Planning a Yellowstone trip

[Ofdscooby]

Planning a trip to Yellowstone with the wife and kids has been on the list for a couple years now. Since my kids are now 11 and 13 I feel like I need to get this trip knocked out this summer. I figure I'm only a couple years out before my daughter doesn't want to talk to me anymore and my sons nuts drop and he goes into rut. I was planning on heading up in June when they get out of school and looking to spread it out over 3 weeks ish so not in a hurry to get there and drive back. Thinking about taking 3-4 days up to the area get a solid week to 10 days in the park. Get over to Mt Rushmore area spend 4th of July at Mt Rushmore and then start heading back. As I'm starting to do research there is so much to take in I'm open to any and all advice. We will be towing our 2016 26ft Jayco so I need to take that into consideration for any tight mountain passes. Please share any suggestions, advice, or experiences.

 

[ilovesprig]

Mike,

My only suggestion is, STAY OFF THE DUTTON RANCH.........

 

[JakeSCH]

Love Yellowstone! I would dedicate a couple days specially for Grand Teton NP. I think 5 full days in Yellowstone is plenty, maybe 2 more in Grand Tetons. June is a good time of year but could have snow, high water if you plan on fishing.

 

[Kellendv]

In September of 2019 my wife and I flew into SLC and rented an SUV. We drove to Jackson Hole and spent 3 nights there hiking in the Tetons. Then we drove north and spent 2 nights on the south side of Yellowstone and 2 nights on the north side. After that we drove up to Glacier NP and spent 2 nights on the east side of Glacier and then moved to the west side of Glacier and spent 2 more nights there before flying out of Kalispell.

The southern half of Yellowstone is heavily forested and you can’t really see much because there isn’t that much topography. A lot of the geothermal stuff is down there and it’s worth checking out but geysers and mud pots and stinky steam coming out of the ground isn’t all that fascinating to me. So, I probably wouldn’t spend much if any time down there if I were to go back but your kids might think it’s neat. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is definitely worth seeing. I would look at that from “the brink of the lower falls” viewpoint and I would also do the hike downstream on the south rim trail. As you walk down canyon the views of the canyon and the falls get better and better.

For watching animals, which is what I’m interested in, the Lamar valley on the northern border of the park is where it’s at. This is where people go to see grizzlies and wolves. The park opens up as you travel north and you can see long distances. As you drive along the road you will see groups of people on the side of the road with expensive cameras and spotting scopes. When you see that you know there’s something worth looking at, so pull over and ask someone to point it out. You’ll most likely need high powered glass but the animals could also be quite close. If you feel like you want a better view than from the road you can hike up the hill on the north side of the road to glass from. You will see lots of bison and some pronghorn and most likely some elk and you have a great chance of seeing wolves and grizzlies. If you don’t have a nice spotting scope with a digi-scoping setup there are a couple of photographers in Gardiner that will rent you (for cheap) a beautiful 95mm Swarovski with a phoneskope so you can take pics. You can google “Optics Yellowstone” to find them. I rented from them when I foolishly left my spotter at home and I have sent others to them as well. They are legit.

I would also suggest that you probably don’t need an entire week and definitely not 10 days in Yellowstone. The Tetons are awesome and they are on your way to Yellowstone anyway so that’s an easy thing to add on. I highly recommend Glacier. It is incredible and a completely different landscape than the Tetons and Yellowstone, but it is quite a ways up the road.

 

[JakeSCH]

I was going to recommend Glacier NP instead of Rushmore but decided not to. If that is a possibility, I highly recommend Glacier NP.

Kellen pretty much hit it dead on from my personal favorite spots / things to do. Hot springs and giesers are not what draws me to the park.

@Kellendv were the elk rutting when you went? Latest I’ve been there was 1st week of August.

 

[Kellendv]

I was going to recommend Glacier NP instead of Rushmore but decided not to. If that is a possibility, I highly recommend Glacier NP.

Kellen pretty much hit it dead on from my personal favorite spots / things to do. Hot springs and giesers are not what draws me to the park.

@Kellendv were the elk rutting when you went? Latest I’ve been there was 1st week of August.

I saw a couple medium sized bulls sparring in a river but I didn’t see any real rutting. Our trip was last few days of August through the first week of September.

 

[KoozeDeer]

Lamar valley absolute must see

 

[DMAX]

A FLY ROD WOULD BE MY CHOISE

 

[Dawnandusk]

Mike,

My only suggestion is, STAY OFF THE DUTTON RANCH.........

And for no reason accept a ride to the train station…

 

[Ofdscooby]

Thanks guys appreciate it all. I was kinda thinking Rushmore for the 4th of July because it’s been shut down for the last 2 years and I was gonna gamble and say it’s probably gonna be big this year. Also the only time I drove through the black hills it looked kinda fun. Lots of Americana type stuff and cool RV parks. Thanks for all the advice keep it coming I’m all ears.

 

[Dawnandusk]

Very good post. I am also planning a trip to Yellowstone next year and never thought about asking for advise on this forum. Now I am taking copious notes.