We're traveling the last weekend in July. After driving 22 hours from Chicago starting Thursday night (stopping somewhere "almost" close to Yellowstone Friday night), our 3-night reservation at Old Faithful Inn starts Saturday afternoon.

Tentative plans are as follows:
--Saturday afternoon, sightsee very close to Old Faithful, minimizing car travel.
--Sunday, 7am: drive north to Gardiner (1-1/2 hrs) for 9am whitewater rafting trip till 11;30. Work our way back south through Mammoth Springs (brief stop), Norris Geyser Basin and other sights. Pick up backpack meal for picnic dinner along the way.
--Monday, early: drive to Canyon Lodge area for sightseeing. May consider 1 or 2 hour horseback ride. Hope to see several key watefalls. In the afternoon, take boat ride on Yellowstone Lake (or maybe not). Dinner at Yellowstone Lake Hotel.
Tuesday, mid morning: Sadly, already leave Yellowstone, and head for Mt. Rushmore SD.

This is our first trip here, with two boys. As much as I to miss time in the park, whitewater rafting is something we've been wanting to try. I recognize this is a personal decision, but is this itinerary begin to capture the greatness of Yellowstone?

any feedback?

If you consider this trip a brief introduction to Yellowstone, knowing there is MUCH more to see and vowing to return, I'd say you can capture the essence of the park.
Spend that first afternoon at Old Faithful Inn just walking the geyser paths right out your front door. It's a beautiful area and there's plenty to see right there. You will love the inn and so will the boys. Sit out on the mezzanine deck and watch Old Faithful erupt... very relaxing.
For breakfast while you are at the Inn, stroll down to the Hamilton's store just down the hill and eat before you head out. It's delicous and very reasonably priced. You can also do a little souvenior shopping or pick up groceries/snacks.
For suggestions on how to most effectivly use the rest of your time in YNP, I would post a question on the Yellowstone National Park Chat page. They were very helpful when I was planning my five-day trip this summer. Good luck and have fun!
http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/wwwboard/chat2.htm

I think you may be pushing your luck by trying to get the 56 miles from Old Faithful to Gardiner and make your 9am Whitewater trip if you leave at 7. The park speed limit is 45 and sections of the road don't allow speeds this fast due to potholes. Have been stopped for quite some time by bison who stopped on the road.
Have you thought about possiblity of doing the whitewater trip on Sat coming from your hotel "almost close" to Yellowstone? Otherwise you will be driving over 100 miles to and from Gardiner the same day. Check http://www.nps.gov/yell/planvisit/or...l/roadclos.htm.
If you have time visit Helen's in Gardiner. It's well known for its buffalo burgers.

Hi there - I think your itin is just fine and the whitewater rafting is a great idea to break up the car touring. You'll love it. With your itin, you'll be able travel the full loop within the park as well as up to Mammoth. To give you perspective, I took my friends from CA on a one day trip to the park as we were staying in Big Sky (Highway 191). We left around 9am from Big Sky, b-fast in west yellowstone, did the loop from west yellowstone and visted paintpots/ geyser basin/old faithful, stopped at yellowstone lake (briefly), pulled off on way to canyon village to see bison, etc., walked to inspiration/artist points for upper/lower falls (a must do), and drove back out via norris/madison/west yellowstone and back to Big Sky in time for dinner. Fairly quick trip throught the park but nonetheless, our friends felt they got a great taste of yellowtone. Question - do you plan to come in and out of the park through Cody (east entrance)? I assume you might take I90 from chicago? Anyway, one suggestion to see a gorgeous part of the park is to keep on I90 to Billings (longer but possibly not much slower b/c on the highway) and go into the park through Red Lodge and the Beartooth pass/cooke City on Highway 212. IMO, the cody entrance doesn't hold a candle to the beartooth highway entrance as the beartooth pass as you climb (steeply) out of Red Lodge (cute town w/ a great pizza place called Bogarts)is breathtaking. Maybe you'll already thought of this possibility but thought I'd mention it. The drive from cooke city to tower junction is really pretty with lots of bison (not that you'll have any lack of seeing bison) and from tower junction to canyon village is one of your best chances of seeing bears! With this route, you should cover the majority of the park with the exception of the south and west entrances (which is ok although west yellowstone does have a cool Grizzly discovery center with up close views of grizzlies and wolves in a very nicely done facility with an imax, etc (bears/wolves were "problem" animals pulled out of wild to avoid having to kill them). Doing rafting/horseback riding, etc. is good because depending on the ages of your boys, the car sightseeing can become a little boring, especially as you end up backtracking certain parts of the loop (I recall my sister saying one trip as we were going between norris and madison jcts for what seemed the 100th time and crossing and recrossing the Gibbon river that it was "Gibbon her a headache".) Some strategy in the loop travels is always a good idea although cannot really avoid backtracking - snacks/picnic stuff in car is always smart! Have a great time!

What great feedback, thank you! I will definitely check out your suggestions, and yes, I will vow to return taking some of the pressure off to see everything. The guide at Gardiner did tell us to leave by 6:45, so that may make a difference in us getting there, but thanks for the warning. We were also given Helen's for buffalo burgers from the guide, so that IS our lunch spot.

We are still undecided which entrance we'll be coming from. We have Friday night open, which is still up for debate. I think our options are enter from Cody, from the Tetons, or from Billings. We may just have to flip a coin (which doesn't seem right!?), but our approach is still open. May start a new post on this issue. Thanks again for your comments and well wishes.