kencolian

I would love some feedback on our tenative plan for 2 weeks this August. Any recommendations for places to stay, interesting stops on the way, activities, or tips on less expensive 1 way car rental. It is the first time out west for DH and DS (13) Airfare and hotels in Glacier are booked.

Day 1 Fly into Spokane, rent car for 1 day, drive to Missoula Mt pick up rental for next 2 weeks (much better price this way)

Day 2 Drive to Glacier National Park stay 2 nights in Apgar Village, next 2 nights at Swiftcurrent Lodge in park.

? Day 6 Overnight at Blackfoot Tipi Lodge in Browning Mt

? Day 7 Drive to Yellowstone stay in Gardiner MT for 2 nights.

? Day 9 overnight in old Faithful Snow Lodge (Change to Inn if can get reservations)

? Day 10 Stay in Cody see museum and Rodeo

Day 11 Drive to South Dakota, spend 4 nights at 1 hotel in Custer, Hill City or Keystone.

Day 15 Fly home from Rapid City

I am struggling with the middle portion of the trip. There is so much we want to do, but we do not have anymore time. I am not sure how to fit in Little Bighorn and Devils Tower. I think we could stop at one of them on our long days drive to South Dakota.

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Colleen

voyager61

I can't give you a lot of help on the drive or Glacier, but we have been to Yellowstone several times. Gardiner is a nice little town. Where are you staying? We stayed in a historic hotel right downtown, but the name of it escapes me. It was a "western" style place with old-fashioned rooms, but the restaurant on the street level of the hotel was very good.

The Old Faithful Inn is a great place to stay; it's busy, but it's so nice to walk out and see the geysers in the evening and morning. If you keep in mind that the park lodges don't usually have the best rooms or food, they still have location, location, location, and we always like staying in them.

It's good to take some short hikes in Yellowstone to get off the beaten path; you would be amazed at what you might see.

If you can't get into the Old Faithful Inn, we have always liked Lake Yellowstone Lodge too.

maj

It's been about 10 years ago,but we went from Jackson (stopping along the way in the Tetons, out the East Entrance (through road work with stopped traffic)to a motel not far from Devil's Tower. Next morning we visited Devil's tower (walked all the way around it) and the neat little prairie dog town right before it -- on to Rapid City by early afternoon. Not sure about Little Bighorn but you probably would have time to go to Devil's Tower on your way in (you really don't need to spend much time there). Since you have 4 nights in that area, you may be able to backtrack to it one day if you need to.

RangerRick

Don't waste your time at Devils Tower. Spend time in Jackson, Wy, the southern side of Yellowstone. The Tetons are beautiful and not to be missed. Stay in keystone, SD for the Mt. Rushmore viewing. Try the night visit to Rushmore, then take the President's trail during the daytime visit. Go to the museum at the bottom of the trail and learn about the perils of building Rushmore.

kencolian

Thanks for the advice. I hope we will be able to do the night viewing at Mt Rushmore.

Voyager 61 do you think the lake Lodges would be better than the Old Faithful Snow Lodge? I want to spend at least 1 night in the park for exploring the geyser and southern areas. Do you have any recommended short hikes (< 5 miles) in this area?

We have reservations at the Best Western in Gardiner. (Because I can cx without penalty, and by that point my son will want a pool) I have read good things about the Abaraska (sp) lodge as well as the river view cottages. I may change places as our itinerary firms up.

voyager61

I've never stayed in the snow lodges, only in the Old Faithful Inn and the Lake Yellowstone Lodge, so I can't really compare. The Old Faitful Inn is right in the thick of the geyser basin, which means ability to walk the geyser basin at night. I don't really think there is a bad location in Yellowstone. It's being in the park that I prefer over staying outside. Also, I was mistaken on Gardiner before. We stayed in Livingston, not Gardiner, at the Murray Hotel, which is at a different entrance, so I don't know about Gardiner. I think you will have a good time in and around Yellowstone no matter where you stay. I don't remember specific hikes, but we did use a book of short day hikes in Yellowstone and it's probably available on Amazon or in the park itself.

maj

I would definitely recommend the Fairy Falls hike (a short way up the road from Old Faithful). It is a pretty flat, easy hike. It may be a little longer than 5 miles, but is much easier because of the elevation than some shorter hikes we have been on. I would also recommend continuing on to Imperial Geyser. Again, don't be fooled by the mileage, it is a relatively easy hike.

I doubt if you will have much more time to do any other hikes. You will be doing a lot of walking if you walk down to the overlooks along Canyon, the terraces at Mammoth, the boardwalks in the other Geyser areas, Norris Basin, just to name a few.

Another short hike we really liked is to Observation Point (I think that is the name). You start on the right side of Old Faithful and walk up to an observation point (overlooking the Old Faithful area). You follow it past Solitary Geyser and back down along the boardwalk through the other thermal areas back to Old Faithful.

kencolian

Thanks Maj,

The Fairy Falls hike looks perfect. You are right we are going to be doing a lot of walking everywhere else just seeing the basics, but I know by the time we are at Old Faithful we will want to get a little off the road.

I think I am going to go to the library today and get some books. I am bouncing around too much on the web.

Thanks again

swisshiker

Hello kencolian

We spent 2 whole weeks exploring Yellowstone this past fall. Wow, what a trip!

One of our hotels was the BW in Gardiner. We found it to be very nice and clean, and the view from our river view room was fabulous, esp. for sunset!

There is just so much to see and do in Yellowstone. Each area is so different. You will love it! The animals, hikes, thermal features, waterfalls. Unbelievable beauty!

We also stayed in Cody for one night after doing the Beartooth Hwy. The Buffalo Bill Museum is great!

As you mentioned looking for a book, I'd HIGHLY recommend purchasing "Yellowstone Treasures" by Janet Chapple. It's literally your "everything you ever wanted to know about Yellowstone" book. It is jam-packed with helpful information, detailed maps of each area (with mile markers, sign posts, what to see along each route, etc.) Excellent!! I read thru mine ahead of the trip, highlighted tons of things to see and do, and it was an extremely valuable tool for us.

Happy travels!

maj

There is a current post running here called Lodging in Yellowstone by mrsd1 if you haven't seen it yet that has information on it. ALJ has a web site he developed that looks to be excellent listed there.

You're right -- there is almost too much information and opinions out there and confusing if you haven't been there before. We did a similar trip in 12 days, flying into Kalispell and out of Rapid City. I don't know about deals on one way fares, but, personally, I would just absorb the extra cost and do it that way if you are questioning it.

I know you have to plan for the hotels ahead of time, but have flexible plans for the things you are going to do. Things sometimes change because of the weather or you see someplace along the way you want to stop. We always have a plan A and plan B and never get to see/do everything. Also, be sure to check out where the road work is being done in Yellowstone especially (you can get that off the nps site). This past year they were working on the East Entrance Road (will still be going on next August I would think) and advised that you travel it before 8 and after 5 (if I remember right). We actually were on it around 6 and still had about a 45 minute wait.

You have a great trip planned -- have fun planning the rest of it.

kencolian

Thanks for the advice again, you guys are great. I will look for that book Swisshiker.

It is nice to hear that the BW in Gardiner is good, nice and clean. I thought that Gardiner would be the best choice for out of park lodging, closer to wildlife areas than West Yellowstone.

We are definetly doing the oneway car rental. (Our air tickets are purchased) I just want to find the least expensive way to do it.

I probably overplan, but not on a schedule. I like to have lots of ideas, then we decide what we will do when we arrive. It is going to be hard to find downtime on this trip but I know we will need it.

dwooddon

You mentioned stopping at the Little Big Horn and Devil's Tower. Little Big Horn is right on the way between Cody and the Black Hills so that would be an easy stop. The entire battle area can be seen in a couple of hours. then, Deveil's Tower is an easy drive from almost anywhere in the Black Hills. When I did my Black Hills tour, I stayed in Spearfish and drove out from there every day and that's quite close to Devil's Tower but you could almost as easily do it from any of the towns you mentioned.

shel98

We visited Cody, Yellowstone and SD last spring. We stayed at the Absaroka Lodge outside the East Entrance of Yellowstone, and would highly recommend it. The lodges are rustic, but comfortable. The views are exceptional. Be sure to enjoy one of the horse rides while you are there.

Be sure to visit The Irma in Cody.

We really enjoyed Devils Tower, although I wouldn't drive a long way out of the way to see it. We walked the trail around the base in about an hour.

For the Mt. Rushmore segment of the trip we stayed in Keystone. It was a nice little area with quick access to Rushmore.

ellen_griswold

Hi Colleen,
Your trip sounds great and i'm sure you'll all have a blast. I would keep trying to get into Old Faithful Inn on a cancellation. We've stayed in many nat'l park inns (including many places in yellowsone) and its our all time favorite. Such character and charm and the 2nd floor balcony for guests only is great for late night / early morning viewing. Keep calling daily, even up until and including when you arrive.

However, i'd consider taking a day from the S.Dakota part of your trip and add it to yellowstone instead. There's a lot to do in the mt. rushmore area but much is 'touristy' (think arcades etc). But i would make time for Devil's Tower and Custer SP is really cool, too.

You'll love the Buffalo Bill Museum and Rodeo in Cody! Where are you staying that night? I would walk thru the Irma, maybe have a drink, but don't recommend staying there. Check reviews on tripadvisor for more info. The Holiday Inn is basic but clean and everything is close in town.

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LHS

I'm from the Black Hills and I'm not sure what shweta's SD drug rehab link is supposed to accomplish.

The Sturgis Rally lasts until Aug 9th, you don't want to get to the Hills while it is going on because of the traffic congestion. The bikers flood away from the area on that Sunday, so no problem after that.

You could get a hotel with a pool in Hill City. It is central to the Hills and easy access to Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park & the Northern Hills--Spearfish, Deadwood. The lodging in the park is more scenic, however, and you could have lake swims at Sylvan & Legion.

In Yellowstone, I prefer the Old Faithful area to the Yellowstone Lake or Canyon Lodge, though the canyon is beautiful. Hiking of a variety of distances is very easy from the OF lodge. But we tent camped our last visit there at Madison Junct, so I haven't been in any of the rooms of the lodges for a long time.

It looks like you have a great trip planned.

Supercilious

I believe the OP has already done their trip. Check their post date.

Mike2009

Kencolia - To be hoenst, after spending time in Glacier and Yellowstone everything else is going to feel "flat". Badlands is an incredible place, but it's best seen before the other parks. I think you may be kicking yourself for spending four days there that could have been used in a place like Grand Teton or Glacier.

If you have two weeks, I would spend it all *in* the parks, and stick with Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton. These are the three best parks in the lower 48 from wildlife to scenery. I would do five days in Glacier, four in Yellowstone and three in Grand Teton, which practically borders Yellowstone.

Glacier and Grand Teton's scenery is not surpassed in the lower 48. Going to the Sun road in Glacier should be a priority. Beartooth Pass just NW of Yellowsthone should be a priority. There are horseback rides, camping, fishing, swimming , wildlife watching, etc. There are mountain goats all over Glacier, especially in places like Logan Pass and Goat Lick. You wll see tons of Bison end elk in Yellowstone. You can see what the parks look like here:
http://www.parkcamper.com/
You have reservations in Many Glacier, which is great. I'd spend three days there and two in Apgar. In Yellowstone, definitely stay in the park, then head down to Grand Teton when you are done in Yellowstone. Grand Teton offers great widllife and giant mountains, a dfferent twist on Yellowstone, yet the perfect compliment. Take the Grand Teton inside road from Jackson Lake Junction south to Jenny Lake and be prepared to hear the "wows". Trust me on that one. Colter Bay Cabins in Grand Teton itself offers an awesome family experience, with food just a short walk away.

There are so many things to see and do in and between Glacier and Yellowstone that it will easily, easily fill up two weeks. And it will all be at very high qaulity levels.

RetiredVermonter

Yes, this trip is probably long over. I wonder how they did?

FWIW, we agree with Mike2009! Frankly, if you have SEEN a photograph of Mt. Rushmore, in South Dakota, I'd suggest skipping it AND Crazy Horse! That may sound harsh, but we loved our time in and around Yellowstone, and Cody and Jackson, Wyoming, and, to be honest, a couple of days in Spearfish, South Dakota, but we felt that Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse simply weren't worth the drive! (Personally, I enjoyed looking at Devil's Tower more, having enjoyed "Close Encounters" many years ago!)

leftybigdog

FWIW again I partially/completely disagree with RetiredVermonter and Mike2009. I agree 100% that no more than five minutes needs to be spent at Rushmore and Hill City COMBINED!! But the beauty of the "Hills" is away from the touristy areas. Hikes such as Hearny Peak and biking on the Michalson Trail rival any experience that can be had in Yosemite/YNP etc. Getting out of the car in the Badlands and hiking some of the short trails rival the awesome Hoodoos of Bryce canyon. But thats just my opinion.