hi all!
i have really benefitted from all the posts. my 11-yr old son and I are planning trip (30 days max) on amtrak/via rail (canada) (north american pass) june, '03. first part of trip is boston/nyc/totonto to vancouver w/ stop in jasper/banff. then seattle to Salt Lake City(SLC). last part of trip, we will arrive SLC by amtrak:
1. need a place to stay as we arrive at 3am in morn - ugh!!! and rent car (don't know yet if we'll need to taxi to rental place, then hotel...)
likely see what we can see in SLC that day (after we sleep!) then
2. should we stay another night in SLC to start fresh for teton or can we reasonably drive in afternoon from slc to teton? (we will be returning to slc after yellowstone anyway to catch amtrak again for home)
3. what about staying in teton (like what i hear re: signal mtn lodge), and seeing jackson as a day trip(s) rather than overnighter?
then, on to yellowstone
4. old faithful inn sounds great -- if we stay whole time there, can we see most of park, say in 4 days or so?
5. like news re: beartooth road, tho it is in north part of park? can we get there and back to old faithful inn in one day reasonably, or should we think about booking 2 different places in park? rather not have to move too much, but will if means not driving at dark (especially if animals on roads an issue).

any tips very much appreciated. this may well be our trip of the lifetime....
peace,
carolyn

p.s. fyi--we are not wealthy, and try to do as much as we can on our beer budget...(tho will splurge for "champagne" if it really seems worth it...

to the top for carolyn

Carolyn,

What a fascinating trip!

SLC to Jackson is an easy half day trip. If you are only staying one night in Jackson Hole area, I would just stay in Jackson. It is a short drive up to the park. Unless you want to do some hiking one day for the town and park is enough.

If you don't mind a long day of driving you can drive the beartooth to Red Lodge, back track to the Chief Joseph road to Cody and then back in through the east entrance.

I would just stay in one place in the park. The park road is in a figure 8. You can go one way one day and another way the next to cover it all. Four days will be great.

Carolyn,

What a fascinating trip!

SLC to Jackson is an easy half day trip. If you are only staying one night in Jackson Hole area, I would just stay in Jackson. It is a short drive up to the park. Unless you want to do some hiking one day for the town and park is enough.

If you don't mind a long day of driving you can drive the beartooth to Red Lodge, back track to the Chief Joseph road to Cody and then back in through the east entrance.

I would just stay in one place in the park. The park road is in a figure 8. You can go one way one day and another way the next to cover it all. Four days will be great.

What a great trip you have planned. My sister and I took our 2 grandchildren to Yellowstone and on to Jackson summer before last. We had a blast in Jackson. We stayed at a place called "cowboy village" it was great. We had a little cabin with a kitchen and porch with b=b=q. It was quite inexpensive compared to other places in Jackson. There is a ton of things to do and I would recommend that you stay 2 nights. We went to a dinner at J Bar Ranch complete with a cowboy show with tunes and "ranch humor". That was the highlight of the kids vacation. Both kids were 8 at the time. We bought inexpensive fishing poles and fished at Jackson Dam and went to the rodeo.
The kids liked Yellowstone fine but June is pretty cold there yet. I had checked into getting rooms at the lodge and the entire park was booked solid. We stayed in a motel in West Yellowstone that was not expensive. When we left we were not wishing we had more time there.
My sister and I also drove east through Jasper, down to Banff and on to winnepeg. You are in for a real treat. The columbia ice fields is about the most beautiful thing I have ever seen on this continent.Wait, maybe the Tetons are the most beautiful. You are in for the trip of your life.

hi all again!
thanks for replies. for the folks w/ experience with banff/jasper and teton/yellowstone -- any help on how you would split your time b/t the two areas? e.g., 60% banff/40% ynp...? reverse? other?
thanks much,
carolyn

Hi Carolyn,
I would definately go for more time in Yellowstone, Jackson area. Jasper/Banff/Lake Louise area is worth 2-3 days but it is pretty expensive even with the canadian exchange rate. I think that yellowstone will be very exciting for your son as the rangers put on programs and there are so many things to do. June in the high canadian rocky mts will be cold. We were there on Labor day and it snowed.

thanks for replies. think we will make more time for yellowstone area (less so for banff), as suggested. if we want to see jackson, teton and yellowstone, with the amount of time in each place increasing in that order, which makes more sense -- drive from salt lake city to jackson, stay over there and do teton as side trips before going on to yellowstone? or go to teton (e.g., signal mtn lodge) and go to jackson as side trip(s) before going into yellowstone?
thanks very much, folks...
carolyn

Hi Carolyn,

You will be coming in at the Rio Grande Depot in downtown SLC. Many hotels are available within a couple blocks. Catch a cab or see if your hotel will shuttle you if pre-arranged.

I would drive up to Jackson in the afternoon, stay overnight 2 nights & see/do the stuff mentioned above. The Rafter J chuckwagon dinner is a hoot & the food is good.

Then on to one of the lodges in Teton Natl Park 2 or 3 nights, then to Yellowstone 3 - 4 nights.

Have fun & make those park reservations early!