Jackson Hole, Gr Teton and Yellowstone

I would day trip the tetons and yellowstone out of Jackson hole as the tetons are just to the south. There is a great visitor center in Jackson for the area which includes the National Elk Refuge and unless hiking or such in the tetons makes for a great day trip between the 2. Yewllowstone again if not hiking etc is good for a day trip from jackson and since you are indicating to be short on time this I think would work for you.

With 3 weeks you could also consider Banff and Jasper.

Hank85713 wrote:
I would day trip the tetons and yellowstone out of Jackson hole as the tetons are just to the south. There is a great visitor center in Jackson for the area which includes the National Elk Refuge and unless hiking or such in the tetons makes for a great day trip between the 2. Yewllowstone again if not hiking etc is good for a day trip from jackson and since you are indicating to be short on time this I think would work for you.

Huh? Jackson is south of Teton park and way south of Yellowstone, too far for most people to make Jackson a base camp for Yellowstone. More expensive as well.

Jackson Hole is plenty close enough to Teton Park. Stay at Gros Ventre campground in the park if you'd like to be closer, but it's only 7 miles from the town.
For Yellowstone, go up through the park and stay at West Yellowstone if you want full hookups. Otherwise, stay at Bridge Bay or Madison inside Yellowstone, both have water and dump stations.
For Glacier, I like the east side of the park better because you can see the mountains instead of being surrounded by forest, but maybe you like to be in the trees.
Give the Tetons and Yellowstone at least a full week, maybe a day or two more.
Glacier is also worth at least a few days, more if you want to include some of the Canadian part.

From Albuquerque north to the entrance to the Tetons is 850 miles. The southern-most point of Yellowstone is another 50 miles north. One lap around Yellowstone is 140 miles. The east entrance to Glacier is another 365 miles north from the northern-most point of Yellowstone. That's 1400 miles. Then Seattle is another 600 miles. That's 2000 miles total and you've just driven through the above places. Oh, and another 1500 miles south to Albuquerque from Seattle. That's 3500 miles round trip, without stopping to actually see something.

It depends on what you like to do. Hike trails? Or just drive from scenic spot to scenic spot? For example, you can drive the Teton area in a day, but if you like to get out and move around there are some nice day hikes and whitewater trips that could keep you busy for a week.

Great rep!ies. We do like hiking and getting outside. And distance between ABQ and the rest doesn't really matter. We have 3.5 mo for the entire trip, but just 3 weeks between Jackson Hole and Seattle. Thought about also adding Banff to Vancouver as part of the 3 weeks, but worried we're crowding too many cool places into one trip.

Definitely stay IN the Tetons at least 3 nights or more if you're hikers as there are some beautiful ones of all abilities, at least 4-5 nights IN Yellowstone and at least 3-4 nights IN Glacier. You can easily do a day trip into Canada's Glacier from the east side of U.S. Glacier.

2gypsies is exactly right IMHO and having been to them all more than once. Daytriping to Tetons and Yellowstone from Jackson would have you on very boring road for 80% of the time going back and forth! Leaves very little time to see anything and then only midday with all the masses and washed out colors on it all.

Maybe not IN Yellowstone and Glacier but close like West Yellowstone and St. Mary.
We like the east side of Glacier far better than the west.

You want to be there to see the places - not on a boring road and sitting in line at the entrance gates.

Step 1. See when you can get a reservation at Colter Bay; 2. Work the rest of the trip around that. Realize that Jackson is a great town with awful RV parks. West Yellowstone is the opposite (i.e great RV parks, but much more boring town). The sights of Yellowstone and Grand Teton are the most awe-inspiring in the West, and to put a time limit/planned itinerary is tough. Lots to see, lots to do, and you are amazed at every turn.