PHayden

Now that I have gotten all the feedback on where to stay, I have a tenative itinerary that I want to get feed back on:
Sun Sept 6-fly to Jackson(arrive about noon), rent a car & drive to GT. Stay 4 nights at Signal Mountain Lodge
Thur Sept 10-drive to Yellowstone. Stay 4 nights at Old Failthful Inn
Mon Sep 14-move to Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel & cabins and stay 4 nights
Fri - Sept 18 drive to Jackson & fly home (flight home around noon)
Is 4 nights in GT & 8 nights in Yellowstone about right? Should we plan on staying the last night closer to the airport? When I make my reservations at Signal Mountain Lodge & Mammoth Hot Springs is it best to get a cabin or one of the hotel rooms? There are only 2 of us. At Old Faithful Inn where should I ask for a room to make sure I get a good view of Old Faithful?

swisshiker

Hello PHayden

I'd definitely stay closer to the Jackson Airport on your last night. From Mammoth to the airport is quite a trek, especially with a noon flight.

Dayle

P,

Ditto Swisshiker's comment. Trying to make a noon flight all the way from Mammoth will be tough.

I wouldn't worry about asking for an Old Faithful view room. You have great views of the geyser anytime you set outside. You won't want to be seeing it from your room anyway.

Have fun

AlJ

To me, it would be good to spend 2 or 3 nights on the east side of the park. Lake is what would best suit your schedule. Canyon closes 9/13. That would give you good access to Hayden Valley. Getting to Lamar Valley from Mammoth wouldn't be too bad and should be an interesting drive.

You have a lot of time to enjoy the area. One thing you might consider is 1 or 2 nights less in the Tetons and check out Cody. Many people seem to thing its worth it.

You have what should be a wonderful trip laid out.

When flying out of Jackson Hole to go home, we've stayed at Jackson Lake Lodge the past couple of years. Any of the Teton lodges would be OK for that last night. JLL is about a 50 minute drive to the airport.

maj

Another suggestion. I would spend one less night at the beginning in the Tetons and the last night of your trip in Jackson. We have stayed at Signal Mountain twice to catch a noon flight out of Jackson and it isn't a problem getting to the airport, but Jackson is a neat little town and close (about 15 minutes) to the southern part of the Tetons (and the airport). I'm pretty sure (but could be wrong) that Signal Mountain doesn't have hotel rooms.

tambennett

Wow! 12 nights in that area is a lot! We spent 2 nights at Yellowstone and 2 nights at the Grand Tetons last July! It was plenty of time!!! I hope you don't get bored! I would definitely stay in Jackson the night before your flight! Jackson Hole is a nice, quaint town that you may want to consider spending some time in! Have fun!!!!

Dayle

Umm, I really must strongly disagree with tambennett. 4 days in the area is NOT plenty of time, unless you drive through without getting out of the car, not even once.

tambennett

Dayle,
We spent a lot of time out of the car! We hiked several trails and saw everything the park had to offer! We are very active though! I suppose if you want to spend several hours at each spot it might take more than a few days!

swisshiker

Hello tambennet
You saw EVERYTHING in 2 days? Wow. You really must have been moving quickly. I've spent 2 whole weeks there each of the past few years, and I still haven't seen it all. Must be some heckuva guidebook you've got to get thru so quickly.

To PHayden
I wanted to say that on our last morning before our flight home (around noon), we enjoy taking one last drive past the Mormon Row in the morning. The view of the sunrise on the mountain range is just gorgeous, and that last peek is always one of our best photos. Also, it gives you a chance to drive past Moose Road to see if the animals are out getting their morning meal from the willows or the marshes. It's just a nice way to end the trip.

We've stayed at both Jackson Lodge and also the town of Jackson before a flight. Both options are good. But in your case, since your itinerary doesn't have you spending a night in the town of Jackson, perhaps that's a good time to give it a try for the last night. It's kind of a unique town, lots of shops of course, but tons of character. Have yourself a nice dinner, check out the antler arches in the town square, a couple of the shops with good animal displays, and maybe even the visitor center. IMO, the Jackson Visitor Center has the best giftshop in town.

Happy travels!

PHayden

Thanks for all the advice. We will definitely stay in Jackson on our last night. I don't think there is a chance we will get bored. We stayed in GT & Yellowstone for a week 30 years ago and weren't bored. We love the outdoors and don't want to be rushed. This way we can see alot and do it in a relaxed time frame.

swisshiker

Way to go PHayden! You've done well on your planning.

If you're looking for a terrific guidebook, you might want to check out Amazon or B&N for "Yellowstone Treasures" by Janet Chapple. It's jam-packed with information, including road logs with mileage specific information, detailed maps of each area, lots of pictures. Can't recommend it enough. Mine is dog-eared and highlighted throughout, goes with me each year.

Happy travels!

RedRock

We have been to the park at least 20 times over the years. Sometimes camping and sometimes moteling it, normally in Cooke City. Our last visit was this past Aug for 4 nights, the Hoosier Motel in Cooke. Next year will be a camping year.. Soda Butte CG (NF), Pebble Creek (NP) or Indian Creek (NP)... We always manage see and do something different with each visit.

spirobulldog

Taking good shape now. The only thing, I wish you had 2 or 3 nights on the east side.

In order to do this you would have to go to Canyon first, because they are set to close that week. Although their website states that it is an estimated closing date and that it will be determined later by NPS, so you might just want to stick with what you have now. So you would be the last guests for the season. It may not be worth the trouble for you to switch everything. It would just put you in proximity to everything on that side for 2 or 3 days. Then again you can certainly just plan on drving out from Mammoth and Old Faithful over to the east side for 2 or 3 day trips. Sometimes just driving along the road yields a lot of wildlife. At least you are not going to be rushed and even if you do have a day or two of rain or weather you will still have time to see and do a ton and relax as well.

Now to start planning those Hikes and meals. lol Everyone will have an opinion on those as well. My wife says she wishes she had two days to do nothing but sit and watch geysers. We really liked Castle Geyser. Riverside is a nice one also.

I don't think the room at Old Faithful matters. We did the Original area- that didn't include a bathroom, but it was noisy because we were beside the staircase. The bathroom is no big deal to me, but my wife would probably say otherwise. If either of you goes to the bathroom during the night, I would probably get a room with a bathroom.

I have a book that suggests rooms, even the room that Bill Clinton stayed in. here is what it says

Room 229 is a corner room- no bath that offers great view of Old Faithful

room 46 is large rustic and has unique corner seat

room 243 has its own private staircase and is uniquely shaped

best rooms with a bath are room 8 and 208, both have two bedrooms

room 127 is large and has view of geyser basin. Pres Clinton stayed in this one

avoid rooms 1 thru 6 as they are in a hallway and are heavily used by nonguests

rooms 1012,1020,1024 and corresponding rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors offer good views of old faithful these are in the east wing

best rooms on the west wing are 2073 and 2074

Now, I don't know if any of this is correct, but thats what the book suggests. The books title is National Park Lodges and it has about 40 different lodges in it. It goes into great detail about everything from parking at cabins, etc.

spirobulldog

If you want any details about Signal or Mammoth and can tell you what the book says about those also. Are you doing cabins at those?

PHayden

Well, since this is only a plan and no reservations yet, it is easy enough for me to switch things around and go straight to Canyon after leaving the Tetons and then after Canyon go to Mammoth and then Old Faithful Inn. I may try to fit in 2 nights at Jackson too. I will rearrange & see what I can do.
Spirobulldog, yes, send me the information on Mammoth & Signal too as well as Canyon. I'll have to look for the National Park book and also the Yellowstone Treasures book. Thanks everyone.

maj

That last plan sounds good to me. We were there about 10 years ago in mid September. We were at Tower in short sleeves one day and two days later there was quite a bit of snow, and Dunraven Pass (the road between Canyon and Tower) was closed. The next year we went back at the end of September and -- no snow at all.

The snow only added to the beauty of the place and didn't stop anything else we did. I'm not saying this to worry you about the weather. You just might want to include that part of the park in the early part of your trip, especially if you stay at Canyon.

We have stayed at Dunraven Lodge and Cascade Lodge. (the lodges at Canyon) They are right next to each other (and the cabins are all spread out in the same area). Dunraven is newer and has an elevator. Cascade is older, but the rooms are similar. The cabins are spread out and we've never stayed in them so I can't comment on them. There really isn't a view in that area -- IMO location doesn't matter at Canyon.

spirobulldog

Signal Mountain has a ton of variety of lodging options Do you know what you have in mind there? are you doing a cabin, country room, family bungalow or what. Normally I would go for a cabin, but these are all double beds, and we like at least a queen. The book suggests Upper Lakefront unit 152 or Lower Lakefront unit 151

2 room cabins 136,138,142,143,and 144 are two rooms and have good views. one room cabin 129,146,and 147 provides partial lakeviews. avoid cabin 107 and 112 which have a porch directly on the road.

In Mammoth if you are in the main building try to get corner rooms 230,231,330 and 331. Cabins without a bath that are reccomended are c26,c27,c30. Cabins with a bath reccomended are b14,b15,b16,c46,c27,c30

in Canyon - western cabins 1-10, 53-58, 81, and 84 are nicest as far as the cabins. in Dunraven Lodge try for second or third floor rooms on the south side (odd numbered rooms) that face the woods rather than the parking lot.
rooms on the 3rd floor, especially 305 and 307 are larger and offer views of the woods.

spirobulldog

What Maj has to say about Dunraven and Cascade is exactly what the book states. It says Dunraven has an elevator. It says either of the lodge unites are more upscale than the cabins. It says rooms on the 4th floor of Dunraven are somewhat smaller than the rest.

spirobulldog

One more thing, I think this is near the new visitor center. We thought it was a good one, along with the new one at the Tetons.

PHayden

There will only be my husband & me so we don't need a 2 bedroom place. Where can you find out about the different choices in rooms/cabins? There is so little information on the www.travelyellowstone.com web site it is hard to tell what each one has to offer. We prefer queen beds with our own bathroom but will do double beds if that is all there is.