havetwinswilltravel

Hi! We are a family of four (mom & dad in late 30s, 9 year old twins) headed to Yellowstone and Grand Teton in the later half of July this year. This is our current itinerary, many thanks to the knowledgable travelers on this forum, I thought I'd post it and get some feedback. I will be 6 months post ACL replacement surgery, so there won't be extensive hiking, but some. Don't want to spend forever in the car with the kids, but know that a lot of driving will be involved. We are interested in animal sightings (of course - especially beavers - where do we see these??) , thermal features, and my husband is interested in photography. All lodging is booked. I am curious if anyone recommends a guided tour of Lamar Valley or not (for animal sightings). I have read many mixed opinions on this.

Day 1: Fly into SLC; get rental car at airport, stop for cooler & food in SLC. Drive to West Yellowstone, arriving approx. 4pm. Check into West Yellowstone Explorer Cabins; check out the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center. Dinner????? (suggestions? We like good food, don't mind paying for it)

Day 2: Breakfast at Running Bear Pancake House, head out to Yellowstone as early as we can (without making kids miserable). Head towards Old Faithful Visitor Center, via Firehole Canyon Drive, stopping on the way at Fountain Paint Pots & Grand Prismatic Spring (we come back by this way again at the end of our trip and need to end our night on this day at Lake Cabins, so are selectively seeing certain sights). Visit OFVC, sign kids up for Jr. Ranger Program, possibly check out at Young Scientist Kit. Check eruption times. Try to see OF, Upper Geyser Basin, Morning Glory Pond, depending on eruption times.
???? Thought about renting bikes, but have read very differing opinions on the safety, of this, any advice?
Lunch: Either from picnic from cooler or OF General Store. Get Ice Cream at OF Inn, eating it on the 2nd floor porch.
DRIVE to Lake Lodge (1 hr, 45 min).
Hike Storm Point Trail? Hike across Fishing Bridge? Any opinion on these?
Check into Western Cabin at Lake Lodge. Dinner at Lake Yellowstone Hotel (need to secure this 60 days out).

Day 3: Breakfast from cooler, drive towards Canyon (45 min drive time), stopping to see: LeHardy Rapids, any wildlife to be seen in Hayden Valley, Mud Volcano, Dragon's Mouth. At Canyon, go to Visitor Center, Artist Point (Rainbow 9:45am), Upper & Lower Falls, Point Sublime. We won't be doing Uncle Tom's Trail, as I will be 6 months post ACL (knee) surgery, and I have read it is hard on knees.
Lunch: Picnic from cooler. Refill cooler supplies as necessary at Canyon. Leave by 2pm to drive to Tower/ Roosevelt. Check in for 2 nights lodging at Roosevelt Cabins. Check in for Old West Horseback Ride & Cookout at 4pm. Overnight at Roosevelt.

Day 4: Up early to see wildlife in Lamar Valley. Breakfast from cooler. After Lamar Valley, hike Trout Lake. Picnic lunch from cooler. Head back to Roosevelt cabins to relax. Dinner at Roosevelt Lodge, back out to Lamar Valley at sunset if desire to see more wildlife.

Day 5: Breakfast: Roosevelt Dining Room. Drive to Mammoth. Possibly drive to see the Roosevelt Arch & experience the Boiling River if we feel like the extra driving (any advice? Is it far out of the way? Worth it?) At Mammoth, do Visitor Center, Walk Upper Terraces, do Lower Terraces by Car.
Drive to Norris. Stop at overlooks for : Obsidian Cliff, Roaring Mountain, Sheepeater Cliff. Lunch: Picnic along the way. Do Norris Geyser Basin, possibly just the Porcelin Basin. Continue South towards Old Faithful, stopping at Artist Paint Pots & Gibbon Falls. Check into Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Dinner at Old Faithful Dining Room (need to call to secure this). Dessert : Ice Cream on the 2nd floor porch of OFI. Geysers by night??? Can you see OF at night?

Day 6: Breakfast: Either from cooler or at OFI, or Snow Lodge (anyone eaten breakfast here?). Refill cooler supplies as needed. Check geyser eruption times at OFVC. See: Biscuit Basin, Emerald Pools, Lower & Midway Geyser Basins. Possibility: Hike or bike to Lone Star Geyser. (any advice on this??) Lunch: Picnic. After lunch: DRIVE to Grand Teton National Park (2 hrs?), stopping at West Thumb Geyser Basin just to stretch legs. Once in GTNP, stop at Colter Bay Visitor's Center. Stop at Jackson Lodge to look around, possibly a drink. Check into Signal Mountain Lodge (2 nights). Dinner at Signal Mountain Lodge - Trapper Bar? Or the regular restaurant?

Day 7: Breakfast at Jenny Lake Lodge. Rent kayaks at Jenny Lake Boating. Kayak from Jenny Lake to String Lake. Picnic lunch. Afternoon hike? or just relaxing outside at the lodge. I don't want to fight crowds to hike to Inspiration Point...unless it is really worth it (also consider knee ). Also considered a float trip, but keep reading that these are often boring?? Dinner: Pizza to go from Leeks Marina. Overnight at Signal Mountain Lodge.

Day 8: Up early, drive south towards Jackson. Stop to see: Oxbow Bend, Schwabacher's Landing, Mormon Row Homes, Chapel of the Transfiguration, Snake River Overlook, Drive Moose-Wilson Road to look for wildlife, ending at Nora's Fish Creek Inn for Brunch. After brunch, drive to Jackson, check out the town. Stop by Habitat for Humanity to donate cooler and any extra drinks. Leave by 1pm to drive to Salt Lake City. Possibly via Park City? Check into Hotel Monaco in SLC. Dinner suggestions in downtown SLC?

Day 9: Up early to return rental car & flight out of SLC.

Thanks for reading if you've made it through all of this!

emalloy

This sounds like a great trip.

On the practical, get everyone to take out the clothing they will be wearing the next day and fold the not too dirty clothes and repack them and put the grimy ones in a separate bag before they go to bed. This makes the short stops at lodging much more manageable as you just have to pack toiletries and night clothes. You might want to start out with one bag for night clothes and toiletries from the start. By day 3 designate one bag for dirty clothes.

The dining room in the Lake Hotel was pretty good when we were there, you might want to do a breakfast there too.

jayne1973

Sounds great! Be sure to dress in layers when you go out early in the morning.

BamaTee

We were able to see beavers in the Teton park. We had stopped at one of the info centers and a ranger drew us a map of which road to pull off on a secondary gravel road. Lots of cars parked there. We just followed the people walking and came upon a huge beaver pond.

tomfuller

The Gardiner Library is about 150 yards from the Roosevelt Arch. If you need computer access, this would be your chance.
There is one grocery store in Gardiner. One night I was driving across the bridge in Gardiner and there was an elk coming across the opposite direction.
Expect road construction with delays between Mammoth and Norris. You are much more likely to see a buffalo than a beaver IMO.

starrs

What about Grand Tetons NP? I wouldn't spend that much time in Yellowstone and miss the gorgeous beauty of the Tetons so close by.

It sounds like a good overall plan, but what about allowing things to unfold more? I would feel claustrophobic to have that detailed of a plan for a week's trip.

For fabulous guided wildlife tours of Yellowstone and/or Grand Tetons, Brushback -
http://www.brushbucktours.com/

HotWheels

Dinner in West Yellowstone - Madison Crossing. (Recommended often for good dining).

Breakfast - Running Bear Pancake House (huge portions!)

Ernie's Bakery & Deli - Makes delicious "box lunch" sandwiches for picnics while in the park. They open early & you can call ahead to place a pick-up order.

All in West Yellowstone; they also have small grocery if you're so inclined, but I'd go with Ernie's.

For adults, Buffalo Bar has great food & local brew choices!
(Delicious Bison Burrito)!

havetwinswilltravel

@emalloy - those are great travel tips, thank you!
@jayne1973 -thanks for the tip, we are from AZ and not used to the cooler mornings
@BamaTee - my daughter will be so pleased to see beavers, thank you!
@tomfuller - great tips, especially on the construction, thanks!
@starss - We are spending 2 nights in Grand Teton, if you can make it through the end of that long itinerary . Due to changing lodging almost every night and wanting to see every major part of the park, we have to be a bit scheduled in what part of the park we are going to see each day. I am definitely open to adjusting the itinerary as the trip/ nature/ life unfolds! Thank you for the tour company recommendation.
@HotWheels - Madison Crossing sounds great, and we had planned on hitting Running Bear. Thank you!

Myer

If you are a photographer I'd plan on Oxbow Bend, Schwabacher Landing and Mormon Row Barns early in the morning so that the sun is relatively low and to you back.

I'm not sure about the rainbow on the Lower Falls from Artist Point.

I did see great rainbows twice at the Lower Falls from Red Rock Point. This is a 20 minute steep hike (oh the knee - send the photog down with the kids) down from Lookout Point. At that time of year between 8:30 and 9:30 is a good time for the rainbow.

You can see my photos of trips to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons at www.travelwalks.com

A great place to see deer is just below or at the southern part of Canyon. and the main road. We were there for 4 nights and I saw them each morning in various areas. Even along the south road in the area of Uncle Tom's trail.

I don't know if this will work for your knee. Last summer I took my daughter and then 7 year old granddaughter to YNP & GTNP. She decided she wanted to try the Mt Washburn hike.

It's about 3 1/2 miles up to a ranger station at the top of the mountain. It took us 3 1/2 hours up and 1 1/2 down. The trail is very easy as it's a smooth dirt road that's used to take supplies up to the ranger station.

We had some hail going up and rain all the way down but the granddaughter completed the hike.

The only problem is the elevation as it starts at 8,800ft and ends at 10,400.

A great hike for 9 year olds. I'm not sure about taking your knee up there.

HotWheels

Per Lodging - we spent 5 days at Yellowstone (1st week of July last year) and lodged in West Yellowstone the entire time. We leisurely saw all the main attractions, as well as many other sites. The trick is leaving early each morning (7-8 AM or earlier for more wildlife viewing). The park road is mainly a "figure 8" - a good hint is to "do" one loop one/two days and then the other loop. We still arrived back at our lodging around 7 PM, had time to freshen up & then dine out. Really no need to overly schedule, as you move on from one attraction to another throughout the drive. Old Faithful, geyser basins, Canyon Falls, Mud Pots, Mammoth Springs would be the major sites. Other waterfalls, valleys, etc. are along the drive to stop at or not, as you see wildlife, etc. Canyon Village is more or less the "middle" of the "8", where you can get gas, food & souvenirs. You will see bison almost everywhere; we also saw both black & grizzly bears (keep your distance), elk, deer, eagles, etc. (We also saw rattlesnake in a parking lot at Mammoth & a raven using a zipper on a motorcycle backpack to get into the snacks at Yellowstone!!) West Yellowstone Discovery Center has bears/wolves you can see up close; doesn't take long. I-Max Theatre next door has a good introductory film of the park - if you arrive early from SLC, you could take them in before or after dinner on your first evening in West.