Yellowstone Help

[princessjojo]

We're doing a trip to Yellowstone this summer as well. Lucky for me I'm not having to do any of the planning as its a trip my son's Honors/AP Biology class is taking. What I can tell you is we're flying into Salt Lake City, Great Salt Lake for a swim, heading to Antelope Island State Park, then headed to Hayden Valley, West Yellowstone, Old Faithful Lodge, Jackson Hole, WY, then white water rafting down the Snake River. Not sure what's being done what day, but we'll be there for about a week.

I'm looking forward to some of the information others have as well since I've never been out there either.

[dnickels]

Regarding tent camping: - If you want to tent camp you shouldn't worry too much about finding a place. True it's first-come, first-serve, but as long as you're not showing up after mid-afternoon you should be able to find something. If you're getting in late the first day you might want to book a hotel somewhere that night then go to the campground you want to stay at first thing the next morning, find an empty spot or one where people are leaving, set up, pay for your day(s) and go out exploring. Remember it can be in the 30s at night even during the summer, so make sure you're ready for that type of camping. Also, with the size of the park it may make sense to camp for a few days on one side, then move for a few days to another area (i.e. two days at Madison campground then two days at Canyon campground).

When it comes to hotels it's just like Disney, people are always canceling/changing/making plans so something that's booked this morning may be open tomorrow. The prime hotels fill up just about as soon as the booking window opens.

The place is huge and there's so much to see and do that a couple days visit is going to be like trying to see all of Disney World in one day - you can probably just barely see all the highlights in that time but it's better than never seeing it. The Old Faithful geyser area is part of a huge geyser basin and there are two other basins nearby so just seeing the old faithful area can be a full day in itself.

If you're up for some hiking by all means do it, get away from the roads and the touristy spots. Seeing Old Faithful is amazing, but the boardwalk, hotel and thousands of other people watching at the same time don't really contribute to the feeling of being in the wilderness. There's a stat on the National Geographic website saying that 99 percent of Yellowstone visitors never leave the park roads (I'm guessing they mean roads/developed areas). It's just amazing to me to think that people go all that way, drive around, get out, snap some pictures then go drive around some more when there's so much more to see.

I could go on and on, Montana is my second home so feel free to ask anything and I'll try to answer.

[LVT]

Hi, We are from Iowa and go to yellowstone once in a while.
1. Hotels inside fill fast.
2. Outside hotels on the west and north side are not that far away. There are a few more tourist things to do at west side entrance.
3. It snows sometimes even in early June.
4. The distances are deceptive. IE: a 20 mile stretch of road may require 3 hours to cover. The traffic stops for animals and sightseers.
5. We stop at every sight with a parking lot.
6. We live in a low altitude state and it takes a couple of days to be able to hike at a reasonable pace, in the thin air. We plan for that now.
7. Read some guidebooks. The park does not change, so earlier editions of books are fine.
My must-see list
1. Old faithful and surroundings
2. Gibbon falls
3. Waterfall from several trials
4. Canyon

I love it there, as you may have suspected.

[Altair]

Best times to visit for:
wildlife -Spring/Fall
wild flowers- Summer, best mid-July
small crowds- Spring/ Fall; winter very few
waterfalls at peak - Spring
Ranger led activites - Summer

[NJGIRL]

For those of you that have been there, how many days should we spend? I was thinking about 5 full days. We will be staying at Old Faithful Lodge. We are not "hikers" but tourist who like to walk around (if you know what I mean). We will want to see all of the major attractions, What do you think?

Also, I read that there is no AC in the hotels. I know the nights are cool but how do you cool off during the day?

[Altair]

For those of you that have been there, how many days should we spend? I

Four to five days will cover it. Try to take some of the shorter hikes or walks. It is well worth the time and can get you away from the crowds.

The areas around Mammoth, Old Faithful and Tower Falls can get very crowded in Summer, but most folks don't move too far from path or road.

Nights are very cool even in Summer, days are usually mild with very low humidity. You may run the heater in the car in the mornings.

Do a search for Yellowstone Association for the best printed material (maps, books and booklets) available.

If you can find my homepage, I've got a few Yellowstone photo albums availalbe.

[NJGIRL]

Thanks for the info Dave. We do like to walk alot. I guess I wanted to make it clear, that when trying to figure out how long we were going to stay in the park, we would not be spending most of the time hiking for hours at a time.

We really enjoyed the Grand Canyon and stayed there for two whole days, but I think we should have stayed longer.