Yellowstone National Park Travel Forum

I am taking a trip to YNP in June Or July this year I have no clue where all to go how much I can do in a day where to stay???? I need some sample vacations that you have been on that have worked or you can recommend. We want to see water falls wildlife hiking. I have a 5 and 7 year old and a 58 year old grandparents that will be joining me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

One of the biggest issues in Yellowstone is accommodations. Are you camping? or in a tent trailer? If so, you can quite easily pick a central campsite, stay there for the week or however long your trip is and just go on daily trips from there. There are many sites to visit or hike around when in Yellowstone - enough to fill whatever length of vacation you wish to take.

With kids that age, you will be doing things like running an wild animal count each day, visiting all the geological stops, hiking the boardwalks around Old Faithful, visiting the various interpretive centres, etc. We only planned our day-to-day activities once we got there, based on the literature we received at the park gate.

1) Read these URLS:
www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/things2do.htm
www.yellowstone-natl-park.com
and more specifically
www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/wfalls.htm

2) decide which places you most want to see.

3) group those places together geographically.

4) make an estimate of how much of those places in each geographical area your family can see in a day, including travel time between them.

5) plan each day, with places of lower priority near day's end. You'll most likely "lose" time by watching moose, bison, and bears by the side of the road. Since this can't be predicted, be ready to jettison some lesser places in exchange for seeing animals in the wild.

As noted above, where you stay depends greatly on what type of lodging you're willing to accept. But don't wait to make reservations, as lodging, particularly within the park, fills up months in advance.

PR-7 gave you a great start to findiong out about YNP. You can also go to VT's own Yellowstone National Park destination pages by putting YNP in the Search box at the right top of this page and click GO! Many great things to do and photos for you to see and decide what you want to see in person.

With the park - do not set plans in stone. It is a living organism and your plans are going to get delayed along the way - oh look a bear - there's a buffalo in the middle of the road and it will win against a car! Traffic is tight and the roads are narrow, slow down it's not a contest. There is too much to see that you cannot plan ahead a great deal. You are in Indian country and things run on Indian time - they get done when they get done.

If you are not trying to keep a schedule you will do much better in the park. And you will be much safer and the kids will be much happier. You can discuss with them all the things you are seeing. It takes different people different amounts of time to get to some of the sights once you are there. Example: If you go to see the falls, it is a good walk down to the bottom and back up again. It is so beautiful down there. (My sister drug the judge down there so they could say their vows at the foot of the falls.)

With seniors in the car you need to check out the senior deals. Cars are charged by the load and if you have the pass that goes with seniors you can save a fair amount. So take your time and enjoy yourself.

Oh, btw, I just realized my AV was taken in West Yellowstone. I had gone down to watch my sister's children when they had a seminar down there. (That is my nephew.) We were staying at the Holiday Inn which is a fun place. It has old train cars that have been restored. The kids can go through them and see how it was to ride the rails back in the 19th century. It is a very kid friendly place and was in the process of upgrades when we were there last.