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Grand Teton/Yellowstone May 4th - May 11th 2019
Hey 👋🏻 New to Fodors and just wanted to get some insight from fellow travel enthusiasts who have experienced either or both parks at this time of the year. Me and my girlfriend are flying into SLC, renting a car and staying in Jackson 4 nights and Gardiner 2 nights. We are from Florida and I’ve never seen snow before. Looking forward to experiencing it along with the mountains. I am expecting some road closures, but I really just want to experience. 1. Tetons and the numerous lakes/Waterfalls 2. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone 3. Lamar valley/Wildlife 4. Tower Roosevelt 5. Geyers/Grand Prismatic 6. Mammoth Hot Springs Is all of this doable in your opinion? Any advice or knowledge is welcome! Thank You. |
I would shift some of those nights in Jackson to Yellowstone to cover all of the areas you want to see. Wildlife viewing is generally great in spring. Most roads are open but you may need to deal with temporary weather closures so have back up plans. Also expect trail closures at that time of year.
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Thank you for the reply! I had planned on venturing up to Old Faithful and the upper geyser basin via 191 north and driving back to our hotel in Jackson, but it looks like that road will be closed until May 10th. We already made the hotel accommodations before I even thought to look at road closures. Usually we are blazing hot that time of year so it was just my ignorance haha |
Take a look at the current projected openings (weather permitting) for Yellowstone. You're going to have a routing challenge going from the Tetons to Yellowstone. Could you push your trip out a week or so? Also, I agree - reduce your nights in Jackson. It's really not feasible as a base if you're thinking of going up into Yellowstone while you're there. If you can't get park lodging, look at West Yellowstone. You could be at Old Faithful in about an hour from there, which is pretty quickly for Yellowstone. Otherwise, allowing yourself a week is a very good plan.
https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/parkroads.htm |
I see our posts crossed. Again, look at West Yellowstone as a much better alternative than trying to drive to Old Faithful and back from Jackson - even if the road were open.
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Oops, I misread earlier and thought you were arriving on the 11th. Yeah you'll need to take Teton Pass (which can also be problematic in weather) from Jackson and enter via West Yellowstone. I would definitely try to rework your accommodations. Jackson to Old Faithful is a long day trip even when the southern entrance is open.
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The OP is brand new (Welcome to Fodors) so won't be able to respond again til tomorrow (but can still read our posts) . . .
In the meantime, I know you are traveling very soon but agree with the others that you may need to re-think/re-organize your accommodations. West Yellowstone would be better than Jackson. >>We already made the hotel accommodations before I even thought to look at road closures<< Unless you made a non-refundable/non-cancelable booking, you should be able to change things. |
I would give serious consideration to skipping Tetons entirely and staying inside Yellowstone (if possible and within your budget). If you want to stay in Jackson and keep the Tetons, 4 days in Yellowstone and 2 in Jackson would make more sense. Save Jackson for the end - you may get really lucky and 191 will open a few days early. Don't count on that but you'd have better odds at the end of your trip as opposed to the beginning.
If you decide to skip Tetons, I'm sure you can find lakes/waterfalls/mountains in Idaho or Utah on your drive to/from Yellowstone. |
Unless there are weather delays, they pretty much stick exactly to 8am on the scheduled dates for Yellowstone road openings. The only time I've experienced a Yellowstone road open outside of their scheduled dates was due to construction related issues. I love the Tetons and wouldn't give up that part entirely. There isn't really any place comparable on the drive from SLC without detouring.
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WhereAreWe...curious as to why you suggest skipping GTNP?
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I'm pretty sure WhereAreWe is only suggesting skipping GTNP for this particular itinerary/time, not because it's skippable in general.
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