Yellowstone Lodging & Must See
Jul 19th, 2004, 04:26 AM
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Yellowstone Lodging & Must See
Where is the best place to stay with a awesome view? I would love to be able to look out a patio from our room & see the mountains or waterfall. Is there such a place?? Also coming from Houston- I am so surprised that a lot of the lodging closes the middle of Sept. It's still 90 degrees in Houston. Also if you can only spend two days in Yellowstone (never been to this part of the US before) where are the MUST goes??
What a place! God's country.
Jul 19th, 2004, 07:15 AM
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Grand Teton National Park - right next to Yellowstone - has the mountain views. Signal Mt. Lodge and/or Jackson Lake Lodge would have the kinds of room you're looking for. I second Old Faithful Inn, also. Many have geyser basin views - or just go to the second level deck for your view. Have a great trip.
Jul 19th, 2004, 07:22 AM
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Definitely for us it would be Old Faithful Inn. You can sit out on a huge wooden deck and watch Old Faithful go off. The geyser's are within walking distance of the Inn and the food in the restaurant is not bad. Be sure and hike the Canyon area to Artist Point, it is beautiful.
Jul 23rd, 2004, 10:07 AM
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I have booked lodging. We are flying Jackson and driving to Mammoth spending two nights, then to Snow Lodge for 2 nights & final night at Signal Mnt. Lodge (cabin 113). I didn't allow for Beartooth Pass. How long would it take to drive to up around the side of park to Cody so I can drive up Beartooth Pass? Am I crazy??
Jul 25th, 2004, 12:21 AM
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So you're driving straight from Jackson up to Mammoth in North Yellowstone and working back via snow Lodge and finally back to Signal Mt for last night near Tetons before flying back out of Jackson, right? If so, I don't think you have time to drive all the way over to Cody (then presumably up through red lodge?) in order to drive up from the bottom of Beartooth pass. That drive would take a good part of a full day and I wouldn't recommend that route anyway. I think you'll find that it takes a while to get places because of winding roads plus lots of pullovers to see the gorgeous vistas! However, Beartooth pass is beautiful so if you want to see it, you can really get the good sense of it by taking part of the day at Mammoth to drive past Tower Jct and Cooke City - 20 minutes past Cooke City will allow you to experience the Beartooth plateau without the full drive down to Red Lodge. To give you further sense of times, it will take you a good part of the day to get from Jackson to Mammoth depending on how often you stop to see views. Must sees in Yellowstone are the upper/lower falls (do the walk all the way to the points), the geyser basin/paintpots/etc. near old faithful are incredible(although you'll find that the old faithful/geyser section is the most crowded with people), the drive to Mammoth is great and is your best chance to see a black or brown (grizzly) bear. Personally, I really like the part of the drive just past the Madison jct on the way to West Yellowstone because it is so peaceful and beautiful with the Madison river meandering along. The Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone is pretty cool but you may not have time. Finally, not sure if you like hiking but the Tetons have incredible trails. The .9 hike from the far shore of jenny lake to Hidden Falls/Inspiration point is somewhat steep and can be relatively crowded but the funny thing is that very few people go beyond Inspiration Point even though the trail is almost flat past that point for the next several miles into Cascade Canyon and is gorgeous. Also, you can ride a tram from Teton Village to the top of 10,000 foot Rendevous Mt for great views. Finally, check out Jenny Lake Lodge for future reference. Pricey but you literally have cabins where you sit on your deck staring up at the Grand Teton! You'll have a great time whatever you do but be prepared for anything from 70-80 degree weather to snow! Check the forecast often before you leave and pack with warm layers no matter what the forecast says b/c the temp drops at night.
Jul 26th, 2004, 04:25 AM
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Wow thanks for your input. NorCal Jo, I appreciate all your time spent giving me your ideas & input. Reading other posts, Mammoth doesn't seem like a very popular lodging destination. Is it better to stay in the Old Faithful area and just commute to the rest of the park? About how long does it take to drive from Old Faithful to the Canyon area? Thanks!
Jul 26th, 2004, 02:20 PM
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Question to NorCal Jo. We'll be leaving Old Faithful area early one morning in mid-Sept. heading to Cody . If we leave Cooke City and take SR296 (is that Chief Joesph Hwy.?)will we go far enough on the Beartooth to get to the plateau you mentioned in your reply to jamcat? Thanks for your info.
Aug 12th, 2004, 08:45 AM
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Hi to Jamcat and Prettylake - sorry for the delay in responding to your post. I'm somewhat infrequent at times in my visits! Jamcat - I think the choice between Old Faithful and Mammoth somewhat depends on your desire to be in the middle of the action vs somewhat more remote/open space. Old Faithful is certainly centrally located and a great place (but is also the most congested). Sometimes for me personally, I like to get away from the crowds at Old faithful (but in Sept, it won't be nearly as crowded as summer so perhaps not a problem anyway). Between Old Faithful and Canyon Village area - assuming no stops and no big roadwork/Bison traffic jams, I would estimate 1-1/2 to 2 hours. It's about 50+ mile if you go via the Yellowstone lake route and maybe 40+ if you go the norris route but may end up about the same since the Norris route has some especially winding sections. To PrettyLake - you're correct, 296 is the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. You'll see great views on that road and you will see part of the plateau. What I might suggest you do to get the full flavor of the Beartooth Plateau and vista's is to take a slight detour and keep traveling on Highway 212 (Beartooth highway) for just another 10-15 miles (I think but see a map) and you will reach the West Summit overlook and actual "pass" at about 11,000 feet. It will probably just take an hour or so roundtrip to take that detour and then head back to H296.
