Yellowstone National Park Travel Forum

In the planning stages for our visit to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in September 2009. Flying into Kalispell and out of Jackson. We will do some easy hikes because we are not great hikers. Don't mind driving around for the scenery and wildlife.

1. Would 7-10 days be enough time?

2. 2 nights in Glacier (suggestions on places to stay inside the park (5 adults)

3. One night traveling from Glacier to Yellowstone (where to stop and stay for the night?) Or should we make the trip in a day and add a day at the end of our trip?

4. 3 - 4 nights in Yellowstone - suggestions on where to stay (inside the park) and should we break it up and stay at two different locations in the park? At this time, there are rooms available at the Canyon Lodge & Cabins (High Range Room and Westeren Cabins), Grant Village (Mid-Range Rooms), Lake Lodge Cabins (Western Cabins), Yellowstone Hotel & Cabins (Frontier Cabin), and Lake Lodge Cabins (Western Cabins) and Old Faithful Snow Lodge & Cabins (Western Cabins) for the beginning of our stay and for the second half of our stay Lake Lodge Cabins (Western Cabins), Lake Yellowstone Hotel & Cabins (Frontier Cabin) and Old Faiful Snowlodge and Cabins (Lodge Room and Western Cabins)- which would we get the most room in.

5. Are Lake Lodge Cabins and Lake Yellowstone Hotel & Cabins in the same location? If you had to pick, which would you suggest?

6. 1 night at Grand Teton (inside the park)any suggestions?

7. Is this enough time in each park or too much time? Open for suggestions.

Thanks for any help you can give us.

You can do the drive in a day, especially if you stay at Mammoth Hot springs (or Gardiner, if nothing is available at Mammoth) when you arrive. Allow as much time as you possibly can, because you're going to two of the most wonderful places in America and no matter how long you're there it won't seem like enough.

I like Many Glacier Lodge because it's off the tour bus loop. There are several pleasant, non strenuous hikes from the Lodge. My favorite involved hiking a few miles around the lakes and ending up the pizza restaurant.

In Yellowstone you might want to stay at more than one place. Last time I was there I stayed at the Lake (yes, the lake lodge and lake hotel are in about the same place) for a couple of nights and the Old Faithful lodge for a couple of nights. Old Faithful itself is hellishly crowded. I always like to stay there because you can get up early and have the geysers to yourself for a couple of hours before the tour buses roll in. Not far from Old Faithful is one of my favorite (also level and non-strenuous) hikes, the DeLacy creek trail. But there's lots of good hiking, most of it fairly level, in that area. There are also some good hikes near the Lake, but I tend to go in June, when they're closed on account of bears. The Lake Hotel Cabins are pretty nice - they seem to have been recently remodeled. I have stayed at Grant lodge, and can't recommend it, other than the fact that it's in the park. It is lacking in charm, but it's easy to drive to some nice places - it's a good last resort if everything else is full. I got a similar feel from Canyon, but I've never stayed there.

If you have the dough to splurge, get a view room at the Jackson Lake Lodge. It will be a fabulous end to your vacation.

When I go somewhere I usually like to stay in one place and not bother packing up. But at Yellowstone and the Tetons, the distances are deceptive. The roads are curvy and there can be a lot of traffic.

There's a great web site - www.yellowstone.net - where you can get lots of info about the park (click on the forums). Be sure to take a look at it right before you go for tips on where to spot wildlife.

Lake Lodge Cabins are different ( and horrible) than the Yellowstone Hotel
Cabins ( cute and nice!) We got our reservation switched because the Lake Lodge cabins were so awful. We also stayed at the Mammoth Springs Cabins which were wonderful. I would make those 2 areas your base camps. You can pretty much cover all of YNP between those 2 spots. We also stayed at Old Faithful Inn but it was SO touristy and crowded, I wouldnt recommend it. Visit the Inn,
maybe eat there, look at the Geyser, but dont stay there. Just my humble opinion.
Our highlights:

*White water raft trip out of Gardiner MT ( by Mammoth)
Flying Pig Raft Company
*Soak in the Boiling River ( Mammoth)
*Cowboy Cookout and Ride ( Gardiner MT)
*Picnic roadside just north of Yellowstone Grand Canyon
*Boat Ride on Yellowstone Lake
*Geyser Hike ( Old Faithful Inn)
*Swim at Firehole Canyon
*Hike up to Inspiration Pt. ( Jenny Lake, Tetons)
* Wildlife viewing ~ Hayden Meadow (wolves! awesome)

You will love Yellowstone, very tourist friendly.

Thank you so much for the detailed suggestions. We will certainly take them into consideration while finalizing our plans.

I live near Yellowstone, and therefore travel there often, but have still not seen everything there is to see. Last time we were there we saw two geysers go off we had never seen in action before, so your planned time of 4 nights is not too long. In Yellowstone the main park loop road is 142-miles in size. So it would be wise to stay on the West and the East side of the park to cut down on travel. Since we always camp, I will not suggest which accomadations are best.

When in Yellowstone, of course you have to see Old Faithful, as it is the most famous of all the geysers. It is a nice one, but I have to say there are a few I like better. Beehive Geyser is my favorite in the park. It is located in the Old Faithful area, but unfortunately this geyser can be dormant for long periods. This geyser is generally higher than Old Faithful and certainly much noisier as it roars while the water is forcefully shot upwards. Check at the Old Faithful Visitor Center, to see if there is a prediction on when it may erupt. One thing that is fun is to take the Old Faithful Lodge historic tour. It is quite interesting. If you don't want to do this, at least go in and look around. It is the most outstanding log structure I have ever seen. Besides the Old Faithful geyser basin, the Norris geyser basin is nice. Try to see Eucinas geyser erupt while in Norris. It use to be very regular, but isn't anymore, so this may be difficult. One of our very favorite geysers is Great Fountain, which is located on the Firehole Lake Drive. You can get an estimate of when it might erupt at the Old Faithful Visitor Center. Be sure to see the Canyon area and it's falls. Artists Point is my favorite look out point, and a must see view. Inspiration Point is also very very nice. The mud pots are pretty interesting, but they are at their best in the fall when they are really just like moving mud, in the spring with the snowmelt off they are watered down and are more like gray liquid water. If you have enough time Mammoth Hot Springs area and Tower Falls are also very nice to explore. If you want to eat out in a nice restaurant the old log lodge at Old Faithful, the Lake Hotel, and the lodge at Mammoth all have excellent restaurants, although they are somewhat pricey. I have a lot of pretty detailed information on places to eat, see, stay, etc. on my VT Yellowstone pages.

Here is an interactive map that will help you to get a picture of the park.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/interactivemap/

Hello! I am currently in the planning stages of doing the exact trip.l Flying into Kalispel and flying out of Jackson. Have you considered doing a day drive to Waterton in Canada? It looks beautiful! My husband and I usually don't sit still on adventurous vacations like this one and will be driving all over to see as much as we can. We were thinking of going July 18-25 so we could do the Drive to the Sun Road in GNP. Many Glacier Lodge looks fantastic and I have to stay there. The Prince of Wales in Waterton looks breathtaking in the picture. How are your plans coming along?

We are not planning on traveling to Waterton because we are not sure we will have the time. We, too, do not sit still and will have a full schedule while there and will be driving all over to see as much as we can. We arrive in Kalispell, Sept 8 and depart Jackson Sept 18. We have made all our over night accomodations. Our first night we have reservations at Lake MacDonald Lodge(Lodge Room), then onto Many Glacier Hotel for two nights in a Standard Room. From there we will travel to Butte and stay at the Toad Hall Manor B&B for a night. We have one night in a Frontier Cabin at Mammoth Hot Springs, a night at Lake Yellowstone in a Frontier Cabin, two nights at Old Faithfull Lodge, Backside Room and two night at Signal Mountain Lodge in a Lake Front Retreat.
We are so excited about our trip. Happy planning.