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legolas
Explorer
Jun 26, 2013

Grand Teton - Yellowstone Visit Guidance

I am planning a trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone next year. I will leave the TT at home in NC and fly into Salt Lake, rent a Class C and drive to Yellowstone for 5 days, then to Grand Teton for 5 days and back to Salt Lake.

I would really appreciate any advice, guidance, warnings etc from folks who have some experience with these parks.
  • I would echo a little more time in Yellowstone, one extra day and one less in Grand Teton. Yellowstone is awfully large and to do it justice will take all of five days or six. But to use that much time you will need to get out of the vehicle and hike around the features and take a bunch of pictures, etc. There are so many more features in Yellowstone than in Grand Teton, but my personal belief is that Grand Teton is much more magnificent with Jackson Lake, Jenny Lake, the Tetons right on the shore of them. Stay in Colter Bay, dry camping, there are about 300 sites available for dry camping about half do not let you use a generator, if you planned on using it. If you have a Senior Pass, the price is only $10.50 per night for the dry camping. There are bathrooms at every loop and loop J now has electrical for handicapped folks, but there are about ten to twelve spots and I would guess they will not be filling up. While in Grand Teton, make sure you take the cruise on Jackson Lake out of the marina. They even have an evening cruise that stops at Elk Island, in the shadow, almost, of Mt. Moran. and serves dinner on the shore. Jenny Lake has a boat that goes to the far side of the lake and let's you get to Hidden Falls which is beautiful, and not a very hard hike. Then you can go to the newest part of Grand Teton, the Laurence Rockefeller Reserve and hike into Phelps Lake and see how they took a family ranch area and totally turned it back to nature. There were, I believe, 33 buildings there and you will really have to look hard to find evidence of them. Then you can go to the Gros Ventre Slide area where they had one of the largest landslides in the US that helped form a lake back by the slide area. While you are driving around you will probably see Grizzly Bears, elk, moose, deer, antelope. We saw a black bear by Jenny Lake and I got to within about 50 yards of him before spooking him off, got one good picture. And, one evening you can drive into Jackson and go to the Bar J Chuckwagon dinner. They serve about 600 people in 20 minutes with pretty good food and then the Bar J Wranglers entertain for about 1 1/2 to two hours with great music and humor. The whole family can enjoy it, no matter the age. Prices are less than $30 for steak and the show per person. We try to get up there once a year just to go there.

    If it seems that I am focusing on Grand Teton, I am. I believe it's one of the prettiest places we have ever been to. We go up there three or more times a year and usually spend our anniversary there in July. We go to Leeks Pizza at Leeks Marina, get pizza and beer, sit on the deck and look out over the lake at the Tetons. It doesn't get much better than that.
  • I would look at them as one destination, because there is such a small area that separates them. Then I would notice how BIG that area was. Next I would chose 4 or 5 different parts of this very large area, and stay 2-4 days in each. Othewise you will be driving a lot.

    Will you have a car? or planning on going around in the Class C? If you plan on driving the RV, then it gets even easier, if you are going at a time that reservations are not that important. Just start on whatever end you want, and slowly head towards the other end. Stop for the night where it makes the most sense.

    When we went, we have a tent trailer, and did not want to break down and set up a lot. So, we stayed part of the time in Jackson and explored The Tetons. That was fine. But we ended up in West Yellowstone for our Yellowstone portion, and while it was a great RV park, we spent a lot of time just driving back and forth.
  • 2chiefsRus wrote:
    My first thought upon reading your post - I would spend more time in Yellowstone than Grand Tetons. Yellowstone is larger and has many different areas to explore. Depends upon what you like to do - hike, fish, just drive through, etc?


    x2!! i would add two days of ;your GT time, to your Yellowstone stay.
    IMHO, 3 days in GT is plenty, unless you're an avid hiker.
  • I LOVE both of these parks. If you like to bike there is a really nice paved bike path in the Tetons. When we traveled to the parks from the east we didn't make resevations as we didn't know when we would be arriving. (We plan for unforeseen mishaps like last last year while on Rt 2 in North Dakota and then in Montana we had 2 tire blowout in 3 days.) I kept going online to check out Fishing Bridge and Colter Bay and was able to get reservations days ahead of when we thought we would be arriving. In Colter Bay we had a reservation for a Monday on one site, nothing for Tuesday and then 2 nights on another site. When we got there the ranger doing reservations and sign ins was so very helpful and was able to get us 4 nights in a row on one site. On another trip we had a similar situation in Yellowstone and the ranger made it work for us. One time visiting in the Smokie MT we did a walkin at one of the bigger campgrounds in the park . We got to the window and the ranger not only gave us 2 nights but we didnt' have to pay for them as he had JUST had a cancelation and the people who canceled said to use the reservation for the next people(us) in line. Two years ago we headed to the Keys and I was able to get reservations at Curry Hammock but not at Bahia Honda . I went online everyday for about a month and there is was one day.....10 days available on the same site 10 days in a row. I booked 5 of them as fast as I could.

    Enjoy your trip to 2 of the most beautiful places in the world.
  • legolas wrote:
    I am planning a trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone next year. I will leave the TT at home in NC and fly into Salt Lake, rent a Class C and drive to Yellowstone for 5 days, then to Grand Teton for 5 days and back to Salt Lake.

    I would really appreciate any advice, guidance, warnings etc from folks who have some experience with these parks.


    The wife and I did a similar trip 3 years ago. We flew into Salt Lake and rented a small Class C from Access RV. We drove through the Tetons but stayed 6 days in 2 different campsites in Yellowstone. We stayed 4 nights in Canyon and 2 nights in Madison. It was a wonderful trip and Access RV had a nice class C. I think it was only 23' and I could pretty much drive anywhere we wanted. It was perfect for 2 people.

    Burch
  • Can't help on camping with hookups, never have done that in Yellowstone or Tetons. Many seem to use West Yellowstone for hookups. Fishing Bridge RV Campground is the only one in Yellowstone with them. Colter Bay RV Campground has them in the Tetons.

    We have been four times to Yellowstone & three times to Tetons, never had a reservation, never had to sleep in leaves either. Ha!

    What I have on Yellowstone & Tetons. I would agree with spending more time in Yellowstone for the same reasons.

    More Misc. Info ------ Horse Rides

    Perhaps, the horse back rides would be a win. We did one once with our kids. Horse rides of one and two hours in length which are available at Mammoth, Tower-Roosevelt, and Canyon.

    On another trip we had our canoe with us, enjoyed canoeing on Luis Lake (from CG to the Shoshone River & up a way) & Yellowstone Lake (from Grant Village to Geyser area by West Thumb. Boating, Canoeing, Kayaking We canoed in some of the lakes & in the Snake River in the Tetons as well. Canoed in the Ox Bows on the Snake (calm waters).

    There are Float Trips, a Jenny Lake Shuttle, Scenic Cruises: http://www.nps.gov/grte/planyourvisit/boat.htm

    Went on a few Ranger programs as well.

    We did some fishing on one trip in Yellowstone as well.

    However, the scenery is so grand & wildlife so plentiful if into photography one can really enjoy finding & capturing memories with a camera.

    Lot of stuff around Canyon Area & somewhat central for branching out to see the sights. Just south is the Hayden Valley. Be sure to drive the Grand Loop Rd through the Hayden Valley (usually see Bison there) from Canyon Area to Fishing Bridge Area. The Lamar Valley has been a wolf watching mecca since the wolves were reintroduced in 1995. It has Bison as well & we have seen bear there as well. This is in the Tower Area east toward the NE Exit of the Park. All the loops have neat things to see.

    Tetons are really neat as well. Several lakes. The Colter Bay Visitor Center and Indian ArtsMuseum by the Colter Bay Campground in the Grand Tetons is really a neat one.

    In 2010, we came up through Salt Lake City. We used US 89/91 from Brigham City (just north of Salt Lake City) to Logan then up to Bear Lake (US 89). Then North & East to Jackson & on to Moran (Tetons). US 89/191/287 leads into Yellowstone. 302 mi, 5 hours 43 mins. to Moran.

    Salt Lake City to Moran Via I-80 E to Evanston & WY Routes 16/30/89 to U.S. 89 N: 305 mi, 5 hours 20 mins.


    Salt Lake City to West Yellowstone: 320 mi, 4 hours 44 mins. I-15 N and US-20 E I-15 N into Idaho, exit at Idaho Falls.

    My son's in-laws rented a Class C in Billings a few years ago to join my son & family in Glacier.

    From Billings to Gardiner (North Entrance to Yellowstone): 170 mi, 2 hours 37 mins. I-90 W to U.S. 89 S.

    Billings to West Yellowstone: 231 mi, 3 hours 53 mins. using I-90 W and US-191 S.

    At least I remember it being Billings. However, I believe they drove to Billings. Therefore, Billings info would be Moot.

    Salt Lake City must be the closest place to rent.
  • Jayco-noslide wrote:
    Try narrowing to some specific questions/concerns. Have you had experience national park touring and camping? We like to set up camp in one of the national park campgrounds but most do not have any hook-ups and you have to choose campgrounds that fit the size of your RV. Reservations would be recommended. Yellowstone is huge. Driving around the Park and parking is OK providing your unit isn't real big. Bring clothes for all seasons because of altitude. There are many many choices of campgrounds inside and outside of both parks.
    We have some experience in NP's. Live near the Smokies and go there often. Have been to Grand Canyon North and South rims 2X , as well as Bryce, Zion Capital Reef and Escalante. I like FHU but can do without sewer if need be. The CG inside the North Rim has no hookups, so I stayed outside at Kaibab. Rubys at Bryce and Zion River Resort. After 30 years in the military I can sleep in the woods under pliƩ of leaves but have no desire to do so. We like to hike mid-level stuff, tourist, fish, horseback etc. For me camping and vacationing is not a marathon of how much I can do in a week but enjoying whatever.

    I took the TT to GC, Bryce etc but have no desire to drag it all the way to Wyoming, thus the Class C rental.
  • you're probably going to want full hookups, so make your reservations as early as possible for:
    Colter Bay RV Park (Grand Teton Park)
    and
    Fishing Bridge RV Park (Yellowstone)

    in yellowstone, we like to time our visit to old faithful around lunch or supper time. that way, we can eat first, then watch the show or watch the show and then eat, whichever is best when we arrive.
    do take the old faithful lodge tour if you can.

    in Jackson, there is a small ski lift ride at Snow King, not too expensive, and there is a big one over in Teton Village, more costly, but takes you to the top of the mountain for a tremendous view.
    there is also a rodeo a couple times a week, a shoot out show on the square every afternoon, white water rafting, etc. out by colter bay you can find horseback rides and scenic river rides.
  • Try narrowing to some specific questions/concerns. Have you had experience national park touring and camping? We like to set up camp in one of the national park campgrounds but most do not have any hook-ups and you have to choose campgrounds that fit the size of your RV. Reservations would be recommended. Yellowstone is huge. Driving around the Park and parking is OK providing your unit isn't real big. Bring clothes for all seasons because of altitude. There are many many choices of campgrounds inside and outside of both parks.
  • My first thought upon reading your post - I would spend more time in Yellowstone than Grand Tetons. Yellowstone is larger and has many different areas to explore. Depends upon what you like to do - hike, fish, just drive through, etc?

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