,367 for the off the street price. I don't think until have the Emerald Aisle there so I may just go ahead and reserve a Tahoe in advance.

 

[Gunmetalgray]

Had an awesome stay at this place, something different, elk wandering around in the evening & right next to the tipis the next morning, evening campfire was totally relaxing. Unique experience. Like being close to nature, especially in a place like Yellowstone. https://www.dreamcatchertipihotel.com/

 

[firecadet613]

Had an awesome stay at this place, something different, elk wandering around in the evening & right next to the tipis the next morning, evening campfire was totally relaxing. Unique experience. Like being close to nature, especially in a place like Yellowstone. https://www.dreamcatchertipihotel.com/
View attachment 308596

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm definitely putting this on the list!

 

[firecadet613]

A bit of planning, pays off!

My wife did a ton of research and sent me many pages of "must see's" to go through and map out.

We were there for 9 days and saw everything. Tons of bison, many bears, fox, mule deer, moose, elk, pronghorn, big horn sheep, yellow bellied marmot, and coyotes (I may have left some out).

We joined a Yellowstone FB group and it's amazing how few people saw bears, while we saw many (on the same day even) and apparently did well with our itinerary. Very few backups while driving through the parks, no wait at entrance gates (our record was 5x in one day), and very scenic drives in. West Yellowstone seems to be "the" place to stay, with the entrance gate having hour long backups most mornings (we just popped in there for lunch one day - town was still pretty busy)! The north gate is my wife's least favorite entrance gate, but the most "sporty" drive in.

We stayed in Cody two nights (our favorite town), the rodeo is a must do (our son got to take part in the calf scramble), as is eating at The Irma (Prime Rib Buffet - YUM). The Hampton Inn there is a great property. Enter the park via the NE Entrance - take the Chief Joseph Highway through Cooke City and the Lamar Valley. Feels like your in Jurassic Park, with the wide open valley and plentiful wildlife.

Then it was Jackson for three nights - very touristy and built up. The prices reflect this. Hampton Inn is decent, charges a ton (so we used points). Grand Teton's were one of my son's favorite parts of the trip. Tons of great hiking, but it's amazing how busy it was for the "off-season", which I'm told isn't really an off season any more.

We hiked 5+ miles at Jenny Lake and arrived at 9am. Barely got a parking spot on the road in, when we went back to the SUV for lunch, cars were parked a half mile each way on the main road to get in. The ferry boat is fun, and a great way to get back after the 3.5 mile hike to the boat dock. Sunset at the TA Moulton Barn, up on Signal Mountain, and the Snake River Overlook.

Two nights at the Dreamcatcher Tipi's in Gardiner, which is a great experience. Moreso for the folks who live in the city vs my boys who can have a camp fire any night in the backyard, but non the less, pretty cool to sleep in a tipi. With the temp getting down to the 40's at night, it was very cozy. Not sure I'd stay there in mid August thought! Dinner and lunch the next day at The Old Saloon in Emigrant, MT, was amazing. The place has great history, even better food, and an outstanding atmosphere (it opened in 1902, closed for prohibition, and reopened after). The current bar was floated down the Missouri River from STL and the dining room from up a mountain nearby (They slid it down a mountain).

We closed the trip out by staying the Hilton Garden Inn in Bozeman and dinner at the Montana Ale Works - again, great food, atmosphere, and a historic building. Museum of the Rockies has great history and Dinosaur exhibits.

Did I mention I got upgraded to an Escalade? I rent with National and reserved a Premium Full Size AWD SUV (Suburban), and as we walked in they greeted us and offered all three brands - Expedition, Suburban, or Wagoneer. They had an Escalade parked right in front with a tag in it, $50/day upgrade. She offered to me for $20/day with my corp rate so I took the bait, hook, line, and sinker (with as much driving as we had planned, might as well be comfortable). At the exit gate, they couldn't figure out how to charge me the upcharge, so after 10 minutes of trying, told me to go and enjoy it. GM's Super Cruise is absolutely amazing and I think my wife's in shock I haven't traded in my Ram for a Sierra Denali Ultimate with it already...

Here's a selection of pics...

 

[firecadet613]

 

[firecadet613]

 

[firecadet613]

 

[firecadet613]

And finally, my new little buddy - my red cooler.

We bought a cooler (among other things) when we landed in Bozeman for our Yellowstone trip, with the plans to leave it at the hotel when we left. Apparently it's the thing to do with cooler's, bear spray (can't take them on the plane), chairs, etc. Buy it and leave it for someone else to use after you're gone. The cooler more than paid for itself, providing lunch for 3 days - sandwiches, etc.

After having it for a week, I ended up really liking this $20 Igloo cooler (it's a perfect size) so I did some research and you can check it (bags fly free on Southwest), so why not keep it and bring it home!

Ground stops in Denver caused many delays and our flight from Bozeman landed after the flight to Indy started to board. We made the plane, the cooler did not. So much for A boarding, when you're last on the plane!

We arrived in Indy at 2am, just 30 minutes late. Not bad, but it meant out total travel time from BZN to IND was only 3:59! The cooler arrived at 10am on the next flight and I was given the option of them delivering my "checked bag" or picking it up. Picking it up myself meant I got a $200 travel voucher.

Talk about a great ROI. This little red cooler is my new travel buddy and will be checked on every Southwest flight I take from here on out!

 

[jwamplerusa]

Yellowstone is awesome! Those are some great pictures. Are the roads through Lamar valley which were damaged in the floods a couple of years ago repaired?

Did you go to the Cody firearms museum? I spent a long day in the museum complex, most of it in the firearms museum.

 

[firecadet613]

Yellowstone is awesome! Those are some great pictures. Are the roads through Lamar valley which were damaged in the floods a couple of years ago repaired?

Did you go to the Cody firearms museum? I spent a long day in the museum complex, most of it in the firearms museum.

Fully repaired. We did not go on the Teton Pass Highway, which washed out while we were in Bozeman. No go on the Cody Firearms Museum or the Buffalo Bill History Museum. We plan to spend more time in Cody when we go back.

I left out in the above posts, we also went to the Jackson National Fish Hatchery (ask for a tour, don't just do the self guided), and visited the dam west of Cody. It's a mini Hoover Dam, so something neat to see.

 

[42769vette]

I'm at yellowstone right now. Today is our last day

 

[BugI02]

FYI for those going soon. A landslide has completely severed the Teton Pass Highway/WY 22 about 11 miles west of Jackson. TPH is the main way into Jackson from the west, especially coming in from Idaho Falls. The shortest detour is 85 miles from Victor to Jackson and takes 1.5 to 2 hrs depending on traffic

No impact on those coming in through MT and staying near Yellowstone. We usually fly into IDA and drive to and base out of Jackson, it's a bit further to Teton and Yellowstone but is a nice walkable town with plenty of good restaurants at all price points. Going in and out of IDA is cheaper and easier than the alternatives to boot

Beyond the direct impact on travel and commerce coming into the area to and from the west there will be an impact on the help at hotels and restaurants in Jackson. The whole highway for about 100 feet went down the hillside, it's going to be a long, slow fix

Also a white Bison with black nose, eyes and hooves was just born in Yellowstone, beware of Ghostdancers

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Lucky. The closest we saw of the bears was tracks and poo.

 

[Titanium_Frost]

Was just there myself. We camped in the Tetons and drove up each day. Pretty cool. Took the train out from Indy

 

[jwamplerusa]

Fully repaired. We did not go on the Teton Pass Highway, which washed out while we were in Bozeman. No go on the Cody Firearms Museum or the Buffalo Bill History Museum. We plan to spend more time in Cody when we go back.

I left out in the above posts, we also went to the Jackson National Fish Hatchery (ask for a tour, don't just do the self guided), and visited the dam west of Cody. It's a mini Hoover Dam, so something neat to see.

We did the dam, but not the hatchery.

 

[jwamplerusa]

If you are on this forum, and are in cody, go to the firearms museum. Really the whole museum complex is worth seeing.