InMiami

Greetings fellow travelers, My partner and I are finally visiting Yellowstone. We fly into Jackson Hole 7/18 at 1pm and fly out 7/25 at 1pm. Please critique our itinerary. My partner has a Wildlife Rehabilitation License so wildlife will be our focus.
7/18- fly into Jackson, detour slightly to take the Wilson-Moose road towards Old Faithful Lodge. Two nights in a queen room with bath in original building. (you can imagine how difficult that was to get!)
7/20-drive to Canyon lodge (standard room with bath) exploring Haden valley and the canyon.
7/21- three nights at Roosevelt lodge in a Frontier cabin with bath (another impossible reservation requiring obsessive checking!). Tour Lamar valley.
7/24- Drive back to Old Faithful via Mammoth and staying in a OF Lodge cabin with bath.
7/25- Leave for Jackson by 9
Any suggestions on short hikes? Where to see wildlife and a bit of geysers? Thank you for any assistance.

Patty

Your itinerary looks fine but I would want some time at Grand Teton too so would probably swap the final night at OF Lodge for a night at GTNP. We've found the wildlife viewing to be very good in the Tetons as well but it may be difficult to change plans at this point.

Lost Lake is a short hike that starts directly behind Roosevelt Lodge https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/yell-trail-lost-lake.htm

The trail from the Yellowstone River picnic area has nice views https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/yell-...icnic-area.htm

Are you familiar with the forums at yellowstone.net? That's a good source of info, particularly wildlife related, for both parks.

InMiami

Thank you Patty, great insights. I had not seen the Yellowstone.net site. Lots of goodies. The topography map offered gives me a better understanding of the terrain. Very helpful.
i agree more time in the Tetons might be better. I have tried to change my last night from OF cabin to Colter Bay Village but no luck. I might have to bite the bullet and get one of the more expensive rooms. Have you driven the Wilson Moose road? It is an hour out of our way leaving Jackson but I have read there is a greater possibility of seeing wildlife.

Patty

Moose-Wilson Rd is a good area to scan for wildlife. We've seen black bear along this road. Good luck!

bailey123

Wilson moose is best at sunrise and sunset. Great moose viewing. Have you tried Jenny Lake
lodge or Teton Village for your last night lodging?

InMiami

We will be arriving in Jackson at 1pm so we will be driving the Moose Wilson mid day. Maybe not the best time to see wildlife.
Jenny lake only has suites available for my date, very expensive. I’m going to continue to try Colter Bay for openings.
Any suggestions on where to go in Lamar Valley for wildlife?

Patty

You can scan Barronette Peak for white specks of mountain goats, the Pebble Creek area is the only place I've seen moose in Yellowstone (I've had better luck in GTNP) and the area around Tower-Roosevelt is good for black bears. Other than that, the wildlife seems to be spread around. The advantage of Lamar Valley is that it's wide and expansive so you can scan long distances. There are usually groups of wolf watchers in the park who have the latest sighting info.

Have you checked Signal Mountain Lodge or Dornan's?

InMiami

Pebble Creek looks like a good hike for seeing wildlife. Also since we are staying in Tower Roosevelt so that trail will be convenient.
I checked Signal Mountain Lodge but only their most expensive rooms are available. Also Dornan's requires a minimum 3 night stay. A pity since they both look perfect. I am going to continue to try Colter Bay, after all I found 3 nights in a Roosevelt Frontier cabin, a virtual impossibility!

StantonHyde

on the nps yellowstone site, check out the park news paper for the summer-it will give you times of ranger talks, etc. It also summarizes where you can eat in the park, what is open when, etc. They give you a copy when you enter but I always check the newspapers before I go. You will also want to check out the latest on park road construction and delays. The website will cover all the hikes you might want to do. If you get a rain day, head to Cody Wyoming--great drive and the Buffalo Bill museum is amazing.

InMiami

That NPS Yellowstone site is spectacular! The Download offline content option is perfect for when there is no cell phone signal. There is also a verbal description option I am just learning to use. I ordered the Official Guide from Yellowstone but with the NPS site it is almost not needed.

Patty

Here's an article you might like https://blog.nature.org/science/2018...dlife-viewing/

InMiami

Patty, thanks for that article. Would you consider the Tower Falls and Pebble Creek trails to be fairly easy and best to view wildlife? The article mentions the Hayden and Lamar valleys but should we just drive through in our car and stop at the appropriate rest stops? Are you allowed to just pull over on the side of the road?

Patty

I haven't hiked Pebble Creek and have only stopped at the overlook for Tower Fall. I believe the trail to the base of the fall has been closed for some time. We don't see as much wildlife on hikes partly because we try to continuously make noise when hiking in grizzly country. We also avoid hiking early or late in the day for the same reason https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvis...ar-country.htm Most of our sightings are from the car or side of the road. You can pull over wherever there's enough room on the shoulder. There are also a couple of interesting side roads that you can drive down like Blacktail Plateau or the road to Slough Creek campground.

InMiami

We leave for Yellowstone in one week! The weather forecasts are perfect 74/46.
We are flying into Jackson Hole at 1 pm. I have dinner reservations at Old Faithful at 8. The drive from the airport to Moose directly is about 10 minutes. If we detour via Moose Wilson Road it is at least an hour. Is that road worth the detour?

InMiami

And BTW we are renting a medium sized SUV.

Patty

It's really up to you. You could always make a short detour south from Moose and turn around. Stop at the bridge at Moose and scan the river banks. Or if you end up changing your last night to Colter Bay, you could save it for then.