dmpalena

My family is planning a two week trip to the West this summer and our present itinerary is to fly into Bozeman or Billings, MT and start down to the northern section of Yellowstone, work our way down to the south, stay in Jackson and see Grand Teton area (spending 3-4 nights in both locations). From there we're heading to Utah and Scenic Bypass 12 to Bryce and Zion, then flying out of Las Vegas. Not knowing if or when we'll get a chance to see the west again, we'd really like to get a flavor of all these areas during this trip. Any suggestions as to where we should start and what route will eliminate as much unnecessary driving as possible as we will be doing quite a bit of that when we heading for Bryce. We're not all that interested in the lodging in the park and wondered if you could suggest places to stay nearby, say in West Yellowstone, Red Rock, Cody. If we're going to be doing some driving to "get there" are there more scenic drives along the way? Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is our first visit to these areas. Thanks for your input.

RuthMc

Flying into Billings will allow you to take the Beartooth Highway into Yellowstone, which is spectacular. You might hit a problem with the car rental cost--you might get charged a high drop charge to rent in either Bozeman or Billings and drop off in Las Vegas.

cheapbutnice

I asked the same question last year and found that Bozeman was the closest to the north but you do miss the Cody & Beartooth attractions. BZN was very easy and accessible & I would highly recommend it

Photodog

Just did a quick check on Orbitz for full size rental from 6-25 to 7-2 dropping off both times in Las Vegas. From Billings $646 from Bozeman $445.
Couple of things you might want to consider. From Bozeman. If a history buff, you are about an hour from Little Bighorn Battlefield. There are a couple of excellent museums, Museum of Rockies as well as the American Computer Museum. It is shortest distance, 78 miles from Bozeman to Gardiner. From Billings to Gardiner is 172 miles but you go over the Beartooth Hwy which is one of the most beautiful roads you will ever drive. Once you enter Yellowstone you will drive through the Lamar Valley home of elk, bison and wolves enroute to Gardiner.
In either case purchase a National Park Pass $50 at your first stop in a national park. Good at all national parks and monuments for a year (carload). Zion, Yellowstone and Bryce each charge $20 admission fee.

dmpalena

Thank you all for the help and suggestions, especially to "Photodog" for checking on car rentals. I've been doing some preliminary checks myself and agree that we will pay a price for the one way rental, but don't see a way around it. I'll keep checking for specials. It sure sounds like Bozeman is closer, but Billings to Yellowstone is prettier. Guess I have to decide which has priority. We'll be doing alot of driving on this trip so I wonder if I should try to cut down on as much as possible. Any recommendations on places to stay? Thanks again for the help.

ternstail

If it fits into your schedule I highly recommend Chico Hot Springs about half way between Livingston and Gardiner off of US 89. Great hotel, fabulous hot springs pool, and super gourmet restaurant.

RuthMc

Actually, the Little Bighorn is closer to Billings--it's east of Billings and Billings is east of Bozeman. But, looking at the map, you could fly into Bozeman, go east on I-90 and then south to Red Lodge and spend your first night there. You'd be at the beginning of the Beartooth Highway with that itinerary and Red Lodge is a cute little town with motels and at least one very good restaurant. I don't know where you're starting from, but we flew in from the east coast, picked up some supplies in Billings and then drove to Red Lodge. It was nice not to have to drive too far the day we did the plane travel. And we got an early morning start on the drive into Yellowstone.

If you're thinking about staying in Cody and traveling into the park each day, I'd re-think that. I think it's about an hour from the park entrance to Cody (maybe 45 minutes?) but the drive from the east entrance to the rest of the park is also time-consuming, although very beautiful. We stayed in the park so I can't help with other lodging recommendations. We did spend a night in Cody on our way to South Dakota, at the Best Western which was very nice, had a guest laundry and a good family-style restaurant next door. Great breakfast.