National Parks Trip
 

We want to travel to Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier National Parks next summer (2006). Does anyone have any ideas on how much time we should stay in each place? Would you stay in the parks or outside? What is NOT to miss? Thanks for any suggestions.

I hope this doesn't appear unhelpful but your broad questions have been asked, aswered and debated many times on this forum. If you haven't all ready done so, suggest you use the search feature here to see what others have said and then repost with some more focused questions.

It would also be helpful if you offered some information about you and your plans. The advice people will extend to a family travelling with young kids for 10 days will be different than that given to a couple of adult hikers with 3 weeks to explore.

Good luck, sounds like you have lots of time to plan your trip.

Two days as an absolute minimum for Yellowstone. There are two loops. I hear that the museum in Cody (just outside of Yellowstone) is fabulous. If you want to see that, allow an extra day.

The official National Park service website is www.nps.gov.

All of those parks are featured fairly regularly on the travel channel. There are some good videos available - you can buy them on eBay or maybe your library has them or can get them through inter-library loan.

I haven't been to Glacier yet but we're planning a trip there in the next couple of years. There is a hotel where you can stay in train caboose cars. It's called the Izaak Walton Inn www.izaakwaltoninn.com.

This seems like a good web site for Glacier: http://www.gonorthwest.com/Montana/n...glacier_np.htm

Yes, planning a trip like this will take some research. Reading past threads here is a good starting point. Also, the nps.gov website is an excellent source we used while planning. Purchase books w/maps for Yellowstone, etc.
One bit of advice for you: When you can, stay inside any/all parks. We stayed in a cabin at the North rim of the Grand Canyon & inside Bryce and it really is the best choice.
You've got plenty of time to browse & plan. Good luck!

How much time do you have? If you have the time, 3 weeks would be ideal. (2 weeks minimum)

Yellowstone: Stay @ the Old Faithful Inn (my favorite!!!). Recommend spending a few nights in different areas of the park to reduce driving.

Glacier: If you like hiking, make a reservation at Sperry Chalet (this is a backcountry chalet you hike 6 miles min.too - they provide lodging, food, etc). Lodges at Glacier are old and rooms are dated & expensive.. it is up to you whether it is worth staying (atleast visit if you don't stay)

Good luck.

Grand Tetons 2 - 3 days
Yellowstone 4 - 7 days
Glacier 3 - 5 days

Utahtea

I live in NC (lots of Reavis neighbors), but I was born and raised in ND & MT. I like Colter Bay Village near Grand Teton--adequate cabins on Jackson Lake, reasonably priced restaurant. Jackson Hole is a great place to visit. There are cabins at Yellowstone, too. It's a good idea to make your reservations as far in advance as possible. Don't miss Cody, WY, they have a wonderful Old West museum and a rodeo every night. Buffalo Bill's hotel, "The Irma" is wonderful. I would advise renting a 4-wheel drive vehicle and bring plenty of warm clothing. The last time we were there it snowed 2 feet on June 18!! Can't help you with Glacier, we lived so close we took day trips. The scenery there is breathtaking...

we tent it out at Jenny Lake...however, when you head into Jackson, hit Mountain High Pizza Pie for the best bbq chicken pizza of your life...and Pica's for a killer burrito...and don't forget to head to the Cowboy Bar and sit in the saddles....

I went to all three many years ago and would proportion my time as Utah Tea suggests. Yellowstone with the most, then Glacier, then the Tetons.

We went backpacking in the Tetons (ah, youth) and I came face to face with a huge moose, which was way cool (I was too ignorant to be frightened but I did freeze for a face-off that seemed to last forever), but we didn't see the breathtaking vistas we'd hoped for. Maybe we just went to the wrong spots.
Glacier has an amazing road, "Going to the Sun Highway," which has awesome scenery and there are great trails from the national park lodges. And Yellowstone, what can one say? It's full of strange wonders.