As we're finalizing our plans for our trek to Yellowstone and Grand Teton this summer a couple of questions for those of you in the know....

#1 Our choices for Grand Teton Lodging are Jackson Lake Lodge and Signal Mountain Lodge. We were leaning to Signal Mountain because of the remarks on this site regarding the lake views/proximity. We've heard the lake level is so low that the marinas might not open this year. How would that affect our choice? The Lodge sounds a tad nicer and I'm sure our boys (11 and 16)would appreciate the pool after being in National Park lodgings for the previous 5 days!

#2 We'll be in Yellowstone a total of 4 nights...2 at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge (the old Old Faithful was booked) and 2 nights at either the Canyon or the Lake area. Any recommendations on which would be the better choice? We love to be near water of any type, but don't know if the location of the Canyon is better. Anyone feel strongly one way or the other about specific cabins vs. hotel/lodge choices in these two places?

#3 We're hoping to incorporate a stay in Cody for a night and the scenic drives to and from into a sidetrip...recommendations for the best route on this would be greatly appreciated!

To help with theses questions, our basic itinerary is as follows:

Fly into SLC..Spend night near airport
2 nights in Yellowstone
1 night in Cody
2 nights in Yellowstone
2 nights in Grand Tetons
1 night in Jackson
Back to SLC for departure

We're thankful for any guidance!

I can't really answer any of your questions as I, too, an planning a trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons this summer. Depending on when you're planning on going there will be very limited availability of rooms at this point in the park. You need to decide now where to stay and book it if you can. We decided to stay at the Lake (no particular reason) and at Signal Mountain Lodge (based on recommendaitons here. We're not too concerned about the marina, although with all the snow they've been getting out there the lakes and reservoirs may be up by then.

I have stayed at Signal Mountain Lodge. I agree Jackson Lake Lodge is a bit more posh, but Signal Mountain is much quieter (not a single tour bus in sight), less crowded and the walks around the property afford really gorgeous views of the mountains. During our stay the rooms were kept clean and there was a nice friendly relationship among staff and guests. I highly recommend a dinner or lunch at Dornan's which is on the way into Signal Mountain. (In fact, stop on your way in and load up on their very good trail mix!) The food at Signal Mountain is adequate but not fabulous. We ate at Jackson Lake Lodge and it was packed, we had quite a wait and the food was very ordinary.

In Yellowstone we stayed at Old Faithful Lodge, which was OK, the Canyon, also OK, and the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, which was very nice with excellent food. I think we all felt the Lake Yellowstone Hotel was the winner...plus we loved walking around among the buffalo in the evening. You have a great trip ahead. Have a wonderful time.

We stayed at the Jackson Lake Lodge last summer and we liked it. The views from the main building's lobby are beautiful and the food in the restaurants was good (this was a pleasant surprise).

I've read a very scenic route is Cody to the east gate of Yellowstone. We were planning on doing this, but a massive mud slide closed the east gate for several days. We were detoured over 100 miles out of our way, but it was a fun detour b/c we got to swim in the hot springs pools at Thermopolis.

we stayed at the Old Faithful Lodge cabins and enjoyed them and especially the location (booked 2 cabins for the 4 of us). In GT, we stayed at the Colter Bay cabins. Not far from the lake. My wife's favorite room in our 6 week trip!

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I thought the rooms at the OF Snow Lodge looked nicer than the ones at the OF Inn. The beauty of the OF Inn is really in the lobby and other public areas.

If you can book rooms at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, that would be preferable to anything Canyon has to offer. If cabins are the available in either place, try and opt for the nicest ones (can't recall if they're the fronter or the western version). We thought Canyon was a better location for getting around to other areas of the park. Lake Yellowstone is lovely, though, so in that regard you really can't go wrong with location.

The Canyon area has incredible scenery and more things to do than the Lake area. I would stay in Canyon!

Be careful when and if you select a room at the Old Faithful Inn. Some are ok; others are awful.

I would opt for the Snow Lodge. It is newer and I think the rooms are more uniform in quality so that your chances of being stuck with a bad one are less.

As a general rule, Teton accommodations are better than Yellowstone accommodations.

Since you've read recommendations on this site, you've probably seen mine for Signal Mt. Lodge. We had a lakeview retreat with a fabulous view of the mountains over the lake but you may not be able to book one of those this late. We stopped at Jackson Lake Lodge and it's a lot bigger and more congested but I sure understand the lure of the pool.

We enjoyed the Lake Hotel and the food in the dining room was quite good for a national park. I think it's a quieter place than the other park villages.

The drive out the East Entrance to Cody is gorgeous, even though it was under construction while we were there.