ClaudiaD

Hello! My son and his fiance will be married in July. July 24-29th they'd like to spend their honeymoon in Yellowstone. I'm the groom's mom and have been asked to put their trip together because I love planning trips so much , much because of this website and experience I had here a couple of years ago planning a trip to Sicily. So,I'm wondering what anyone thinks about flying into Billings, MT and then enjoy the drive to Yellowstone from there. I thought the end of their trip they can fly out of Jackson, WY.

Question: Can you stay in one hotel within or just outside Yellowstone and see all the sights in the "figure 8" within reasonable driving time? Or, is it best to stay in a hotel toward the northern end and then the southern end to see the sights with less driving.

They'd like to hike and aren't novices but not ready for rock climbing or difficult hikes. Outside of the "tourist" hikes, are there any hidden hikes you'd recommend?

My son loves ATV's . . any group tours of Yellowstone or Grand Teton on ATV's?

I thought staying in Jackson, WY would be fun toward the end of their trip before they fly home. Can you enjoy the town of Jackson as well as the Grand Tetons from this location? Any recommended sites in GT or Jackson?

I also thought it would be fun for them to see a rodeo or something "local" . . any bands playing in quaint towns playing music typical of the area?

Any recommendations hotels in both locations? Remember they'll be newlyweds but they like to meet new people.

Cooke City and West Yellowstone look like fun, any experience there?

Thank you so much for your help,
ClaudiaD

HowardR

First of all, slow down in your planning. They are only going for five days.....and it's their honeymoon!
Five days is barely enough time to sample Yellowstone and the Teton!
Responding to some of your specific questions, obviously, it'll be much easier if they stay inside YNP for that portion of the trip. However, Jackson is close enough to the Teton that they could easily drive to the park from the town.

Photodog

Chances of getting in park accomodations this late are very slim. For in park accomodations go to www.xanterra.com
There are 188 miles of road in the park. So they will have a lot of driving to do even staying at Gardiner or West Yellowstone. Be sure to get a buffalo burger at Helens in Gardiner.
There is no off road motorized trails in either Yellowstone or the Tetons. You may want to check the national forest outside of the Tetons.
The Cascade Canyon trail in the Tetons goes past Hidden Falls and up behind the main peaks for a seldom seen vista.
For planning help check out www.nps.gov/yell for Yellowstone.

jamesl1

One can stay at the East Entrance side of Yellowstone which is in the center of the Park for a number of days and do both the upper and lower loops of the "figure 8" and from these lodgings at www.yellowstone-lodging.com one can go to a rodeo in Cody Wy June-August look at www.CodyChamber.org Cody is on the way from Billings to Yellowstone. Avalanche Peak is a terrific hike with a 360 degree veiw at the top it starts at Lake Elenour near Sylvan Pass on the east side of the Park your son and his fiance could drive down to Jackson and stay for a day and either stay there and fly back or drive back to Billings out the Northeast entrance of the Park to fly back

gail

We went to a local rodeo in West Yellowstone. After the rodeo performers announced everyone was going to some local bar for music and beer (we passed on that - had teenagers with us).

Do not know what their budget is, but airfare from most parts of the country is very high to all reasonable airports. Some people even fly into Salt Lake City, but that adds the better part of the day to drive. Even the drive to Jackson for final fly-out takes hours from most of Yellowstone, but is very close to GTNP.

Five days will only give them a drive-by experience of most of both Parks - any chance they can extend trip?

keymom

With this short amount of time, I would not plan too many extra activities. We stayed in cabins at the Canyon and had no trouble doing all the driving of the loops from there. I suspect West Yellowstone would be similar. The days stay light very late so we never had trouble getting home from our exploration. While they are at Old Faithful, they should take the trail up the hill behind the geyser. It's short but steep and gives a great view of the eruption. They should also take water shoes and towels so they can explore the Boiling Pot (where a hot stream mingles with a cold river) near Mammouth. Make reservations for them one night in one of the nicer restaurants (Old Faithful or Lake Yellowstone). If you limit Grand Tetons to a few hours as you drive through (which would let you see the vistas and have lunch), then you could squeeze in a white water rafting trip in Jackson.

ClaudiaD

You're all wonderful, thank you very much for the help. And Howard R . . you're right! They'll want some quiet time to themselves for sure.

Claudia