Dminor7495

We are flying to Spokane WA and driving to Yellowstone the first week in Sept. We have 5 days to see everything. What route should we take? And what should we absolutely not miss? Thanks for any suggestions!

tomfuller

Mapquest shows turning off I-90 near Cardwell MT on MT Rt. 2.
You'll be driving past Lewis and Clark Caverns on the way to US 287 if that interests you. US 287 brings you into West Yellowstone.

utahtea

Five days is not a lot of time. Does that include having to drive back to Spokane? If so, go as quickly as you can taking I-90 and Hwy 287 to Yellowstone and spend all of the few days you have there before you have to drive back. Nothing is going to beat the time you will have in the park seeing all the wonderful sites. If you don't have to drive back, then spend some time at the Grand Tetons.

Utahtea

Dminor7495

I think we will return the rent car to Salt Lake City so we don't have to drive back to Spokane. It costs more to do that but we don't have much time. What suggestions for stops on the way to Montana?

Gardyloo

Be sure that your car rental company will allow you to drop the car in SLC; not all will permit one ways to/from Salt Lake. If you travel to SLC via the Tetons, the drive time is virtually the same as returning to Spokane anyway. You might consider flying into Bozeman rather than either GEG or SLC.

You can get from Spokane to Yellowstone in one longish day if you choose - around 6 1/2 hours to Gardiner on the north side of the park (close to Mammoth Hot Springs.) With just five days I'd probably do that. Remember too that you're at high altitude; I've been snowed on in Yellowstone in August.

En route from Spokane, Coeur d'Alene is a very pretty town on a gorgeous lake, and Missoula is a nice college town in a terrific setting.

You can stop and see the big hole in the ground in Butte, or if you're between Butte and Bozeman around dinnertime, you can have one of the best steak dinners in America at the Land of Magic - www.landofmagicsteakhouse.com/

Dminor7495

What about US 191 from I-90 drive to the West Entrance?

Gardyloo

What about US 191 from I-90 drive to the West Entrance?

About the same total time from Spokane. Depends how you want to make the rounds within the park.

Dminor7495

Any suggestions as to how to best see the park, assuming we have 3 days to spend in the park.

We must fly SWA so it's either fly into Spokane or SLC.

Thank you for any suggestions.

utahtea

Salt Lake City is about 140 miles (2 hours of driving time) closer to West Yellowstone than Spokane.

The roads in Yellowstone look like a figure 8. Do the top loop on one day, the bottom loop on the second day and concentrate on all the geyser basins on the third day.

Utahtea

sludick

When we visit Yellowstone, we fly into SLC on Southwest. It's typically about 5 hours to West Yellowstone, including a stop for groceries etc. along the way.

I particularly enjoy seeing the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" and Norris Geyser Basin.

Dminor7495

Utahtea, you mentioned Yellowstone is like a figure 8. We would probably be heading eventually to SLC for return flight (ok with car rental company, just costs more, ugh) so we'd start at the top and move south. Could you be more specific about the loops to take, such as hwy #'s. That would help a lot. Thanks so much. This forum is fantastic for travel planning assistance!

sludick

Here is a link to Yellowstone National Park web site, it is a wealth of information and can answer your questions:

http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

And here is the overview map, you will find many more on the site as well:

http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/int...emap/index.htm

Be sure to check the notes for construction, there are some closures that are currently shown/may occur that would require you to take alternate routes.

utahtea

These are interior park roads and while they might have a name like West Entrance Road, you don't see that on the parks map...so I'm going to use destinations to give you an idea.

http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/int...emap/index.htm

Using West Yellowstone as your starting and ending point for two days. Top loop would enter on the West Entrance Road to Madison and go north to Norris & Mammoth, east towards Tower Falls, south to Canyon and then west to Madison and back to West Yellowstone. Stops on the way would be Artist Paint Pots, Norris Geyser Basin, Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Falls, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the falls.

Using West Yellowstone again as your starting point for the bottom loop again enter on the West Entrance Road to Madison, South to Old Faithful, east to West Thumb, north to Canyon and then back to West Yellowstone. Stops on the way would be the Firehole Road, Firehole Lake Drive, Lower Geyser Basin, Mid-Way Geyser Basin, Biscut Basin, Black Sand Basin, Upper Geyser Basin/Old Faithful area, West Thumb Geyser Area, Yellowstone Lake, Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley & Canyon Village if you didn't get to it the day before and back to West Yellowstone.

If you have a third day or part of a third day then skip the some of the geyser basins for the third day and I'd recommend exiting though the Grand Tetons on your way to Salt Lake City if time allows.

Utahtea

Dminor7495

Utahtea! THANK YOU! That is a tremendous help with planning our time in Yellowstone!

We are a month out from starting our vacation so the planning must get "serious" now. So looking forward to some cooler temps. Right now in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, our days are 100 degrees with 80 percent humidity.

Thanks again!