carolv

I've been enjoying the recent threads for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. We are leaving in a week and a half, and I have a loose itinerary (with the understanding that we will be flexible and plans do change). I seem to be having a harder time getting a handle on this trip than planning last year's trip to Zion/Bryce/GC where we just stayed put and hiked/dined from the park lodges. I seem to be lost figuring out time frames. (Again, aside from specific reservations, we are always flexible).

Another question is what our dining options might be for my vegetarian daughter. Accommodations were made around availability. We'll definitely do the general store grills when we have the option.

We'd like to do some moderate hiking (in the 5 mile range). No overly steep hikes. We were thinking of a 1-2 hr. horseback riding trip - would there be time?

Suggestions are welcome...

Day 1. Arrive in JAC and drive up to Yellowstone Lake Hotel. (Is this about a 3 hr. drive after we get the car rental?) Dinner at hotel.

Day 2. Check out Hayden Valley early then West Thumb, then check into Canyon Lodging.
If time, Artist Point.
(Dinner ideas here? I heard the Canyon caf is poor?)

Day 3. Early am Lamar Valley drive.
Mt. Washburn hike.
Mammoth Hot Springs - Boiling River. Early dinner in Gardiner? Drive back to Canyon through Norris?

Day 4. Check out of Canyon Lodging. Grand Canyon Rim trail, Inspiration Point. Check into Old Faithful Inn. Early dinner at OFI, viewing time after dinner.

Day 5. Hang out around Old Faithful (Observation Point trail), then drive to Signal Mountain. Dinner at Signal Mtn. (planning all dinners around this area).

Day 6. Morning raft trip down Snake River.

Day 7. Take boat across Jenny Lake to Cascade Canyon Trail.

Day 8. Rent kayaks in am, then drive over to Morman Row?

Day 9. Leave Signal Mtn around 5am for 7:45 flight out of JAC?

Thanks in advance!

Dayle

Hi carol,

My main suggestion is to see the West Thumb area on your way to Lake Hotel. You will drive right past it. No reason to backtrack down there and back up to Canyon again!
It's a long drive. People always underestimate the time it takes to drive around Yellowstone. It's BIG, the roads are narrow and windy, you might run into a "bison escort", or get stuck behind a slow motorhome.

Save the time for the Old Faithful area and take the time to see some of the geyers that are less visited, but fairly predictable. They are WELL worth it!

GTNP plans sound fine, although I wouldn't do the Jenny Lake boat. Hoards of people. There are better places. Hike around Swan Lake loop at Coulter Bay, or around String Lake instead.

Have fun!

gail

Buy/bring a cooler, not just for vegetarian dtr. I would pack a lunch every day - there are places to eat in the Parks, but they never seem to be close by when teens are hungry and in the summer, some cold drinks are always welcome. (And we rarely eat out of a cooler when traveling - for this trip, it was probably the most important thing we did)

carolv

Thanks for the suggestions.

Dayle, we aren't expected to land until mid-afternoon, so we may not have time for West Thumb enroute to Lake Hotel. If it's feasible to stop on our way up, that makes sense. Or maybe we could hit it on our way down to GTNP.

Is the Jenny Lake boat that crowded even early in the morning? Thanks for the alternate suggestions.

And Gail, yes, I have a cooler ready to pack. I tried to pack it last year, but that didn't happen. I will definitely find a way to bring it this year. It's a soft cooler, so we'll stuff it in somehow...

spirobulldog

Dayle is right about the "other geysers". Our fav was Castle Geyser. There is about 7 of them that are fairly predictable. We saw 5 of them. Old Faithful was our least favorite. Riverside is a cool one also. Riverside goes about every 6 hours, Castle about every 12. Those are +/- 2 hrs. Old Faithful is faithful every 90 minutes +/- 10 mins. Daisy Geyser is pretty easy to catch.

I also agree with Dayle Try not to backtrack much. The best geyser area is around Old Faithful. The others are probably better for someone who has been to the park multiple visits. Mammoth area was a bit of a letdown. We enjoyed the Canyon area, Roosevelt/Tower, and Old Faithful area the best.

yes, Jenny Boat is crowded. Be there first thing if possible.

You are right that you cannot be on a schedule as with some NP's. You will end up spending a lot more time watching animals and geysers spontaneously. You will not do as much hiking in other parks unless you make a serious serious conscious effort to avoid the 20 people stopped on the side of a road watching a bear. This happens several times thoughout each day, and we can never resist.


I know that Lamar and Hayden Valley are supposed to be the best places for wildlife. We didn't really see that much in either. We saw a ton in Roosevelt/Tower area. Bears everywhere. I am sure they move to different areas and elevations.

Don't get to excited over the first bison you see. you will see hundreds. we even had one nearly in Lake Hotel Lobby.

with 9 days you'll have a great time. try to take the Yellow Bus tour one day or in the evening. I would try the Boiling River for a soak. maybe a swim in Firehole River. You can check online at
www.travelyellowstone.com
click on dining and you can find menus from all the restaraunt there.

gail

Re: the cooler. We just bought a foam cooler at the supermarket when we got there. But considering extra checked bag charges these days, it would still be cheaper to even buy a hard shell cooler and give it to someone before you leave.

carolv

Thank you for the responses.

spirobulldog, thanks for the ideas on "other geysers". I'll print this out. I am interested in the Yellow Bus tour - maybe one of the evenings. And thanks for the menu links - duh, why didn't I think of that : )

We'll check out the Jenny Lake boat early early, but I'm glad to have other options.

How far is Morman Row from Signal Mtn? Is that worth the drive? We didn't plan on doing Jackson Hole at all at this point - we just want to absorb as much of the parks as we can in 9 days...

Gail, we are planning on going straight into the park from the airport - did you get the cooler at a market in the park? (I don't think we want to take the time to drive into Jackson Hole since we don't land until mid-afternoon.)

I ordered some maps that will hopefully be in today's mail - and we're counting down!

spirobulldog

Dornan's is right at the entrance of the park and has a great Deli. Also has two good restaurants. We ate at the Pizza and Pasta Restaurant and it was good. Had breakfast at Chuckwagon outside area the next morning. it was good and has great view of Tetons outside. The deli will have a cooler. It is a very good Deli/ C Store. It's like a small gourmet store. you will not go thru Jackson once you exit the airport. The airport is in Grand Teton NP. It is directly in between GTNP entrance and the town of Jackson. I don't think we realized that Jackson is the town and Jackson Hole is the valley until we got there.

We did the Lake Butte tour from Lake Hotel in the evening. We even saw three bears along the road on this one. They take you up to the top of a hill to look over the lake at sunset. We were lucky enough to catch a thunderstorm moving across the lake, well away from us that was still had good viewing of the sunset. You could see the rain hitting the water and then part of the lake was calm. Very unusual sight. We stopped at fishing bridge at watched beavers for a little bit. It was a good tour.

spirobulldog

reserve your horse ride, bus tour, rafting, dinner reservations ASAP

carolv

spirobulldog, thanks for the clarification re: Jackson and Jackson Hole and the Dornan's market information.

I'll make the reservations today for the Lake Butte bus tour. I thought you can't reserve horse tours in advance, but I'll give them a call too.

I appreciate the advice!

spirobulldog

I guess I thought you meant the Roosevelt Cookout Tour, when you said horses. There may be more than 1 place for horses.

lindsyb

I have only been to Yellowstone once and certainly am not the export but we made reservations for one meal at each of the restaurants we wanted (OFI and Lake Hotel) and then winged it for the rest as we weren't sure where we were going to be.

I can tell you that for the nights we didn't have reservations there was sometimes a very long wait and we ended up at the grill or cafeteria places or got a snack somewhere and then waited.

Definitely check out the menus as I don't recall a lot of vegetarian options - but then again I wasn't really looking.

WeLoveOurVacations

We (w/15 yo and 12 yo twins) just returned a few weeks ago from JH (1+1/2day), GTNP (1day) and Yellowstone (4days), Teton/JH (1day). In JH, had a great dinner at the Snake River Brewery (green burrito was the family favorite). Also in JH, recommend the Bar J chuckwagon dinner, good food (all BBQ) and funny entertainment. Recommend that you make reservations and arrive early for best seating - note that they serve almost 700 people a night but have quite a system to move people through. We also went WW rafting in JH with Sands - request an 8 person boat for a wilder ride. In Tetons we hiked Jenny Lake, Inspiration Point and part of the way into Cascade Canyon, took the boat back - took 3.5 hours. If you want a shorter hike, take the boat across/back Jenny Lake - we wish we could have hiked all the way into Cascade Canyon but ran out of steam. In Yellowstone - the teenagers love this part - if you want to see animals, you need to get up early (on the road before 8am). Hayden Valley to get stopped in a Bison "jam". Also saw coyote, elk, moose, antelope - mostly in North East routes of the park. Great spot for grizzly is Dunraven Pass. We hiked Mt. Washburn on the Chittenden Rd side, beautiful wildflowers and view of mountains. When we approached the top, 25 big horned sheep crossed within a few feet of us! Nice break from the driving is Boiling River (have bathing suits on before you start the walk to the river - it is about a 10minute walk with no where to change). Firehole swimming was closed due to high water levels. We used a soft sided cooler as a carry-on and also purchased a styrofoam cooler. Pack lunches everyday, take lots of water. Plan to eat where you will most likely be at the end of the day - the park does not have many restaurants and the distances are far. We ate at the Lake Lodge Cafeteria (because we stayed at Lake Lodge Cabins), Canyon Dining Room (interesting menu-large salad bar), Grant Village Lake House (good pizza), Roosevelt Lodge (all BBQ-not so good). If you are a detailed trip planner, recommend the book Yellowstone Treasures - good reference while driving in the park. Kids said one of the best vacations we've taken (even though we were up early everyday!). Have Fun!

spirobulldog

There are other items besides BBQ on the Roosevelt menu. We liked it. We had an evening meal there and breakfast.

carolv

Thank you again for all the useful information.

I've made additional reservations for dinners as well as the Lake Butte evening bus tour (great idea, spirobulldog) and a one hour horseback ride (not the same day).

Some places don't take dinner reservations, but at least I have the information for whatever area we're in (and lindsyb, I agree that it's better to have a reservation when possible than to "wing it" during high season.) It looked like every restaurant had at least something for a vegetarian. I recall we did pretty well with Xanterra at Bryce/Zion/GC last summer.

WeLoveOurVacations, thanks for the dining and hiking information. I've read several people recommend Yellowstone Treasures, so I went ahead and ordered it. That's great you also saw so many animals. I appreciate the Boiling River tip - for some reason I keep confusing that with Firehole. We plan on making a stop there after our horseback ride (bathing suits first, got it).

Did anyone have any thoughts on Gardiner? I printed out the list of restaurants - or we'll wing it at Mammoth (no reservations there anyway).

I'm printing all the suggestions out. We leave a week from today!