Trip to Glacier national park
 

My husband and i are planning to go to GNP and maybe yellowstone this summer in mid july. (we are both vaccinated so please no covid comments) We have flights to and from Spokane because we want to use our southwest points. If we end up also going to yellowstone and there is a better place to fly home from we are open to that. We have 7 days not counting the days we are flying. We are planning to hike and home to see wild life and natural beauty. Should we just plan to stay and do glacier the whole time? and then maybe one day before we leave drive back to spokane and go to Coeur D'alene? Our flight will be landing in the morning so we will drive to GNP on day one. The over night train sounds nice but i think we would rather drive and get there to start our visit early day two. i'd really like everyone's thoughts on this,. thanks

I wouldn't mind seven days in Glacier and maybe spending some time in Whitefish, as well. But if the East side of Glacier does not open this summer, then I'd consider adding Yellowstone.

Is there a reason to think the east side of the park would not open?

It didn't last year.

It depends on what the Blackfeet tribe decides. That is dependent on their vaccination rollout.
https://www.krtv.com/news/montana-an...remains-closed

As starrs said, it's due to Covid. Decisions haven't been made yet for the summer.

https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/statusupdate.htm

Southwest doesn't fly any place close to Yellowstone. Salt Lake is the closest but still at least 5 hours away. I had reservations in Glacier last June after Yellowstone but canceled them due to the east side staying closed. I've been to Glacier before and it wasn't worth the long drive to me for just the west side. I also heard that the traffic and parking situation was bad due to the limited opening so definitely keep an eye on the situation. If the east side doesn't open, you could still spend a few days on the west side and spend some time in other areas (Whitefish, Sandpoint, Coeur d'Alene).

so maybe we should go to yellowstone and grand tetons and surrounding area instead and plan a tip to glacier for another time.
if we fly into salt lake city would we pass any of the utah natl parks on the way to yellowstone? (we've been to zion and bryce already.)

trip to yellowstone/grand tetons
 

based on all your help i think we will fly into salt lake city and go to yellowstone, grand tetons and whatever else is around there. We are open to ideas.
it sp\sounds like it would not pay to go to glacier if the east side did not open up. any ideas for our new itinerary. We have seven days not counting our travel days.TIA

I would work on getting your lodging now, and then plan around that. It's late in the game to find lodging.

No the UT national parks wouldn't be on the way to Yellowstone. There isn't really anything overnight worthy along the way.

We visited Teton's and Yellowstone in 2019. Both are beautiful locations. I would recommend Jackson Hole WY as arrival/departure location. It is close to Tetons/Yellowstone. Check on overnight Reservations in the park, otherwise its lots of driving. You can try Signal Mountain Lodge in Tetons, Lake Yellowstone Hotel & Cabin, Old Faithful Lodge Cabins, and can't recall the lodging in northern Yellowstone, but if not available Granier is the closest town outside of Yellowstone. Recommend spending time in the Tetons and then going on to Yellowstone and back to Tetons, Jackson Hole WY.

I think that's a very good plan.

There will be a limited reopening of in park accommodations in Yellowstone again this year so you'll want to check on availability now and keep checking for updates in case of any changes https://www.yellowstonenationalparkl...om/summer2021/ The information for phase 1 reopening was just updated this week and some people are having their previous reservations canceled or changed to alternate properties. No date has been announced for phase 2. I expect that additional rooms will reopen in phase 2 like last year. However I wouldn't book anything that's not on the phase 1 list.

I'm not sure if accommodations in Grand Teton will fully reopen this year. Last year Jenny Lake Lodge and Jackson Lake Lodge didn't open.

You can also make reservations/back up reservations in the gateway towns of Gardiner, Cooke City or West Yellowstone for Yellowstone and Jackson for Grand Teton.

I don't blame you at all for not waiting around Spokane for the train that leaves after midnight. If you are jet lagged, drive to Coeur d' Alene on day one and then have a leisurely day driving to Whitefish on day 2.
Check to see if your Southwest points will get you to any of the Montana airports.

Southwest just announced that they'll start flying to Bozeman on May 27th. It's about 90 minutes to the north entrance of Yellowstone.

I read an article today reporting that about 50% of the people on the Blackfeet Reservation are now vaccinated, and it sounded like there was going to be a discussion about possibly opening the east side of the Park this summer.

THANKS so much!!!!!!!!!!! I just switched my flight!!!!!!!!!!!

You might. Want to change your flight again, Southwest just added Bozeman, MT 90 minutes from Yellowstone. I got flights from Hartford to Bozeman for $212 round trip.

Just to clarify we decided we will go to yellowstone/grand teton and surrounding area and save Glacier for another time.
Flying into Bozeman (yay) on a sunday and have until the following monday when we fly home. We will go straight to yellowstone ( we booked the grey wolf lodge there) and then go on to jackson to see the grand tetons. how many days do we need in each place? what else should we see?

Yes stay in Jackson or Grand Teton itself for Grand Teton. Since you need to be in Jackson on Friday, I think it makes sense to go to Yellowstone first, then Jackson/Grand Teton on Friday and Saturday. Sunday can be Jackson/Grand Teton or somewhere closer to the airport depending on the timing of your flight.

To clarify i switched my flight to bozeman.

yes thats what i meant I switched to bozeman!!

anyone have an itinerary?
hers what I'm thinking- day one- fly into bozeman and drive to east side of yellowstone to see the geysers. say overnight. Which city should we stay in. I saw something about roadclosers or constauction that would effect where to stay but now i can't find where i wrote that down.

day two-see geysers and whatever else is on that side of park and then drive to otherside.(should we stay there one more night?) We have accommodations in west yellowstone already
day 3 ad 4-hike/visit there-ideas for best things to do on west side of yellowstone
should we drive to the jackson area at night or start off in the morning of day 5?
day 5,6,7-grand Teton, jackson hole and other attractions. looking for ideas
day 8 flight in the morning from bozeman.

also i found a nive rental in victor that seems close to grand teton- is it too far to go from there? (jackson is very pricy in july so willing to drive a little to stay somewhere nice but affordable)

(also can i edit the name of my thread to change where i am going? I don't really want to start a new thread but will iif I have to)

You can't edit the name of your thread.
I think you should start a new one indicating you are (now) planning a trip to YNP and GTNP.

Generally speaking, you'll want to allocate the bulk of your time to Yellowstone. It's soooo big, plus you will have road stoppages due to animal jams. A couple of days, as Patty suggested, will cover the Tetons. Where to stay in towns outside the park? Your choices are limited - to the north, there is Gardiner. To the west, West Yellowstone (that's where we normally stay). Then for the Tetons, you have Jackson, Teton Village, and some more rustic choices in the Moran area. However, the best is getting lodging within the parks.

It is good that you can use points to get to a Montana airport. See if you can get a reservation for at least one night at either Mammoth Hot Springs or at Old Faithful inside Yellowstone. Obey the speed limits in the parks. If you are going to stop for a picture, make sure all 4 wheels are off the pavement when parking. Every year, someone (sometimes more) gets too close to an elk or a bison and gets gored.

I would check in park accommodation availability https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/ You can split your stay into multiple locations as the park is large. Keep in mind what I said in post #13 about limited reopenings and possible changes later.

If you can't find anything in the park, you can still see everything from West Yellowstone. It will mean more driving and lines at the gate to get in. You can also split your stay outside of the park between Gardiner and West Yellowstone.

The road between Tower and Canyon (Dunraven Pass) will be closed for construction until May 2022 https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvis...nstruction.htm so you'll need to take the road between Mammoth and Norris to go from the northern side to the southern side.

Do not drive after dark.

Accommodations inside Grand Teton
https://www.signalmountainlodge.com/
https://www.gtlc.com/lodges
Dornan's: Vacation in Jackson Hole!

Staying in Victor means you'll need to drive over Teton Pass to get to Grand Teton which is OK in July but means you'll have at least an hour commute each way. If you're looking for a vacation rental, I'd look in Wilson or Teton Village instead.

The main attractions in Yellowstone are the geyser basins and wildlife. The park website gives a good overview of each area https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm

The Tetons have spectacular mountain and lake views and hikes and also good wildlife. The park is more compact compared to Yellowstone so easier to do from one location https://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/places-to-go.htm

I like this site for hikes as you can sort by location, distance, etc https://hike734.com/hikingyellowstone/ and https://hike734.com/hikinggrandteton/

GNP East Side
 

THanks for this link. Planning on taking train into GNP and hoping East side opens up.

The Blackfeet tribe voted last week to allow the eastside of Glacier to open, so you should be good.

Eastbound or westbound on the Empire Builder? Currently only running 3 days per week each way. I hope that it goes back to 7 days sometime before July. I did once rent a car in Cut Bank MT from a car dealer. They left the key in the gas flap and the rental paper on the sun visor. If you are coming from Spokane, you can rent easily in Whitefish MT. My favorite lodging on the west side of GNP is the Meadow Lake Resort in Columbia Falls. There is also a flag stop at Essex MT for the Isaac Walton Lodge.

Westbound, already have roomette tickets and lodging in east side of GNP and car rental lined up. Ending in Seattle. Working on Car Rental there. Will drive to Portland via Mt. Rainier. :-)

Great news!!

Actually, Southwest just announced a new route, to Bozeman, which will be their "Yellowstone" gateway. Not sure how fares or car rentals will be in Bozeman yet, but I hope to give it a shot on our next Yellowstone trip. Otherwise, we have always flown into Salt Lake City for Yellowstone on Southwest.

Welcome to Fodors spencerross9357! When were your reservations for? They will start plowing the Going to the Sun Road in April and not before. The high point of the GTTS is at Logan Pass with a big parking lot. The road should be open all the way through to St. Mary in late June. If you can't get lodging for any reason on the east side, you can stay at the Meadow Lake Resort in Columbia Falls and go over the GTTS if the snow has been cleared. The Blackfoot tribe has no control over what the National Park Service chooses to do with the Going to the Sun Road.
If you fly into Spokane, you can take the Amtrak Empire Builder from SPK overnight to Whitefish MT where you can rent a car to see Glacier and then drive down to see at least some of Yellowstone coming in from Gardiner, MT. The Empire Builder leaves Spokane a little after midnight on the nights that it runs. It may go back to 7 day a week service during the summer. It gets into Whitefish about 9 AM MT.
There is also an airport just north of Kalispell MT where you can rent a car.

Yes Southwest does fly into Bozeman. I got tickets from CT for $106 each way plus taxes etc. it does change planes in Denver, and I have never had that low a fare to Denver, it might be that we got in when they just opened the route and so got a real good deal.

I was able to get 3 nights in Yellowstone. OF and 2 nights in Grand Teton, Colter Village cabin. The usual too expensive but location,location.

I have reserved a car at what I think is blood letting prices, but will be checking for something a little more reasonable, it may be a supply and demand thing.

Car rentals will be tough this year with the shortage https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/busin...ike/index.html

For those going to Glacier, you'll need a reservation to drive the Going to the Sun Road from May 28 to September 6 unless you have reserved accommodations or tours along the road https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvis...ketedentry.htm

Thank you so much for posting this. We are planning on going to Glacier during the time quoted and may have missed this requirement.

thanks again to all who replied to my original post. i've changed my trip am no longer going to glacir this summer.

the best way to see anything(that you don't have to drive and not see anything) is the Jammers.......