Planning a trip in August with husband and two kids ( 9 and 11), flying from Austin,TX to Jackson. Watching airfare currently $340-375..not sure what is a good price?? We have rooms booked at Old Faithful Inn Aug 13 and 14 (mon and tue, and the next 2 nights at Mammoth. Thought about changing to Canyon Village... any input?? I like to get up early and hike and watch the sunrise. From YNP I want to spend a night or two in Cody. How long (time and miles) will it take to drive from Cody to Jackson?? Mammoth to Canyon Village?? Canyon Village to Cody?? Also planning on 1-2 nights in Jackson depending on when we fly in/out. Thanks for the help

If you decided to spend a couple of nights in Cody, then don't plan on driving back into the park for the day...with the construction going on, you be better off staying in the park. Now if you want to spend time in Cody, that's different.

I think either Mammoth or Canyon make an excellent choice for doing the upper circle of Yellowstone. Canyon is closer to Hayden Valley which is an excellent place to see a wide varitey of wildlife. Canyon would be closer for going to Cody, but if you were in Mammoth going to Cody you could take the Beartooth Highway out of the park and work you way down to Cody outside the park.

Utahtea

I would like to stay in Cody, go to the museum and take in rodeo.

Canyon Village is more centrally located than Mammoth, and its hiking is probably more diverse and easier to get to. Its lodging is average. Mammoth is more historic (part of it is the old army base used to patrol the park when it was first conceived). The Mammoth Hot Springs themselves can be outstanding or disappointing, depending upon the extent of thermal activity occurring - it varies. When we were there the Minerva Terrace was bleach white and dry as a bone.

If you do end up staying at Mammoth Hot Springs, take a short ride north to the Montana-Wyoming border inside the park. There is a parking area on either side of the road right by the border sign. From the east parking lot take the trail south along the Gardner River for about three-quarters of a mile to where the trail ends. Wear a swimsuit and bring a towel. You won't be disappointed

I am leaning towards Canyon Village and drive to Mammoth for a hike or two and go for a soak!! I really enjoy going out for a solo hike in the morning while my family sleeps in..

We stayed at Canyon for our entire Yellowstone stay. It was easy to reach the other parts of the parks - and driving home at twilight was when we had many of our best wildlife sightings. One of the best days we had was driving to Mammouth for the "boiling pot" and then taking the horseback ride to dinner at Roosevelt.

If you are going to Cody for the Museum then you will probably want to spend at least one night in Cody.

The hot springs for bathing near Mammoth were closed last year to the public...don't know if that will be the same this year.

Utahtea

"The hot springs for bathing near Mammoth were closed last year to the public...don't know if that will be the same this year.

Utahtea"



It was open when I went in September.

furledleader,

Thanks for the update. We were there in early June and they were closed.

Utahtea

I'm quite fond of staying at the Old Faithful cabins. They're cozy, clean, and afford easy walking access to other geysers on a walking trail nearby. We even had a moose eating grass outside our cabin once!

Here's a listing of road closures at Yellowstone, to help with your planning.
http://tinyurl.com/285tqa

I like Canyon Village for the same reasons mentioned above. We stayed in one of the newer lodges at Canyon and were really happy with our choice. The cabins at Canyon looked scary, so I was glad we stayed in the lodge.

We went to the rodeo in Cody and the highlight was the calf chase. All children 12 and under were invited into the arena to try and pull a ribbon off a calf's tail. My kids had a blast and I was laughing so hard that I was crying. Make sure your children have good footwear if they are interested in particapating. My son was wearing flip flops. That didn't stop him though, he took them off and ran barefooted after the calf. His feet were black by the time the event ended.

We had the same experience as Utahtea - we went in early July 2005 and the boiling river was closed at that time for public soaking.

How long of a drive from Canyon Village to Cody?

mapquest states 2hrs 20 min, is that about right?

We went out of the east gate from Canyon to Cody - a gorgeous drive - and made it in about 3 1/2 hours with iced roads, 15 - 25 mph driving, and road construction. That was in September, so it shouldn't take nearly as long in August. Just watch the east gate closings times, this past year it closed at 8 PM and opened at 8 AM.

We overnighted one night in Cody at the Chamberlin Inn. It's a beautifully refurbished old inn with a terrific downtown location. We thoroughly enjoyed the Cody museum (a pass is good for 2 days so we went that afternoon and the next morning), then we returned to YNP via Chief Joseph and Beartooth through the northeast gate and made it to Mammoth in time to take a dip in the boiling river.

Hi smom,

I would exercise caution regarding solo hiking. I do it all the time, but only under these circumstances:

Popular, well-traveled trail
Know that it's easily within my ability level

Yellowstone has bears. If hiking alone, be sure to make a lot of noise. Cuts down on the chances of surprising a bear. They don't like surprises.

Have you considered doing the chuckwagon dinner out of Roosevelt? I think your kids are at the perfect age for it, and it's supposed to be great. (I always end up in Yellowstone before Roosevelt opens for the summer.) If you want to go, you'll need reservations well in advance.

I worked the chuck wagon dinner train at Roosevelt Lodge for a year and couldn't recommend it more highly. Everyone loves it. It's a down-home western cook-out (ribeyes, cowboy corn, Roosevelt Beans) with stories and live music from the staff. You get there either on horse back or stage coach. I still can't believe that I got paid for that.

Also, Roosevelt Lodge is a great place for a meal. Kicking back on the porch, sipping on a Yellowtone Sunrise and taking in all the scenery is one of the reasons why Roosevelt is the best.

This what we are planning:
arrive late saturday in Jackson-no reservations yet
Sunday-GTNP
Monday-drive to YNP-Old Faithful area-have reservations @lodge
Tuesday-Yellowstone Lake-stay @ Old Faithful
Wednesday-Canyon area-stay in Mammoth-have reservations
Thursday-Roosevelt area-cookout haven't made reservations yet: stay in Mammoth
Friday-drive to Cody via Beartooth
Saturday-Cody
Sunday-stay in either Cody or Billings: planning on 2:30pm flight. Flying into Jackson and leaving from Billings was cheaper than a roundtrip from Jackson. Currently tickets are $340 (including taxes) from Austin,TX and leaning towards buying them this week. Last year on vacation we waited and our airfare to Seattle went up $150.00 per ticket!

We are booked to stay at Roosevelt cabins in early July. Having read some of the postings I just wondered whether we need to book for the chuckwagon dinner or will we be able to book when we arrive?

Dot

If you really want to do it, book now. It would be a shame to not be able to go because you didn't.