sharondi

We have been reading all of the great help and information posted here about Yellowstone, thanks to all of you. Yellowstone is one of the few national parks I have not been to but have always wanted to see. I spent a summer in Glacier, but never had a chance to get to Yellowstone. So, we're going in Sept and I'm trying to get our plans set soon so we can get our lodging reserved.
We'll be flying into Salt Lake City because airfare is cheaper and I expect rental cars will be also. We're planning to take the quickest route north thru Idaho to the west entrance. We won't be booking our airfare til I find the best price, so not sure when we'll get into SLC - so, we'll leave the first night open and stay somewhere between SLC and West Yellowstone.
We're thinking we'll spend 3 nights in the Old Faithful area (probably at Snow Lodge unless something else is available, which I doubt) and 3 nights at Canyon (Pioneer cabins since that's mostly what is available). This seems like plenty of time to see and do all kinds of fun stuff, right? We love day hikes (under 10 miles), photography, wildlife viewing, hot springs. (Thanks for the tip on Boiling River). Would love advice on best hikes and most scenic spots.
We'll spend 2 nights getting back to SLC and plan to leave the park thru the south and go thru Tetons, Jackson. Would love advice on a great place to stay - (place with hottub would be perfect).
So, does this sound reasonable? Thanks so much for all your help. It's greatly appreciated.

Gretchen

I hope you are not overlooking the Grand Tetons. I would spend 2 of your days there rather than all 6 in Yellowstone.

Matt1222

I agree with Gretchen about staying longer in Jackson. We have made the trip there twice. Both times flying to SLC & then driving up to Jackson. We stayed at the 49er Inn - had a very nice suite with a jacuzzi tub in our room with fireplace. The last trip we made in Sept we hiked to Inspiration Point overlooking Jenny Lake & it was wonderful!! Plenty to do & see no matter what area you go to of Yellowstone or the Tetons. We loved Cooke City & driving the Beartooth. Highly recommended! Both of our trips there were fantastic...the only thing we would have changed - we would not have stayed at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel.

sharondi

ttt

sfamylou

People love Jackson, but I didn't really dig it. After Yellowstone it seemed crowded and touristy and we had a really rude restaurant experience. Personally, I would have been bummed if I cut a day or two off Yellowstone to make time for Jackson. I liked the Snow Lodge and always wanted to check

sfamylou

Sorry about that, my 3-year-old hit post with a banana. I like Snow Lodge but always wanted to stay near the Lake. If it were me, I'd stay two or three nights in three different areas of the park. Also, we made the drive from Yellowstone to SLC in one day, stopping in Jackson for a few hours and in a rainstorm.

Gretchen

I'm nnot really talking about Jackson per se. I am talking about the wonderful beauty of the Tetons. Also the amazing Gros Ventre slide area. I found I could get "caught up" pretty quick on mud/hot pools.

sharondi

We have 2 full days/nights to spend in Tetons/Jackson area on our way back to SLC. We're definitely way more interested in Yellowstone though. But would enjoy a bit more comfortable accomodations the last 2 nights after being in park cabins. I just booked 3 nights in Snow Lodge and 3 in Canyon cabins - wanted to get something reserved now while I still had a decent choice. Any of you guys stayed in Jackson Lodge or Coulter Bay cabins? Not sure whether to stay in the GT park or in Jackson - any thoughts? Thanks so much!

Clousie

Sharondi

Before we went to YS and GT, I also thought we "should" stay in Jackson. So glad we didn't. I often have culture shock when returning to civilization after being in wonderful, wild places, and just from driving through Jackson, I would have been so disappointed to stay there rather than the park.

We stayed at Coulter Bay 2 nights and Signal Mt 2 nights. They were fine because our objective was to see the magnificent scenery. However, if you want more luxary for the end of your trip, there are two other lodges within the park (Jackson Lake and Jenny Lake???not sure of the names)

We also did the trip back to SLC from Signal Mt in one day. 296 miles, not a bad drive.

Dayle

Hi Sharondi,

I know from your other Utah posts that you both are great fans of the beautiful western outdoors! I like your plan of 6 days in Yellowstone. Be sure to stop by the Old Faithful visitor's center and get the "predicted" geyser eruption times. It is so worth it to go out to some of the less famous geyers (Grand, Riverside, Lone Star) and wait (patiently) for them to go off! Awesome!

Also, I regularly go up and spend time at Coulter Bay cabins because I usually go up late in the year (Sept) and they have little wall heaters and take pets. They are pretty basic the the restaurant at Coulter Bay is not very great. But the surroundings can't be beat. 2 days at Grand Teton will be about right I think. The short hike out to Swan Lake from Coulter Bay is nice and very worth while. You should be able to see the nesting swans and moose too.

Town of jackson is quite touristy, but will have calmed down a lot by Sept. Fabulous western art galleries and some very good restaurants. Some very nice places to stay - Four Seasons at Teton Village (ski area), Rusty Parrot, the Wort Hotel, The Amanjani (for the rich and famous).

You will love the Tetons and Yellowstone as much as southern Utah!

Have a great time!

sharondi

Thanks so much for the input. We'll probably stay at Coulter or Signal Mtn.
Hey Dayle, we still haven't been anywhere that we love more than southern Utah. It's hard to beat! But Yellowstone's wealth of geologic oddities could be a tough competitor!And we really enjoy seeing wildlife - so that will be great! Any tips on great hiking, backroads (we'll have an SUV), great photo spots, etc., please let us know. Thanks again.

Floridafran

sharondi.

If you want a scenic view you'll be better off staying outside of Jackson at one of the places overlooking the lakes. There's a nice hike that skirts around one of the lakes then on to some falls. There's a also boat you take across the lake. You can even take it just one way and hike the other which is what we did. Sorry I can't recall any of the names right now and all of my notes and stuff from that trip are still packed away. (Darn hurricanes!) But I'm sure you can find out what I'm talking about at the NPS GT page.

I have an old post about some of what we did in Yellowstone. I don't know how to put a link to it here. But if you do a search on my name it's under my reply to Yellowstone Itinery. I think you'd enjoy the hike we did. Lots of great photo ops along the canyon trail and then on the loop back to the parking lot we saw a mule deer and fawn. Also the terrain along this hike was amazing. Changed from the river and the Yellowstine Canyon to evergreens, to barren mud pots, to Alpine meadow. All in a few miles.

Barring another storm that runs us out of our house for a year I'll have unpacked my trip info before September and I can let you know some other places we enjoyed hiking and photographing. Having read your posts and gone to your web site you two seem to share our interests.

You'll enjoy this trip. As much as I love the Utah parks nothing can beat Yellowstone for variety and wildlife.

FF

peterboy

I wondwr why this thread hasn't found its way to the "Montana" area of the forum...is there a way to make this happen or does it need to be posted there to start with?

peterboy

Duh....make that the "Wyoming" section of forums...what was I thinking?

Floridafran

Peterboy,

There is no Wyoming forum, or Montana, either for that matter. All the states are thrown into one big pot. Well, forum, actually.

You just have to hope that someone sees your topic before it gets bumped down too far and is lost amongst everything else. That's why I always find mine and reply with thanks to those who have answered. Puts me back at the top. At least for a few minutes, anyway.

FF

vahiker1

Grand Tetons: Signal mountain is a beautiful, less crowded area if there are any rooms available.

Hikes in Yellowstone: Wow, there are so many you cant go wrong. Some favorites:

Avalanche Peak: Great Views - 2 mile hike but very steep, each way (east side of the park). Highly recommended but not for the faint of heart.

Lone Star Geyser: Pretty area - near old faithful.

there are lots more and some great guide books which we found a great help.

Enjoy your stay!!

peterboy

"There is no Wyoming forum, or Montana, either for that matter. All the states are thrown into one big pot. Well, forum, actually."

Let me make sure I understand this then...there is no Wyoming forum section per se.

That must mean that, when I go to the "United States" forum section and scroll down through the states that are listed there and select "Wyoming", then I am simply searching for posts with the word "Wyoming" in them?

sharondi's post doesn't appear in the list of threads under "Wyoming" since she never used the word "Wyoming" in her post. Correct?

I wonder, now that I have used the word wyoming several times in my post here, will it show up in a wyoming search?

I guess it is important to use the state's or country's name in a post then isn't it?

peterboy

Actually, I was just looking through some other "Yellowstone" posts that appear when I search under "wyoming" from the "United States" section and there are many that never mentioned the word "Wyoming" in their post.

How does one get a post like sharondi's into the listings under "Wyoming"...seems like it would soon get lost down the list on general posts otherwise.

Just trying to understand how Fodor's works is all.. Thanks

Floridafran

Peterboy,

If you can figure out how Fodor's works, please let me know. So far I've figured out this much. I think....

When you open Fodor's and choose U.S. from the talk/forums list of countries, you get all the posts about anything pertaining to the entire U.S. beginning with the most recent post and working backwards.

Yes, if you do a search under the state name you get posts with that name and you can also pull up Yellowstone posts by searching that. But you don't necessarily get them all.

I know because I have searched the same "topic" - with the exact same wording - twice in one day and gotten some of the posts one time and not the next.

It can be frustrating, but I love Fodor's site and find it easier to use than any of the other travel sites I've visited.

You'll love Yellowstone. It's fabulous.

Happy hunting on Fodor's.

FF

sharondi

Thank you to all for the replies and great information.
floridafran, I've been going through any and all yellowstone posts, taking lots of notes. Thanks for all your help. How's the planning for your southwest trip coming along?