Alaska, Wyoming, Montana or Canadian Rockies?

Old Feb 2nd, 2018, 04:39 AM
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Alaska, Wyoming, Montana or Canadian Rockies?

Hello,

Me and my wife who are from Sweden are thinking of going for a 2-3 week car trip in the US / Canada. We want to see amazing nature, with mountains, lakes, forests and much wildlife and want to see bears (black bears, grizzlies etc does not matter), do a lot of hiking etc, in addition to spending some time on the shooting ranges, etc.


We are considering either Alaska 2-3 weeks or Yellowstone in Wyoming, then Glacier National Park in Montana, since Canadian Rockies, Banff etc, and also see some small towns around every state. If we go it will be this year, probably last week in August and 1-2 weeks in September or the like.


I have some questions.

- Is this realistic about 2-3 weeks? Or do you think we need to prioritize and just visit 1 or 2 places instead of all? What would you choose to remove in such a case and why?

- In that case, according to you, which place is the most beautiful, has the most wildlife and most wildlife feel with less tourists etc and most worth visiting?

- We have previously visited Yosemite, Zion, Grand Canyion, Capitol Reef, Wenatchee National Forest (Colchuck Lake, etc), how would these parks compared to them would you say?



We would ne greatfull for help and tips. Thanks.
perka86 is offline  
Old Feb 2nd, 2018, 05:23 AM
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Yellowstone is amazing--not sure there is anything like it anywhere in the world. With that much time you could do some other things, too. Maybe Glacier?
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Old Feb 2nd, 2018, 05:44 AM
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There's no simple answer; all these places are terrific and will offer opportunities for seeing wildlife, but of course they're are not zoos, and seeing bears (or anything else) is still a case of luck to a large degree.

Your timing is important. The best place to see bears in Alaska (aside from expensive bear viewing flights) is Denali National Park. Late August is well into autumn in the park interior, and while it's a beautiful time (marvelous color on the tundra) it can also be a changeable time for weather. Access to the interior of the park is by shuttle or tour bus, not private vehicles, and while bear sightings are frequent, they're by no means guaranteed. So if you decide on Alaska, you'd need to arrange the time so that you visit Denali first.

Budget is also a concern. Alaska is more expensive to reach and to visit. If cost is no issue, then fine.

Let me pose a question. With three weeks, would you be willing to entertain both Alaska and either Yellowstone OR the Canadian Rockies? Here's what you could do.

Fly to Anchorage. (You might look at Icelandair's nonstop flights from Reykjavik, which you can reach easily from Stockholm.) Spend a day in the city, then drive up to Denali for two or three nights. Then drive back to Anchorage and south to Seward for a cruise into Kenai Fjords National Park, then return to Anchorage and fly to Seattle.

Then two options.

1. Spend a day or two in Seattle, then fly to Calgary. Get a car in Calgary and spend ten days or so visiting Jasper, Banff, and maybe the Kootenays, then fly home, either from Seattle or from Calgary. (Note flying to Seattle from Anchorage rather than Vancouver will save a lot of money as ANC-YVR flights are very limited and quite expensive.)

2. Same idea, but then fly to Bozeman Montana instead, get a car, and spend those days exploring Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, then back to Seattle and home.

The reason behind the short flights from Seattle rather than driving is simply to conserve time. You can drive from Seattle to Yellowstone in around 12 hours wheels turning, but that really means two days in each direction, four in total, reducing your time on the ground pretty severely.

As for comparing the experiences, that's not an easy thing. Denali is vast, the landscapes larger then life, and the feeling of remoteness is always present. Plus, southcentral Alaska gives you the option of stunning salt water experiences - tidewater glaciers, whales... that the other areas obviously won't have. Then again, the Canadian Rockies are breathtaking, but there's a higher presence of "civilization" - albeit constrained - in towns like Banff or Jasper. Yellowstone isn't as physically dramatic (in terms of mountain peaks) but compensates with a wide variety of experiences - all the thermal features like geysers and hot-water pools, lakes, waterfalls, and lots of wildlife. Grand Teton NP, just south of Yellowstone, has its iconic front range vistas and gets you into real "cowboy country."

You can't go wrong with any of those options, but you need to determine what's the best use of your time and money budgets.

Last edited by Gardyloo; Feb 2nd, 2018 at 05:50 AM.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2018, 06:26 AM
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> want to see amazing nature, with mountains, lakes, forests and much wildlife
> and want to see bears (black bears, grizzlies etc does not matter), do a lot of hiking

We've done a two-week trip to Alaska.
We've also done a two-week trip that included Yellowstone, Glacier, and the Canadian Rockies.

On both of these trips we saw amazing nature, with mountains, lakes, forests, and a lot of wildlife.
We also saw bears -- grizzly bears in the former, black bears in the latter. Both places offer the chance to see both kinds of bears.

In other words, either trip will give you what you want. Just choose one, and it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll get the first wish come true.
As for bear sightings, although the odds are pretty good, there are NO guarantees. The excitement is that these bears are truly wild, and seeing them is NOT a given. If simply seeing bears wandering around is all you want, you can get that with the animals in Skansen in Stockholm -- like we did last year.

Grizzly bear in Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden.

>
in addition to spending some time on the shooting ranges
Not sure what you mean by this. Discharging a firearm is STRICTLY prohibited in most U.S. national parks (including Yellowstone), and even possessing most firearms is illegal in Canada. If you want to shoot guns just to get your jollies, you'll have to do so outside of Canada and U.S. national parks.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2018, 07:08 AM
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I mostly agree with Gardyloo. I would not fly to Bozeman. I would take the Amtrak Empire Builder from Seattle or Portland to Whitefish Montana. The two sections of the train join in Spokane Washington in the early morning hours and you arrive in Whitefish about 8 to 9AM Mountain Time. Rent a car in Whitefish and see Glacier for 2-3 days before going to Yellowstone and Grand Teton for about 6-7 days. Return the car in Whitefish. This section of the trip could be done before or after the Alaska section. If you do Alaska first you may find a cheaper flight to Anchorage than the one from Seattle.
You are most likely to see a bear or two on the shuttle bus trip out to Eilson Visitor Center in Denali. There are bears in Yellowstone but you are much more likely to see bison and elk.
If you want to come home from western Montana instead of returning to Seattle or Portland, you can fly from the Kalispell airport to a major hub to the east (SLC, Denver or maybe Chicago).
If you decide for the Canadian Rockies, You can get there from Seattle by taking an Amtrak train or bus to Vancouver and spend a day or two there before taking the ViaRail Canadian to Jasper and renting a car there to see Jasper area and Banff. You could also take a Brewster bus tour from Jasper if you didn't want to drive. The Brewster desk is in the Jasper train station.
In case you are wondering, I've been to all of these places on many trips over the past 20 years.
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Old Feb 2nd, 2018, 03:29 PM
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Ahh, the typical quandary (which I experience too): It's always tempting to try to see it all when travelling to foreign places, but by trying to "see" it all that's what you do ... you "see" some of the sights but miss much of the experience.

Gardyloo's suggestion of doing both Alaska and either Yellowstone/Glacier OR the Canadian Rockies is great and would be tempting. But myself: I would pick either Alaska OR a combination of Yellowstone, Glacier, and a quick view of the Canadian rockies. Alaska is much more than just Denali - its coast is full of interest and wildlife.

A lot depends on how adventuresome you are, how much you'd like to stay in one place and get to know it better, and whether you want to camp or stay in motels or stay in lodges, and how much discomfort you are willing to put up with.

Here are two possibilities for a full 3 weeks in Alaska:
1. Drive a circle trip Anchorage to Denali (spend lots of time there), to Fairbanks, to Tok, to Glenallen, to Palmer, to Anchorage. And while in Anchorage take a side trip to Seward or Whittier. (you'd have to investigate and plan the routes in more detail - the villages I list are just to establish the route, not suggest those specific villages)
2. Spend most of the time in the Anchorage, Denali, Seward area, then take a cruise through the inland passage to either Vancouver Canada or Seattle US, fly home from there (or do the trip in the other direction).

Or spend most of your time in Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Canada's Waterton National Park, Banff. You could add in the spectacular Icefields' Parkway if its not too much added driving (drive it both ways from Lake Louise to Jasper). You could fly into either Calgary or Seattle, with a flight from there to any of the smaller airports on the route. I have a trip report at Lee's Random Ramblings: Seattle to Alberta in Winter that in part talks about some of that area, and contains lots of links. It was a trip in winter, but I also include info about similar trips in summe.

In any case, once you hone in on your preference we can have lots of detailed suggestions. All of the above you have an equal chance of seeing (or not seeing) bears and wildlife.

As for shooting, you'll have to find shooting ranges ... there are many in towns in Alaska, Idaho, and Montana (none in National Parks and not nearly as much in Canada). If out hiking in bear country be sure to carry bear spray (I've hiked a lot and never carried it in black bear country, but would in grizzly bear country. ALWAYS practice using it before you need it, ideally with advice from someone who knows how to use it.
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Old Feb 4th, 2018, 05:27 AM
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Glacier National Park is a hiker's paradise! There's plenty of hiking, boating and beautiful scenery to fill up a 2-week period. The Gong to the Sun Road which connects the east and west sides of the park is one of the most scenic drives in the country. Late August / early September are the best times to visit as far as avoiding crowds, however there's also the risk of wildfires that time of year - which also holds true for Yellowstone, Tetons, etc. I would recommend staying on the west side of the park in Glacier only 1-2 nights as the best hiking is on the east side of the park in the Many Glacier and Two Medicine areas of the park. This site breaks down the hiking trails by location in the park: Glacier National Park trails | HikinginGlacier.com and also lists their top 10 trails in the park: Top 10 Hikes in Glacier National Park, which is pretty much on point.

Since you are planning on this year, most of the park lodging in any of the above parks is probably pretty booked up by now, although cancellations happen pretty frequently, but coming from Sweden you'll probably want to plan your trip well in advance. There are some hotels and VRBO's outside of park lodging in Glacier that I'm sure still have availability.

My experience in Yellowstone is that it's awesome, but BIG. If you can't find any lodging for that time of year within the park there's not a lot of options outside the park that wouldn't mean you'd be doing a lot of driving everyday. The Tetons is much smaller and has lots of lodging - but can be quite expensive. The town of Jackson is very pricey. If you try to find a lodging in the Wilson/Teton Village area you'll find better prices. There are some awesome hiking trails in the Tetons (Top 10 Hikes in Grand Tetons) and if you do go to Yellowstone, I would recommend spending a few days in the Tetons as well.

I would say your biggest challenge right now is going to be lodging. Park lodging books up quickly in the national parks. As I said above cancellations happen frequently and the biggest advice people give is to call to check on cancellations rather than checking the website.

Good luck with your plans!
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Old Feb 4th, 2018, 11:25 PM
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Bookmarking this thread as I am planning a trip to Glacier/Yellowstone this summer! I can say that when I started booking my August trip in November, most of the lodging withing GNP was already full.
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Old Feb 5th, 2018, 05:45 AM
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If you decide on Yellowstone, keep trying for lodging inside the park if it is booked. If I could not stay inside the park, I would pick Gardiner, Montana as a base. It is nearest the mammoth entrance to the park and much less commercial than West Yellowstone, where many people stay. There is going to be a lot of driving either way, and you will need at least four days to do the park justice. So worth it, though.
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Old Feb 13th, 2018, 06:55 AM
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Yellowstone is "the Granddaddy of all the Parks." Agree that staying INSIDE the park is the ONLY way to go! There are several lodges inside the park: one at Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake and near the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, but you probably need to reserve them now for the summer of 2019. I would recommend staying a night at each location. Longer if you plan to do a lot of hiking. If possible, consider going after Labor Day in September, because the kids will be back in school. I was there in mid-September and the temps were around freezing. We had reservations, but many tourists drove in thinking they would get lodging and were turned away. If you are planning on renting a car for your trip, I believe you won't be able to take it in to Canada. But you could do a very interesting US North-Western circle (and in either direction): Seattle, Portland, Mt St. Helens, Crater Lake NP, Boise,ID, Yellowstone NP, Grand Tetons NP, Glacier NP, Coeur D'alene, ID, Spokane, WA and back to Seattle. Just a thought. Since we have already visited most of the major parks (Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Arches, etc. in the south-west) we are planning our own trip exploring Idaho, which has a lot to offer too! We've also done the Glacier, Banff, Jasper, Vancouver, and Vancouver Island road trip. Also wonderful. Stay in Calgary and visit the Royal Tyrrell Dinosaur Museum, east of the town. Just so much to do and see...so little time!
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Old Feb 25th, 2018, 08:52 AM
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I am from Seattle and have done the three main trips you are interested in-Yellowstone(3 times), Alaska(Denali and Brooks Falls), and Canadian Rockies. Our 22 day Canadian Rockies driving trip was just last year. It blew away either of the other two places in regards, to scenery, wildlife, beauty, solitude, value, and anything else. Just frickin' awesome. I have a daily trip report in the British Columbia and Canadian Rockies forums on Tripadvisor (Look for 22 day report by mlpbjm) if you would like more details. I do love Yellowstone but it is being loved to death. So many people trying to traverse every highway and visit every attraction it's rarely peaceful. Denali is spectacular but the rules for access are pretty annoying, IMO. And the lodge we stayed in in Brooks Falls has recently changed hands and has deterioated so I am told. LOT's of other places to stay/see in Alaska though. Look at doing a combo of Kootenay, Yoho, Banff, Jasper, Glacier, and Mt Revelstoke National parks and you can't go wrong.
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