rizzo0904

We have ten nights to spend on our trip in late August. Advice please on my general outline before I progress with filling in the days.

We fly into SLC.
1 - SLC
2 - SLC
3 - Idaho Falls
4 - West Yellowstone
5 - Gardiner
6 - Lake Lodge in Yellowstone
7 - Lake Lodge in Yellowstone
8 - Jackson Hole
9 - Jackson Hole
10 - SLC
11 - fly home

Lake Lodge wasn't my first choice, but it's where I could get lodging. I'll keep checking Xanterra for cancellations.

Thanks in advance for thoughts on the basic layout.

Jean

I don't know where you're coming from or your level of interest in Salt Lake City, but I would fly into Idaho Falls (or Bozeman) and put all of the SLC time at the end. For me, one full day in SLC (2 nights) would be enough, and I would want to maximize the number of days in Yellowstone/Tetons.

Or keep the itinerary you've planned and fly home from Jackson. But I suppose you've already booked r/t SLC.

rizzo0904

We are flying from New England. My husband works for the airlines, so we fly standby. There are many more flights to SLC, so if we get bumped from one, there are a few more options during the day. That's the only reason we selected that.

I can easily remove the 2nd night in SLC. We can just spend arrival night there and then head out. Or we can skip SLC on the front altogether and head up north upon arrival.

tomfuller

Depending on the start time from SLC you can easily drive from SLC to West Yellowstone in less than 10 hours. Idaho Falls is not that interesting compared with what you will see in Yellowstone.

oldemalloy

Your basic plan sounds fine. I am not a city person so would probably not spend as much time in SLC, but you might. I would not try to fit in a 10 hour drive on the first day. You will have spent several hours getting to the airport, waiting for the flight, flying, getting the rental car, etc. So, either do some city exploring, or drive a couple of hours towards your destination that first day,

have a wonderful trip.

sludick

We have always driven from SLC to West Yellowstone. By NO means is it 10 hours. Normally it takes us about 5 hours. We stop to get groceries in Idaho Falls, as the West Yellowstone stores are smaller with more touristy prices.

Gretchen

I will say that between Jackson and SLC there is a gorgeous drive through Jordan Canyon past Big Bear Lake. On a trip west many years ago it was perhaps the most beautiful of our trip.

Patty

Why Idaho Falls? It's an easy drive from SLC to West Yellowstone and nowhere near 10 hours, maybe half that. We just left the Old Faithful Snow Lodge and were pleasantly surprised by the low number of people in the park but that will probably pick up. We were walking back to our car near the visitors center at Mammoth Hot Springs on Monday when a young grizzly came charging down the street in our direction going for elk calves. We always carry bear spray on our hikes and picnics but neither of us had it with us as we didn't expect one in a populated area but I think wildlife has gotten used to not having people around. Luckily we were very close to the car and the elk were between us and the bear and not the other way around.

I think Gretchen meant Logan Canyon which is a beautiful drive.

Gretchen

THANK you. Logan would be correct.

Fodorite018

I agree with tom fuller, skip IF unless you have a specific reason for it. We lived there many years ago and it is fine, but just not a tourist destination if you will. As others have mentioned the drive from SLC to West Yellowstone is not that long and is easily done even after a long flight.

StantonHyde

I live in SLC and have spent many years in Yellowstone. It is 6 hours from SLC to West Yellowstone. If I were coming from the East Coast, it would depend on when you landed/etc. with standby...If you land late, stay the night in SLC--any of the hotels WEST of airport are fine or downtown. NOT east of airport on North Temple. Then start the next morning for Yellowstone. I would not stay the second night in SLC or IF. Stay in West Yellowstone if you can't get reservations in the park for those nights. Try, try, try to reservations somewhere at Old Faithful if possible. If not, you will just have to drive back and forth from West to OF. Check the road closures!!! I thought I saw they were closing Canyon to Gardiner. Pray it isn't Lake to Canyon.

If you land earlier, you could just go without hotel reservations and see how far you make it. Pocatello is 2.5 hours, Idaho Fall is another 45 minutes from there. You could stay in either place with out reservations. Just look around. It stays light easily till 9:00 here. I wouldn't make reservations in SLC. You will find something in August if you need to use it.

I would make reservations for that last night of your trip before you fly out--again, hotels west of the airport. The airport is 10 minutes from downtown SLC so its easy to go to dinner or whatever you want to do.

Check out my trip reports for Kids in Yellowstone and another trip to Jackson, GTNP. I would follow the same intineray unless you are big time hikers and DH and I would definitely eat in better places in Jackson

Patty

The road closure is between Canyon and Tower for construction and will last until April 2020. Norris to Mammoth is the north/south route that's open. There will also be some construction at the north entrance from Gardiner but it hadn't started when we were there. The other construction is at Fishing Bridge heading east from Yellowstone Lake where they're re-doing the bridge. There's one way traffic control and the longest we waited was 6 minutes but that will probably increase as there's more traffic.

So far Xanterra is only opening cabins with bath inside the park but that may change by August. Keep checking back and follow their website for updates. I was able to grab a cabin at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge as they decided to open it one week earlier than originally announced. I booked it the same day they loaded the new dates into their reservation system as I was checking daily.

rizzo0904

Thanks everyone. I do keep checking back on Xanterra for cancellations. Need to check again today.

I think our dates are 8/18-8/28. We will drop our stays in SLC. We might spend night one Ogden, visit the train museum, and then hit Promontory Point first thing the next morning before heading north. It's probably a weird side trip, but we like to add in things they are learning about in school.

Off to see what I can get for lodging....

rizzo0904

Here's my updated plan:
18 - arrive SLC, drive to Ogden for the night
19- Promontory Point, drive north to West Yellowstone
20 - West Yellowstone
21 - Gardiner
22 - Gardiner (day rafting trip)
23- Lake Lodge
24 - Lake Lodge
25 - Jackson Hole area
26 - Jackson Hole area
27 - drive back to SLC
28 - fly home