mochomiak

I am trying to plan a trip to Yellowstone for next month, August 14th (nothing like last minute). The most economical flight to the area from NYC is probably into Salt Lake City. Any suggestions on where to go from there? We would be renting a car and travelling with 2 teens. We are not familiar with the area.
We are not experienced hikers or campers, but would enjoy the scenery and maybe rafting. Any suggestions about accomodations this late in the game would be appreciated too.
I have planned many successful trips based on posts on this board. Please help!

Tandoori_Girl

I can only tell you what I did when I made that same trip from SLC into Yellowstone. We drove nonstop and there was very little to see or do along the way. So if you don't have a place booked, book a place to stay in West Yellowstone and drive, drive, drive. West Yellowstone is not particularly cheap or a bargain but it is the entrance to the park and has amenities that you will need.

Tandoori_Girl

OK, i'm taking back my post. Just had a little brain warp. We stayed one or two nights in Jackson before going to West yellowstone. That was even more pricey but much more enjoyable than W. Yellowstone. Then we camped in Yellowstone, did not stay at any of the great park accomodations which are likely gone by now.

We rafted in Jackson on the Snake River. Short raft trip, lots of fun. You can book that when you get there, lots of opportunities for that.

caniac

Try to get lodging inside of Yellowstone. It is most likely booked, but you may get lucky with a cancellation. I would let the availability of accommodations dictate your itinerary! I had better luck calling them on the phone, but here is their website to get information:
http://www.travelyellowstone.com/dyn...m?articleid=38

frchteaze

Yellowstone was a blast. You can occupy your whole time just driving around and looking at animals, waterfalls, and geysers. Several of the attractions have regular free guided tours too. There's also horseback riding and a wagon ride/steak dinner cookout that was fabulous and moderately priced. Your time will fill up fast.

gail

To mochomiak. I will be following your thread since 4 days ago I also finally made our plane reservations to Yellowstone from Boston (but we are flying into Jackson Hole) for the same week with 2 teens.

If you see a family arguing about what we are going to do that day - that will be us. So I hope you get enough suggestions here so I can, as usual, plan out a rough itinerary so we do not scare away any animals or Park visitors.

vivi

We flew into SLC and drove the very scenic highway 89 to Jackson. I do recall that we spent the night on the way in Afton, Wyo and there was a huge antler arch across the street.

In Jackson we stayed at the kitschy Cowboy Village which was actually quite fun. There are scads of newish log cabins near the rodeo grounds, our kids were about 9 and 10 at the time and loved that place. Easy drive into town. We made several day trip to Yellowstone and Teton Park from our base in Jackson, also did a raft trip on the Snake which pick up/drop off in Jackson.

It is kinda late to be making reservations. It is quite possible you could grab a cancellation inside Y-Stone park or the Jackson Lake Lodge.