dodge guy wrote:
GeoBoy wrote:
westernrvparkowner wrote:
What do you want in your hotel room or vacation rental? If you want to be in the park the Lake hotel, the lodge at Old Faithful or the Mammoth Hotel are all amazing. For the best park experience split your time between them.
However, you won't get things like television, wifi, multiple dining options, fast food, shopping etc. And you will pay dearly. Outside the park, you won't have the ambiance of being in Yellowstone, but you can get those creature comforts and better pricing. It only takes a few minutes to go from the gateway towns into the park if you get up early. If I was going to vacation by hotel I would stay a couple of days in West Yellowstone, a couple of days in Gardiner, a couple of days in Jackson (Grand Teton Park) and maybe two days in Silvergate/Cooke City (for the animals in the Lamar Valley). That would have me close to new places every couple of days but still in civilization. But I am in to creature comforts and enjoy turning on the TV after a long day and am not really into paying double cost for a bad hamburger at one of the restaurants inside the park. For me, packing and unpacking a suitcase is worth it to not have long, repetitive drives.
Well said.;)
I agree except on the “only takes a few minutes to go from gateway towns into the park”. Yes, it may be 5 minutes to the gate. At the gate it may take you 5-30 minutes or more to get into the park. After that you still have a 30-45 minute drive to the closest main attraction.
I would highly recommend staying in the park. I didn’t think about moving around, but staying at different ends of the park would be a good option.
I guess that is true, but if all you are going to do at Yellowstone is see the main attractions, you might want to consider another trip.
One example, that 30 to 45 minute drive from the West Yellowstone gate to Old Faithful is amazing. First you drive along the Madison River where there will likely be Eagles and Ospreys soaring and diving. There is almost always Elk browsing and wading the waters and in the morning a rising mist gives the drive a magical look. Once you reach the Junction with the Central Loop you can take the Firehole Loop Road and see amazing waterfalls and rapids in the steep canyon below. Then you rejoin the main road and drive along the Firehole River with all it's thermal features. Again you will likely be joined by the wildlife Yellowstone is famous for. Only then will you enter and see Old Faithful. Or you can give up all that and walk out of your room at the lodge, jostle with the crowds and see Old Faithful, unaware of all the things the people standing next to you who drove in from West Yellowstone Saw. Yellowstone isn't about the main attractions it's about the diversity and surprises that await around every corner of it's 2.2 million acres. And no matter where you stay, you won't be walking distance to everything else.