Fri, Sept 15, Day 1: fly into Jackson around noon, pick up rental, head to Canyon Lodge, Yellowstone.

Sat, Day 2: Canyon Lodge

Sun, Day 3: Drive to Cody and do museum. No lodging yet.

Mon, Day 4: More time in museum if needed, then drive Beartooth Hwy and on to Mammoth Hot Springs, mid-range room.

Tues, Day 5: Another night at same in Mammoth Hot Springs OR *Old Faithful Inn premium backside/east wing room.

Wed, Day 6: Old Faithful Frontier Cabin OR Yellowstone Lake premium Qn room.

Thurs & Fri, Day 7 & 8: GTNP, No lodging yet. Maybe Signal Mtn or snowberry condo.

Sat, Day 9: Fly home around noon.

*If we stay at Old Faithful Inn on Day 5 then we will stay at Yellowstone Lake on Day 6. But if we spend 2 nights at Mammoth, Days 4 & 5, then we'll spend Day 6 at Old Faithful Frontier cabin.

As you can see, we are trying to move around the park to visit a lot of areas, and reservation availability also dictate where we'll be in Yellowstone. Are we trying to spend nights in too many areas? We don't mind moving to another spot, but we don't want it to be a waste of time, either. Also, we know we want 2 nights at Canyon to be close to great wildlife viewing areas.

Please critique this and give me your suggestions. Thanks so much! You have all been most helpful already, just please help me fine tune this.

I guess people have their own way of seeing Yellowstone. I usually pick one or two places at the most and be done with it.

I don't like Mammoth and its accommodations. Not much there to see, so I never stay there overnight since my first mistake in 1986.

But if you want to move around, I must say that you do have a very logical development of your route.

Don't wait too long to nail those places down. Lots of people still visiting there in September.

it's been 18 years since we stayed at Canyon Lodge(cabins)- almost primitive but loved the wildlife (mostly deer) and the nightly talks at amphitheatre by park rangers- 2 years ago we spend one night at Jackson Lake Lodge (Tetons) and 2nd night at Signal Mountain- really enjoyed both those places- make sure you take boat across Jenny Lake and take the hike from there

We chose Mammoth because we've read a lot about the elk activity here, and it's convenient returning from the loop out of Cody to return via Beartooth Hwy, but maybe we should try Gardiner instead.

I have read so much here about staying in the park and how much time is wasted by folks retracing their drives everyday that we thought it'd be best to vary our stays, but maybe that's not such a hot idea.

From May 23 to June 6, we took 2 weeks to drive to places in Wyoming, Montana and eastern South Dakota. We flew into and out of Billings, Montana. I cannot comment on the Jackson airport, but we stayed at the Trapper Inn in Jackson, and it was very nice.

We did the "upper loop" of Yellowstone our first day at YNP and stayed in Lake, in a "cabin" there at the lodge. (The food was excellent in their dining room, by the way, but reserve EARLY for a reasonable hour!)

We then headed south, up over the 8300-ft elevation portion of YNP (with 3-4 foot depth SNOW still evident along the road) to Jackson and the Tetons. (Tetons are magnificent -- beautiful.)

We returned to YNP after the Tetons, doing the "lower" loop and seeing Old Faithful, etc., before heading on up to Bozeman, Montana to "Yellowstone Expedition B&B", in Livingston, just east of Bozeman. Kate and Bill were lovely innkeepers, very nice rooms (only 4 as I recall) and a fabulous breakfast there.

I second the idea of trying to stay in one place a couple of nights -- much more relaxing, we think.

As for animals? Trust me: you will see bison and elk EVERYWHERE in YNP, at the lower elevations right now. Have no fear -- except to avoid hitting them when they wander into the road! Just by driving slowly and being observant, I can almost guarantee you will see plenty of wildlife. (We noticed too many people driving too fast, often obviously not even noticing wildlife!) We also saw a mama black bear with her 2 cubs (upper loop); an eagle's nest with the mama feeding eaglets, alongside the road near the West Yellowstone entrance; a wolf loping along across the road at one point; white pelicans (yes - honest) in a river there; a moose that almost ran into our car; and even a FOX, who appeared to be just sitting there watching cars go by! The animals are NOT tame, but seem to be idly watching the people go by, the same way as the people watch them!

Those who are age 62 or over should ask about a Golden Eagle Pass when they enter, by the way. We're 65 and that cost me $10. One pass gives FREE entrance to BOTH of us at almost ANY national park or facility for LIFE. A good deal!

You should also find lower accommodation rates in September, as we did the end of May.

The Cody, Wyoming museum was magnificent. We stayed at the "Parson's Pillow" B&B for 2 nights there (reasonable, with a nice breakfast). Admission to the museum gives you TWO days, and we felt it deserved the second day.

Good luck!

Vermonter

Thanks, Vermonter, for all the help! I read your trip report and got a lot of info there, too.

We are having difficulty finding lodging in Yellowstone for 2 consecutive nights, and I started trying in January for Sept. Turns out it's the week of a big photography convention. BUT that also tells us it's a great time to be there or they would not have photographers coming in droves! ;-)

We are really looking forward to this trip. It's the first time for DH, and the last time I was there was when I was 9. I have GREAT memories, so it'll be interesting to see what's changed in almost 40 years.

Thanks, again!

BayouGal,
We are headed to Yellowstone/GTNP in early Sept (my first trip there, husband was last there long ago). I'm wondering if your flight into Jackson has 2 prior stops. We have all our lodging reservations but have been waiting on airfare - looking at flying into Salt Lake City or Jackson but all the flights to Jackson from here (Albany) have two stops before Jackson.
We were able to schedule 2 nights each in Old Faithful Snow lodge, Mammoth cabins, & Canyon cabins, then 1 night at Signal Mtn. We left the 1st & last night open since we aren't sure where we'll be. I like having 2 nights in each different area to give us time to check it out.
I've been checking in on the forum at www.yellowstone.net for some good info on hiking and wildlife viewing areas. Please pass along any great tips you come across to me and I'll certainly do the same.

Thanks, Sharon! I'm actually compiling a list of things to do suggested on this and other forums. I'll post it when I get it better organized.

Sharon, forgot to tell you that we have one connection and then fly into Jackson.

We now have the last 2 nights nailed down at Signal Mtn, rustic cabin with fireplace. We'll spend 3 1/2 days at GTNP.