Lodging (etc.) for Yellowstone/Tetons trip
 

Hi all-
Heading out for a week 6/29-7/6 with husband and 11 & 9 yo kids.
Which hotel in West Yellowstone is better: Three Bear Lodge or Holiday Inn?
In Teton Village: Hotel Terra or Teton Mountain Lodge?

And how would you split the trip in terms of nights in each location? We have a special needs child so will not be as ambitious as many heading on this trip, and white water rafting etc is out. Manageable hikes and awesome wildlife touring main goals. Is there a tour company in either/both of the parks you'd recommend?

Any other must do activities in the area (excluding the obvious in the parks)? Any really good or fun for kids restaurant recommendations?

thanks so much!!!!!

I personally suggest staying inside the park itself.

Check out the Grand Teton Lodge Company for many variations, from ultra Jenny Lake Lodge, to the Grand Teton Lodge, to lesser accomodations.

http://www.gtlc.com/?cmpid=PPC106186688

I have only stayed inside the park.. you can look up the hotels on trip advisor and see if that helps.

if you have not done so already, you should take a look at the national park service website for each park.. it is very comprehensive and has lots of information about programs in each park, and other useful information, including a page about accessibility in the parks, and a page about in park transportation and touring. There is also information about free ranger led programs for kids and adults.

Yellowstone is a large park. So large that most (many) people will split their trip into two parts plus one for Grand Tetons.

You don't want to be spending hours driving. Also, you don't want to be driving much in the dark when animals could be on the road.

If seeing wildlife is one of you interests, they're about mostly in early morning and evening.

I will always make every effort to stay inpark.

I also think staying in the parks is more enjoyable than outside, however, since you asked, the Teton Mountain Lodge is very nice. I stayed there 3 years ago in Oct., when most of the in park lodges had closed for the season.
It's just a stone's throw from the Moose-Wilson entrance to the park, and about a 10 minute drive to Jackson. Very convenient.

I had a room facing the mountain (request that) with a balcony, gas fireplace, and a kitchenette, which came in handy for lunch. I bought some things at a nearby deli and made myself a sandwich everyday since there weren't many - if any - places to eat in the park.

If you can manage 3, rather than 2 stops, I'd suggest 1-2 days in Mammoth, 2-3 in Old Faithful (great hikes on the boardwalks in the geyser basin and easy drive to the canyon), and the rest in GTNP. The ride from Mammoth to OF is very scenic.

Check Xanterra (the national parks org.) for lodging and wildlife and other tours. Avoid wildlife tours given by private companies, b/c they are more expensive than Xanterra, but basically no different.

Agree with everyone that staying in the park is far preferable.

Yellowstone is really big and you will spend hours driving just to get to the sights. Having to drive another hour or two to your lodging outside the park really detracts from the experience.

Xanterra is the park concessionaire for your lodging "in park". They also do several different Historic Yellow Bus Tours that are pretty good.

I would spend the majority of your time around Old Faithful Geyser area. See Old Faithful, Castle Geyser, Riverside. and maybe more if you are lucky enough to catch them. Next Canyon area is probably the second most popular area. Hayden and Lamar Valley are both good for spotting wildlife. We saw the most bears not far from Tower Junction area it seemed like. You will see plenty of elk and buffalo. You will most likely see pronghorn and coyote. Bears, wolves, fox, porcupine, cougar, etc. are all a little harder to find, but you'll probably get lucky on one or more of those too.

I went to yellowstone last june and stayed in the Lake Lodge for 4 nights. The location was great and I was not far from Hayden Valley. I went on a wildlife tour in the early morning in Lamar valley and saw coyote, bison, badger, wolf, elk, pronghorn, deer, and a fox. The tour was on a renovated 1934 Yellow Bus from Yellowstone. In Teton I stayed at Colter Bay which was rustic but nice. There are many short hikes to do and Old Faithful and the geyser basins are a must. Also the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is quite beautiful and should earn a spot. With only 7 days I would recommend doing 4 days in Yellowstone and 3 in Grand Teton. At the Jackson Lake Lodge the bison burgers are to die for and you can watch moose right in front of the porch. The guys that come out with spotting scopes let other people use them so you can get a good close up look at moose. The parks will be quite crowded so the earlier the booking, the better.

Like the other posters, I would always stay inside the park. You can call on a daily basis asking for cancellations. I recommend Old Faithful Inn or the one right beside it, which, I'm sorry I've forgotten the name. Both are very child friendly and the restaurant in Old Faithful Inn has good food. I can recommend Jackson Lake Lodge in the Tetons and also suggest checking into the Snake River Float. Their were smaller children on our float and they seemed to enjoy it. No white water, just cruising water :-)

There....(.sorry)

cd,

You corrected your mistake after you slept on it. LOL

spiro, yes, and reread. :-)