rubigayle

I apologize for posting twice, but I forgot to select the states where I needed it to show up: so here goes:

HEEEEELLLLLLLP!

We are leaving in two weeks and I have been going back and forth with this trip forever. I can get reservations wherever I need them except for inside yellowstone after august 2nd at this point. Many reservations I have booked with the intentions of letting go of the ones I don't need. so here goes:

july 22-fly into Salt lake City- should arrive around 10:30am if things go smoothly however, sinced seats are not being assigned til checkin my thinking is they may be overbooked.Anyway, if we get in on time then we will head in the direction of tetons.stopping somewhere overnight, but i don't know where. otherwise we have reservations in SLC (any suggestions- knowing that we will have been up since 4:30 am- 4 of us- kids age 12/14, how far would you drive after arriving )

july 23-arrive tetons stay teton village
july 24 Tetons
july 25/26 canyon lodge high range room
july 27 drive beartooth to redlodge overnight redlodge
july 28-drive back from redlodge via regular highway in montana come in through mammoth to see hot springs and stay old faithful snow lodge

or could come back via beartooth and stay at roosevelt cabins or room at mammoth or gardiner for that matter- we need to get the hot springs in


july 29,30- Old faithful snow lodge

jly 31st could moove to old faithful inn for one night or spend one night at jackson lake lodge cabins in GTNP

august 1st-travel south SLC or travel south another scenic way and stay somewhere along the way-any suggestions!!!!

August 2nd-arrive Bryce-will probably take roundabout way to get there possibly pass through capitol reef- torrey area
Staying at Ruby's for the kids who will probably be parked out by then.

August 3/4 Bryce -hang loose,photography, enjoy scenery do cool activity with kids,

August 5-drive back to SLC
August 6th-home.

Feedback or suggestions please! I have been off from school for two weeks and have been trying to figure this out almost around the clock. At first I didn't want to change rooms so much but my thinking is that I don't have much choice if I want to get a taste of everything. Also, I thought going to red lodge would get me away from the crowds for a night.

I am running out of time so please help. feel free also to email me at
[email protected]

Loisde

I'm just an intermittant poster here, but bless her heart, rubigayle seems frantic.

The trouble is, if she's been working "with this trip forever," why doesn't she have the answers to these questions?

Honey, calm down, and remember why you go on vacation in the first place.

rubigayle

Believe me, I know why I go. Usually I don't have this problem, but since I usually travel to less populated places, the time frames/distances have me a bit confused. Additionally, trying to get the beartooth in there is what is throwing me off guard. Anyone, any suggestions

utahtea

On the 28th why not come in on the Chief Joseph Highway. I hear that it's really as scenic as the Beartooth. We had planned on doing it this year but ran out of time.

http://grandviewcamp.com/Alternate%2...y%20route'

I like the Mammoth area and would vote for spending that night there. Then you can walk over to see the hot springs the next morning, drive down and see the Norris Geyser area before heading down to the Old Faithful area. I think this will take most of the 29th, so I'd vote for spending the night of the 31st at Old Faithful Inn.

If you want a different route for SLC, then consider exiting the park at West Yellowstone and taking Hwy 20 down to Island Park. Just south of there pick up the Mesa Falls Scenic Highway. The Upper Falls is a great stop! Then take the scenic byway down to Ashton.

Otherwise your itinerary looks really good!

Utahtea

richbutnot

I would keep the Beartooth Highway in your plans, but there is no need to stay in Red Lodge. You could easily double back or take the Chief Josesph highway back. Keep in mind the East Entrance is closed at night and there will be 30 minute delays during the day.

It is 6 to 7 hours from SLC to Jackson. If you drive through Logan Canyon and Bear Lake, then Logan Utah would be the last place with multiple hotel choices along the way. It is 3 to 4 hours from Jackson.

Don't know where you are flying from, or how far it is to your airport, but you might look into spending the night at the airport the night before you leave. Many hotels will let you park free while you're gone. We did that last year and the hotel was actually cheaper than paying for the parking for 2 weeks.

We were disapointed with the Mammoth Hot Springs when we were there in June. We drove the upper loop, and only saw water coming from one of the springs, so we skipped the lower loop. Don't know if they are drying up, or we just missed them.

It is 10 hours from Jackson to Torrey. You could spend the night of the 31st in Jackson and then drive to Torrey on the 1st. You could easily see Capitol Reef and drive Highway 12 to Bryce the next day.

trippinkpj

Red Lodge is a great town. Also I like Chico Hot Springs, MT just north of Mamoth Hot Springs.

Dayle

Richbutnot,

It's actually about 4 1/2 hours from SLC to Jackson. That's going east from SLC on I 80 and up on WY Hwy 89.

If you go through Logan Canyon to Bear Lake, the drive is pretty but longer due to winding road and Rv traffic.

utahtea

richbutnot,

We only did the lower loop at Mammoth Hot Springs this year. Yes, Minerva Terrace is not active now, but Canary Springs and Palette Springs are very active and Palette Springs is so active that they've had to close the path. Make sure you take the path near Liberty Capt to Palette Springs!

Utahtea

melanie8

My family of 4 just returned Wed. night from Yellowstone/Teton. None of us were impressed with Mammoth Hot Springs at all. I had read this other places and it was true. It smells bad too and so does Geyser Basin. The Canyon area and Yellowstone Lake area were by far our favorites. We also really enjoyed out stay in Jackson Hole. We stayed at Grand Victorian Lodge there and it can not be beat! It's location was ideal, very comfortable beds and I am very picky and so are my kids (boys 12/16). It was just a short walk from the square and the shootout and rodeo (Sun. and Wed.) is great. We did not do Beartooth, so I can't speak to that, but I will say that what we saw was so satisfying and we took a float trip with Solitude at 5:30 pm - saw bald eagles, elk, osprey, beaver, beautiful scenery, knowledgeable guide. We flew in to Jackson Hole and this was very convenient. Could you not do this too and cut out some of your driving?

rubigayle

No we really don't want to cut out the driving because it is part of the journey. We don't stay in the car unless we are really trying to make a destination such as first arriving to jackson, etc. But the way we will be driving will involve being out of the car as much as we are in it. My kids are used to this type of schedule and given the choice they voted to move around. We will be getting jackson in there as well. I know my son and if I spend more than one night with him in a tourist town, I will go broke. Although we love cute little towns, even if they are a little bit hokey, they have learned that the nature is what we are after and we shoot thousands of pictures with our cameras.
Thanks for your suggestions. i am finally pulling it together.

bgsnmky

Melanie8,

where was the float trip that you took?? Any info would help. I am going Sept. 22nd

melanie8

Our float trip was down the Snake River, and it was beautiful. The website is https://www.solitudefloattrips.com/floatschedule.htm. We did the two hour trip.

Dayle

So rubigayle,

You owe us a trip report. We would love to hear how it went!