Yellowstone National Park Travel Forum

I'll be in yellowstone for the first weekend of June. What would you recomend as a good day hikes about 15 miles long and away from the crowds? I'll be coming through the north entrance. Also a good campsite. if this is easier to do in the tetons let me know that is okay. I've only got two and a half days i need to make the most of it.

There is plenty of good hiking in Yellowstone although I can't specifically recommend a hike that's 15 miles long. The Lamar Valley in the northeast corner is the least visited part of Yellowstone and there are some longer hikes there including Pebble Creek Trail and Slough Creek Trail. I have stayed at the Slough Creek Campground (basic) and hiked a little bit on the trail there but ran out of time. One very noticeable thing was the mosquitos... In any case, hikes in this area would be away from the crowds. You won't see a tour bus pulling into this area and probably unlikely that you'll even see a tour bus in the Lamar Valley unless it's just passing through to or from the east entrance...
It's unfortunate that you only have 2 1/2 days... Is your main focus hiking, or are there other things you plan on doing (sightseeing/wildlife viewing)? You will probably get really stretched for time... There are a lot of very worthwhile shorter day hikes. Mt Washburn may be closed in early June (snow). In the Tower area - a really nice short hike is the Yellowstone River Picnic Area Trail. This also connects to the longer Agate Creek Trail and Specimen Ridge Trail - both of which I would like to hike at some point. The Specimen Ridge Trail isn't that easily followed as it is above tree line and marked by posts and rock cairns which are often knocked down... This area wouldn't have the amount of mosquitos as the creek side hikes.
There are hikes around the Canyon area, but you could also drive to several viewpoints around the canyon to view the waterfalls. Artist Point is really nice and the hike down Uncle Tom's Cabin Trail is worthwhile. I'd recommend getting there early morning to beat the crowds. The Canyon is a very popular area.
Hayden Valley is a great place to see wildlife. Usually there are quite a few bison and elk here and grizzly sightings are fairly common. I hiked a portion of the Mary Mountain Trail here which if you did the entire thing would be 20 miles. It is one way so you would end up on the other side of the park. I hiked in 4-5 miles and then returned. I was hiking alone and in an area with a high concentration of grizzlies and bison, probably not the wisest thing to do. I ended up meeting another solo hiker and we continued together for safety reasons. Although the chances are low, the probability of having an encounter with a bear goes up considerably when you are alone. Be sure to read up on bear safety if you haven't already. In my case, on this hike, 2 young bull bison began following us which was a bit unnerving... We ended up getting to a part of the trail that went through some trees and they luckily decided not to continue following us... This hike also had mosquitos by the way and was a bit wet in areas - a lot of it is hiking over meadows...
Where you are entering the park, near Mammoth, I have hiked the Beaver Ponds Loop a few time (5miles). One time I was hiking with a large group (12 people) and we came across a black bear with cubs. The mother looked at us for several minutes... We just waited for them to leave the area before continuing as they were actually traveling in the same direction as us. I don't know if the mother would have reacted differently had I been alone...
There are a couple of hikes that I really like in Grand Teton National Park. The first starts at Jenny Lake (which is really really popular = crowds). There is a boat at Jenny Lake that will ferry you across to start hiking. You can hike around the lake, but the boat will save you 30 -45 mins each way. At the beginning of the hike you come to Hidden Falls and then hike up to Inspiration Point. This is where 99% of hikers stop and go back to get a return boat. This is where I feel the hike just gets started into Cascade Canyon. The hike is actually a long day hike (loop) which I have never completed because of snow cover. I have hiked as far as Lake Solitude. A lot of the area around lake Solitude was still snow covered in July. Early June will be tougher going and unlikely that you will get past the lake (if you get that far). Depends on how much snow there is... I have seen bear, moose and marmots on this hike... Another great area to hike in the Tetons is the Colter Bay Area...
The best thing to do for you would probably be to go to the visitor center in Mammoth when you arrive at the north entrance to find out about trail conditions, what's closed, etc. Also, being early summer, there will be more bears at lower elevations since there will still be snow at higher altitudes. There may be trail closures because of bear activity so be prepared for that. In the Grand Tetons there is a visitor center in Colter Bay where you could ask about trail conditions.
Canyon in Yellowstone is a good location to camp (and is one of the few campgrounds inside the park offering showers). I believe you can also reserve that one whereas most sites are first come first served. I'm not certain that early June will be a problem though as far as crowds...
One more thing... it takes a lot of time to travel around the park so you may want to plan on staying at different locations each night. If you do this, I suggest packing up early and going directly to where you want to camp that night and getting a spot. Then go off and do what you want for the rest of the day. This is certainly necessary in mid summer - not sure about early June...
To give you an idea - it took me 4.5 hrs straight driving time from Mammoth to Jackson.
Have a good trip.