swci

Which companies offer upper loop yellowstone tours from Jackson Hole?
HOw much is it.
Or is there a way to get to west yellowstone by bus? (and take a tour from west yellowstone?)

Stinkerbell

You can rent a car from Jackson Hole and drive to Yellowstone for the day...which is really cool and take 1 entrance and make the loop...or you can go back the second day and take the other entrance.

starrs

http://www.jacksonholenet.com/entert...ides_tours.php

swci

I'm not a seasoned highway driver, is the drive from Jackson to Yellowstone easy, hard? Is there generally a lot of traffic on the way? Or not so busy?

The tours i checked out were expensive like 300 a person per day to upper loop, starr, but thanks for posting.

starrs

The second you leave Jackson WY you are IN Grand Teton National Park. It is not a busy highway. It is a park road. Then, as you leave Grand Teton NP you are going INTO Yellowstone NP. The entire route IS national park roads. Low speed limits. No heavy traffic. The only traffic problem is if there are bison/buffalo or other wildlife in the road and all traffic stops until they decide to wander off the road.

starrs

Here - look for yourself. A video of the road from Yellowstone to Grand Teton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHzNiAggMOo

starrs

Here's Yellowstone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYwi2nJfKO8

At about the 55 second mark, you'll see a bison walking alongside the road. At about 1:09 you'll see one of the main intersections in the park.

Driving in national parks is NOT busy highway driving

swci

So if the entire way is national park roads with low speed limits, it might be doable. Do you have any idea how long it would be to drive from Jackson to West Yellowstone? (or to the upper loop)?

starrs

Have you investigated the parks' websites at all?
Here's a page with park tour info -
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/transpinpark.htm

There's a great interactive map there too.

Why go all the way to West Yellowstone? If you do drive, why not drive to the starting point and take a park tour?

swci

I just figured since tour buses start from there it would be a good starting point?
would you recommend a guided tour or a "do it yourself tour" if im arleady driving? where can i get info on how to drive withing the park, which direction, what to visit? I'd love to see the same things that tour buses go to

kayd

Start wherever you enter the park. Look at the park's website, refer to any guidebook you may find in your library or bookstore. It is a vast place, with distinctly different wildlife, geology, etc. areas, so only after you do some background work will you know which areas are most important for you.

utahtea

Hi swci,

What time of the year are you coming and how long do you have for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons area? Do you have accommodations yet?

We've always done the park on our own and never did a tour. I like being able to spend as long as I want in an area. I'd hate to be on a tour and have to leave after waiting for a geyser to go off and it hadn't gone yet.

The park is easy to navigate but be warned there are some mountain passes.

Utahtea

starrs

swci, it doesn't look like you've looked at a map yet. Look at the parks' websites and you'll see the maps. In GTNP there's a primary road that goes between Jackson WY and the entrance to Yellowstone NP. You can drive that road in a few hours. It's a 2 lane road with a low speed limit. So, you can drive through the GTNP in a very short time, OR spend days there investigating the other roads, taking hikes, etc. We were there last year and spent the first night in the town of Jackson and another night in one of the park's hotels. If you fly into the airport, you take a right to go into Jackson (a small town with lots of hotels) or take a left and travel through the park to Yellowstone.

If you come in from Jackson, you'll enter the south entrance to Yellowstone. Yellowstone has two roads - actually one long figure 8 road. Old Faithful is on the lower loop. Mammoth is on the upper loop. Together the upper and lower loops make one big figure 8 road through the park. That's the route for everyone - folks driving their own cars and folks taking a tour on a bus. The park was set up originally so that when the transportation was slow, there was a night stop (with lodges, cabins, restaurant, etc), a day stop, and then another night stop. That's how the loop is set up - and if you look at a map you'll "see" the design. The original visitors arrived via train in Livingston MT, were picked up by jammers (open top tour bus) and traveled from night spot to night stop with lunch stops in between. Those jammers have been restored and you can take a tour on them today. We happened to be on a tour last year with a guy who did the restoration on a jammer.

The other roads you see on a Yellowstone map are entry roads from towns outside the park (West Yellowstone, Cody, etc.).

You can drive the figure 8 (both loops) in a day during the summer. The days are long and if you are staying at an inn in the park, it's not too hard to do. You can't be at a certain place at a certain time because you won't know when you'll be slowed/stopped due to road construction and/or wildlife in the road, but you can do the loop in 1 day. The longer you stay, the more you can get off the road, out of the car, take a hike, see more stuff, etc.

I would recommend a night in Grand Teton NP and 2 nights in Yellowstone.

There are a LOT of trip reports on this forum. They can be very helpful in answering questions and help you to plan your trip. If you click on my name you can find my trip report, but it is just one of many.

starrs

Here's the interactive map with mileage and "communities". Click on any point on the map and see the resources (restaurants, lodging, gas, etc) available at that location.

http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/int...emap/index.htm

starrs

Here are the tour providers -
http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/transbusn.htm

starrs

Xanterra operates the concessions in the parks. If you want to book a room or an activity in a national park you do so through Xanterra.

Here's the link to booking lodging -
https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/

And here's the link to the yellow bus (jammer) tours -
https://www.yellowstonenationalparkl...==&property=17

There are bus/van tours -
https://www.yellowstonenationalparkl...hf&property=17

Horseback riding, chuck wagon dinners and stagecoach too -

https://www.yellowstonenationalparkl...==&property=17

Just explore the websites for a while. LOTS of info there

swci

Thanks for all the info! Really helpful!

swci

I have lodging booked in jackson already. I was thinking one day in teton and 2 days in yellowstone (although if i had known you could do both loops in one day, i might have booked less days for this trip.) but i guess this will give us more time...

starrs

You will want to have the three days for both parks.

If you can, change at least one of those night to Yellowstone (from Jackson). Yellowstone is HUGE and driving back and forth from Jackson every day is not the best way to see it.

utahtea

You will want at least two days to see Yellowstone. If you did both loops in one day, you would only be able to see some of the main attractions! This is a big park that covers a lot of area and there are so many different things to do!

We now spend two weeks at a time in Yellowstone when we go, and don't run out of things to see and do. We also try to do something new each time we go.

Utahtea
Utahtea