My wife and I will have 8 nights from July 1 to July 8 for a road trip. We are happy to fly to a destination, rent a car, and drive. We have thought about going to Yellowstone and exploring a bit. Our main focus is the journey, not necessarily the exploring. Eg We want to hit the open road, see some awesome scenery, and stop and have a bit of a look at a couple of things on the way. I have been looking at some other forums and have "stolen" part of an itinerary that may work. Just wondering if you could have a look and see what you think?
Day 1 Fly into Salt Lake City and drive to Grand Teton
Stay @ Signal Mountain Lodge, Jackson Lake Lodge, or Colter Village
Day 2 Explore Grand Tetons then drive to Yellowstone for night
Day 3-4 Yellowstone. Stay 1 night @ Old Faithful Inn, 1 night @ Lake Hotel,
Spend a full day looking at the geyser basin around Old Faithful.
Day 5 Drive to Great Falls, stay ON
Day 6-7 Drive to Seattle/Portland via the Going to the Sun Road and have a stop somewhere on the way
1 Week Road Trip (Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier)
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Another add on option for more time would be for us to get a flight from Kalispell to Seattle.
Whatever you can do to make more time, do it.
Even just driving around Yellowstone will take a lot of time. There's a whole, whole lot to see and do.
You might want to skip Glacier this time.
My opinion, is that you are trying to do to much.
I would just do Yellowstone/Tetons, or Just Glacier NP, or Just Seattle/Mt. Rainier/Olympics/San Juan Islands. There is more than enough to keep you very busy at all these places. You can't go wrong with any of them, but don't short change them.
That is 4th of July - are you sure you can get in to any of those places? Especially Old Faithful Inn . . .
If you've already booked - great. If not, I'd find out where there is availability and adjust the route to fit.
Agree with spiro, too much for a week or even 10 days. There's plenty of scenery between SLC and Jackson WY.
I doubt that you will get a reservation in Yellowstone but you can try to catch a cancellation.
Save Seattle, Olympic, Glacier for another 7 to 10 day trip.
My not so secret route to Glacier is to ride the Empire Builder from Seattle or Portland overnight to Whitefish Montana.
Amtrak joins the two sections in Spokane every night between midnight and 1:15AM.
You'll do a lot of driving and not see very much that you'll remember of the beautiful parks.
Is there anything stopping you from coming back another couple of times in the next few years?
I took my daughter to Glacier NP for 4 days this past August. I saw Many Glacier and the east side of GTTS Rd. I'm going back this August with a friend for a week.
True itinerary of mine, from WAY back:
Day 1 - Fly into SLC
Day 2 - Drive to and visit Grand Teton
Day 3 - Visit Tetons and Yellowstone
Day 4&5 - Visit Yellowstone
Day 6 - Drive to West Glacier
Day 7 - Drive through Glacier NP and on to Calgary
Why do I mention this? Because, even though I DID this itinerary, IT WAS INSANE FOR ME TO DO SO. Maybe I'm sounding like a testimony at "over-schedulers anonymous," but I do not recommend people follow my example. If you try to SEE too much, you end up EXPERIENCING too little!
So let me add my voice to those who say you're trying to see too much.
Just fly into SLC, drive up to Yellowstone, PROPERLY enjoy the beauty of the area and the route between the two, then return to SLC and fly home.
You aren't going to see much of anything interesting or scenic in Yellowstone just driving around. You have to park, get out and walk a ways to see most of it and the park is huge. Tetons and Glacier can easily be seen by car.
For that time frame, I would choose either Yellowstone/Tetons OR Glacier.
It's a several hour drive to get to Glacier from Yellowstone.
I would certainly try to hike/raft/horse ride or something in Glacier and Tetons. I don't think driving through a park is experiencing it much at all, IMOP
We too love road trips - the journey, the scenery, & simply taking in some of the highlights. With limited time, we pretty much did this type of trip in 2010, but went back in 2012, allowing a little more time to revisit some places, and take in a few new places. I do have to say that we enjoyed the second trip more because of the extra time we allowed; we didn't feel so rushed. As a 'highlight road trip', I think your itinerary sounds fine, with one exception: if you're going to go to GNP, you really should spend 1 night there before travelling the GTTSR. And who knows? Maybe, like us, you'll find that you'll want to do a trip re-do at another time & take in a little more, e.g. Beartooth Hwy, etc. I do understand where the other posters are coming from, but I also think 'to each their own'. Go and have a great time! And have fun planning your next trip!! (because you will, lol).
I just wanted to add: On our trips, the accommodations are usually split about 50/50: 1/2 the places 1 night, the other 1/2 of the places 2 nights. Staying put in 1 place for 3 or 4 nights simply doesn't appeal to us (again, to each their own). Our siblings frequently go to places like Mexico, Hawaii, etc. We went once. We much prefer to pack up the car and hit the roads to see mountains/spectacular scenery. And coming from flat, flat Manitoba, we really loved the wonderful scenery in The Black Hills, Montana & Wyoming. Also, our dollars go further in the states, and there is greater variety for shopping. That said - we also love the Canadian Rockies and haven't been there in about 13 years. So, that's next on the agenda in 2014, returning thru the States. Haven't really started planning yet, but roughly it will be: the Cnd Rockies, Waterton, Glacier NP/US (missed in 2012), and if time allows, we'll drop further down: Great Falls, MT, for shopping, a return to Cooke City & over the BT Hwy (opposite way this time), Red Lodge, Billings for shopping, a stop at a casino in MN and then home. I really do think that planning these trips is half the fun!