Trying To Keep Yellowstone Simple
 

I have been reading and reading many trip reports on what to do in Yellowstone and I am truly overwhelmed. I am hopeing someone can keep it simple for us. We have 5 days to be in Yellowstone. We will be flying in and out of Jackson. Our goal is to see alot of wildlife....should we stay at a few hotels to experience different areas or just one?I am afraid if we get too far off the beaten path and getting back to Jackson will be difficult...Please help!!Thanks so much..I also understand it takes years to truly expereince Yellowstone..just want a great overview with the time we have.

Author: MyBailey
Date: 12/04/2007, 06:07 pm
Just posted the above message and I forgot to say we are planning this trip for September 2008. We have not made plane reservations yet, we could fly in and out of Boseman if that would be better that time of year. Thanks again

You need to keep all the info together in one thread else nobody will know what trip you are talking about

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Author: MyBailey
Date: 12/04/2007, 06:07 pm

Just posted the above message and I forgot to say we are planning this trip for September 2008. We have not made plane reservations yet, we could fly in and out of Boseman if that would be better that time of year. Thanks again

There isn't really anywhere you can go with your car in Yellowstone that is off the beaten path. You may want to stay at a couple of hotels just to be based in different parts of the park but it won't be real necessary. Some of the better animal sighting areas seem to be in the vicinity of Canyon hotel, although we saw elk and bison all over. The Hayden valley south of Canyon is popular with people looking for animals because it has habitat for them and open spaces so you can see them. The same is true of the Lamar Valley east of Roosevelt Junction. When we were there this past June (2007) there was a herd of elk eating the lawns in Mammoth and grizzly bears on the slopes north of Canyon on the way up Dunraven pass. If you stay in Canyon, you can day trip to anywhere in the park and it is all animal territory so you may see them anywhere.

One of the best wildlife viewing areas in the Park is the Lamar Valley. Its home to several of the Yellowstone wolf packs. http://www.ylwstone.com/lamar.html This site will give you an idea of what you may see. The best time for viewing is early morning/late evening.

Thanks for the info---which of the Yellowstone Lodging properties is closest to the Lamar Valley? Which might be closest to the Canyon area?

I empathize with your feeling overwhelmed - we did before we went.

First, Jackson is at the southern end of Grand Teton National Park, thru which yout must drive to get to Yellowstone - they are continguous. Picture GTNP as long and narrow and YNP as a big rectangle. There is essentially one north-south road thru GTNP and a figure-8 road configuration in YNP.

Distances are great and also take longer than one would expect - animal jams make time predictions estimates at best.

Air - check fares. We found Jackson to be expensive, but less so than Bozeman or even Idaho Falls. Denver or SLC are usually much less expensive, but involve a much longer drive to/from Parks - so for your time frame not really an option.

Get a book that lists things to see in the order they are encountered as you drive thru the Park. Other than one or 2 main things you must see - like Old Faithful - don't overplan. Set some general time frames for each area and just drive, park, get out, look around.

So here is a plan. Fly into Jackson. Spend night one there. Depending on time, you may be able to see some of GTNP or just tour around Jackson.

Since your stated goal is wildlife, spend less time in GTNP. Day 2, get up early and drive thru GTNP, stopping at a few places. Night 2 and 3 spend in West Yellowstone area - either in or out of Park. Spend those 2 days seeing lower loop of Park.

Next 2 days spend seeing upper loop - we stayed in Gardiner and that worked for us. But there are in-Park options as well.

Flying home. If you are ending up in Gardiner, it will take several hours to get back to Jackson. We had a mid-afternoon flight home and that worked fine. It is too long a drive to catch an AM flight.

Hope that gives you a general plan/overview from which you can begin to build.

Bring warm clothing - we were there in August 2 years ago and had to scrape frost off windshield in AM.

In Park the nearest lodgings to the Lamar Valley would be Roosevelt Lodge, with Canyon and Mammoth next. Outside the parks NE entrance is the old mining town of Cooke City and Silver Gate MT.

http://www.colorado-west.com/cooke/

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

We tried to put information on our website that might be helpful for first time visitors. There's trip reports and several pictures. The pictures usually tell where we saw the wildlife. There's also a set of maps to what locations of the park, distances and what some of the areas look like. It might help you get oriented.

www.AlandSueJohnson.com
Yellowstone link is at the top left.

was just in yellowstone and gtnp this past september.

but i had 10 days... IF wildlife, NOT thermal features is your goal, then i suggest staying in the Lake area, it may be crowded as there is a lot of infrastructure there, it is the best way to save time for your viewing areas.

I used jackson, lake area, gardiner

Roosevelt closes labor day weekend regardless of the weather so your closest in park place to stay close to lamar is not an option. Cooke City, Silver Gate closest.

Hayden valley, closest - Canyon area

in the hayden valley i saw: wolves, elk, bison, pronghorn, deer

in lamar valley: pronghorn, grizzley, coyote, bison, elk

Black bear was reported in the canyon area at this time.

if you want to stay out side the park and visit these areas, be advised that there are very few services in the northeast enterance.

west yellowstone and gardiner have a lot more options.

We always stay in Cooke City or camp in the area, just for the reasons given. Less people, more wildlife, and yes there is anything you need located there... Few tourist enter or exit the park via the NE entrance. Its also a good overnight if you are planning on the Chief Joseph Highway or the Bear Tooth as your avenue either coming or going.

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/06jul/03.htm

Here's my suggestions. Fly in and out of Jackson. Go from airport to Canyon (we like this location best in the park and don't like to spend time moving around). Stop on the way at things you may want to see (hopefully animal sightings along the way). From Canyon, I would go one day to the Lamar Valley and onto Mammoth back past Norris Basin and then back to Canyon (northern loop) (alternating as needed -- like said above, have a very loose itinerary so if you want to stop and spend some time in an area you won't feel rushed -- can't begin to see everything). Another day, aim for the Old Faithful (thermal areas - southern loop). Spend at least part of a day at Canyon walking down the trails. Leave a day free to go where you want or didn't get to before. Drive back to Tetons and spend the rest of the day there. You can either spend your last night in the Tetons (ex. Signal Mountain) or in Jackson. Is that five days -- if not, leave out the free day.

Your best animal sightings will probably occur while you are driving from place to place. When you get closer to your trip, check out yellowstone.net forums for where the animals sightings are at that time.

With 5 days, I would fly into Bozeman and out of Jackson. You will save lots of time by not backtracking. I really believe in staying inside the park. You will save driving time, and the evening is a great time to see wildlife and the park is quieter. Come in through the north entrance, stopping to see Mammoth Hot Springs. Look for elk here. Then head to the Roosevelt area for 2 nights. If seeing wildlife is your main goal, the Lamar Valley here is your best bet. You can stay at the Roosevelt cabins, which are very basic but clean. We set out every morning before breakfast to look for animals and saw wonderful things each time--grizzly, black bears and cubs, coyote, wolves, etc. From here, you can visit Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, a must-see and you can look for animals in Hayden Valley. Then drive down past Lake Yellowstone, stopping to see West Thumb Geyser Basin on your way to Old Faithful. Stay at the Old Faithful Inn, a fabulous historic hotel, for 2 nights. From here visit Norris Geyser Basin. Then head to the Grand Tetons, staying at the Jackson Lake Lodge for 1 night. There is a ranger on the porch of the hotel each night pointing out wildlife. Visit Oxbow Bend to see moose. Then head to the Jackson airport, which you reach before you get to Jackson. Have a great time!

We spend every summer just outside Yellowstone and never get tired of exploring it. September is the best time to visit in my opinion - but be sure to be prepared for temperature extremes. I would suggest staying in the Yellowstone Lake area or Canyon area. That way you can branch out a different direction each day. If you like to hike be sure to pick up one of the many hiking guides for the Park. The ones around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are wonderful as are the ones close to Old Faithful. Although Old Faithful is fun to see, the other geysers in the area are more exciting - get a schedule of approximate eruption times at the Park Service Visitor Center.
The North East sector is the least visited , but perhaps the most rewarding for wolf, griazzly & black bear sightings. Always plan more time than the mileage would indicate - travel is slow and you will want to explore some of the short walks to overlooks and waterfalls. Have a wonderful time.

P. S. Bozeman might be a better option.

I'm with digbydog - - - go into Bozeman and out of Jackson, to avoid backtracking. We used United Airlines through Denver to do this in September (from east coast). You might want to spend the last night at Jackson Lake Lodge or Jenny Lake Lodge, in the Grand Tetons - closer to the airport, and with great scenery.

We were just there last year. Do not stay in the same place the whole time. You will spend too much time driving from one end of the park to the other. It takes about 4 hours to drive across the park.

BE aware there is usual road construction on one of these loops..which require detours and delays... I think this info is available on the web site noted previously..
We saw lots of animals in Larmar valley
You can Google
National Geographic --Yellowstone National Park. Great info..