Sorry to delay! In response to Dayle - it is upper yellowstone valley. Owner said it was 40 minutes from mammoth springs, it was a nice location.
We fly into Bozeman on a thurs - arrive 2pm (if lucky) first lodge in yellowstone valley for 2 nights. We drive either to lodge OR right into the park for the first afternoon but imagine we will want rest after 2 flights/early am.
Day 2 - we will explore Lamar valley
There is also a "Yellowstone in a day" tour through the park for all major attractions, unsure if ideal for us, thoughts?
Day 3 - check out of lodge - drive to Old Faithful and explore this area a bit. We have 2 options, spend night at Old Faithful Snow Lodge OR continue the journey at our leisure until arriving at Signal Mountain and spend 2 nights there vs 1 and 1.
They told us at Signal mountain its just 1.5 hours back to Old Faithful should we desire to trick back - either way we know its a lot of driving but some of us have no choice but to take fast trips and see all we can.
Wolves are always top on my list- and i understand that is closer to Hayden.
Signal mountain looks so great that 2 nights there sound wonderful.
It seems ideal to break it up with the stay at Old Faithful but if we make it to that area on Day 2, then we may not need to?
Love your feedback, thanks all so much!

If you do not hve a reservation by now too late for in Park...they are all filled up. Book 6 months ahead.

kittygirl,

Again without an area or town name, I can't advise you if your "Yellowstone Valley" cabin is a good location. OF COURSE, the owner is going to say it's a good location. If you rest from your travel at the cabin on arrival day, then you are down to 3 days for Yellowstone and the Tetons.

About all you can do is drive through Yellowstone with almost no stops at all. You might get 2-3 hours at the Old Faithful area if seeing geysers is your priority.

If seeing wildlife and wolves especially is your priority, I would look into one of the wildlife specialty tours where you start at 3 am and head out. They will take you to the areas where the animals have been most recently spotted. Not cheap.

Signal Mtn. is lovely with great views, but I would spend 2 nts in Yellowstone and 1 in GTNP. As I mentioned in the beginning, you will not realize how short 4 nts really is until you get there. You will see only a tiny portion of both parks and will probably want to return.

Good luck planning!

Hi Dayle!
We were told it is 30 miles/30 minutes from Mammoth on hwy 89 south (26 miles from Gardiner) and on Dry Creek Rd in Upper Yellowstone Valley. Sounds close enough, and they said possible wolf sitings even there.

In addition to wildlife, we love gorgeous locations so "if" we can we hope to see some of the major sites. Yes, the goal is to return if/when work permits more time.

Thanks for your help and suggestions. We do have 1 night in the park at old faithful snow lodge - but that was a cancellation. Got lucky! That will be night 3. 4 at signal mountain.
Thank you!

Hope to get some feedback from above - thanks!

Hi folks!
We did it!
And it was heaven. We saw most of the park, grizzly and cub, elk, bison walking the road, and every major site in YS, and a day in Tetons. It was perfect flying into Bozeman and out of Jackson. We only stayed in Tetons, and Gardiner area otherwise and we had the perfect trip! Thanks!

How bad was the construction zone from Mammoth to Norris?
Never plan on getting from point A to point B in a set amount of time in Yellowstone. Between animal encounters and things you suddenly realize you want to stop and take a walk to see, the point A to point B can take 3 times as long as you had planned.
The road between Norris and Mammoth was closed from about 10PM to 7AM for the construction when I was through there twice in August.