tragusa3 wrote:
You are getting some great input here. Someone mentioned getting advice from strangers, but somehow, I feel we've talked enough on the board and shared trip reports, that I don't feel we are strangers. I think I understand your philosophy on adventure, to some extent. That said, you won't be sorry if you push the envelope. As said earlier, even the long road days hold value.
If you feel you will not have a chance for a longer window (which I know you do), then do it. However, if you believe you could string together more time, another year, before the kids are raised, then I would go to the Black Hills and stop there. A more relaxed pace, and an awesome experience.
I'm thankful we saw all we did this past summer, but we had the time to do it without pressure. I'll be honest...Yellowstone would have been a let down for me if I had sacrificed too many other things for it. Yes, it is great, but it doesn't make my top 5 parks. In fact, the Black Hills and Badlands areas may rank higher in my opinion. Yellowstone may not even be a repeat park for me.
I tend to think it's a little overrated too, but the Tetons are as beautiful as rumored and there are also other spots in the Rockies that are even better such as the Sawtooth Range near Stanley, or even further west some of the scenery in the Sierras or Cascades can be hard to beat. The nice thing about the non-national park areas is there tends to be a lot fewer people. One national park or more accurately series of national parks that is absolutely worth fighting the crowds for are the Canadian parks - Banff/Jasper/etc. The scenery up there makes your eyes water.
All that being said, Yellowstone is the iconic national park and everybody should see it at least once. The geothermal features are unique, the wildlife is top notch and it's still pretty scenic if not tops in that regard. With kids those ages I think it's worth the drive to forge the family memories with a trip out to Yellowstone, and it's certainly different than anything you'll find back east.
