Best Approach to Yellowstone?

[mkcurran]

Trying to plan a trip to Yellowstone with our 36 foot class A and a toad on a dolly. We'll be coming in from the South, from I-15. How is highway 20 for getting to West Yellowstone? We'd rather not hit windy roads or too much of a grade.
Would we be better off going up to I-90 and dropping south from there? Looks like that move will add at least 100 miles onto the trip.
Thoughts?

[richardcoxid]

Some general information about YNP (some general items apply to GTNP also)

YNP is BIG!, about 45 miles E/W and about 65 miles N/S (2.2 mil. Acres total). The “figure 8 grand loop” road inside the park is about 140 miles around. The lower loop is 96 miles and the upper loop is 70 miles around and yes, it is bigger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

Whatever time that you think you will need to see YNP you better double it, or to say it another way is that you will see one half as much as you planned on in the allotted time. The Bison think that they own the road (they do!) and will slow down the traffic to walking speed or stop all traffic for 1/4 mile or more blocking both directions of travel, the thermal attractions also tie up traffic and with a 5 month long summer tourist season that coincides with a 5 month long road construction season and a 45 MPH radar controlled speed limit it will take about a full day to see each loop and then you will only see the main attractions. In addition to the occasional construction delays they will also sometimes close whole sections of road (for uninterrupted night construction) between 10 PM and 8 AM in the morning, if you are running late and get caught at night in the wrong area it CAN be a LONG way around to your CG! (The entrance stations will have current construction information or go on line to check it out)

Then there is the elevation- YNP ranges from a low at Mammoth- 6239 ft to 7784 ft at Fishing Bridge or higher if you go hiking and there are passes on the grand loop road that are close to 8000 ft or so! Drink plenty of liquids and pace yourself when walking.

I recommend that you get up EARLY, leave the CG and be back by 4 or 6 PM have dinner and be sitting in your recliner drinking a cool one when your neighbor drags himself back to the CG at 8-10 PM. Remember that from mid May to mid July in YNP the sun doesn't set until about 9:30- 9:45 PM then there is a long twilight.

Cell Phone Service- Only at the major visitor centers, otherwise non-existent!

Clothing- Especially in the early or late season it is not unusual to have a 30 or even the occasional 40 degree temperature change throughout the day. Dress with easily shed layers of clothing. Also dress in bright easily seen clothing. I am sure that we all have been to a sporting event, parade or Disney World etc. and we blink our eyes and our partner/child has disappeared. My DIL was born and raised in HI, you guessed it, every Xmas, b-day or Father's Day I receive a Hawaiian shirt. One of them is shiny black with 4-5 inch dia. bright flowers. Not many of them in Wyoming and in YSNP, that is what I wear. If your partner has on a Violet blouse and a Orange scarf with a Pink hat I guarantee that she will be the only one within the boundaries of either NP. It can save you a few anxious moments.

Water- Now I will have to contradict myself, at the altitude of YNP yes, drink lots of water! HOWEVER, be aware that the flush toilet restrooms are are in the major tourist areas- Mammoth, Canyon, Fishing Bridge, Lake Hotel, Bridge Bay, Grant Village, Old Faithful, Madison Junction etc. The geyser basins and other thermal attractions areas only have pit toilets. I have seen the pit toilet line at the lower Geyser Basin (2 R/Rs) 25 or more feet long (bless the tour buses) So be smart about drinking your water and use the major tourist area R/Rs before leaving the area! I.e. “Never pass up a flush toilet!”

Sun- At YSNP altitude the Sun is intense (uv)have and apply sunscreen, wear that old floppy wide brim sun hat, wear Sunglasses!

If your luck is like mine Old Faithful will have just erupted when you get there and you will have up to a hour and 10 to 15 minutes wait for the next one. Tour tour the O/F Geyser basin while waiting. O/F INN is a must see, reportedly the largest LOG building in the U.S. (Meals in the O/F Inn dinning room are “A OK” also.

We have lived about 110 miles from West Yellowstone, MT since 1964, go to YSNP 3-4 times a summer (normally before Memorial Day and after Labor Day) and haven't seen it all yet! So don’t be discouraged that you didn’t have the time to see all of it. Just plan on coming back another time!

I honestly don’t mean to scare or discourage you but to give you a heads up as to what to expect! After all there was 4.1 million visitors in 2015! As far as I know we didn’t lose one of them. Except those who by their own stupidity step off the board walks into BOILING HOT water and ignoring the warnings about the WILD ANIMALS! That is called purifying the gene pool!

Note I have seen on this blog and others about folks “day tripping” from YSNP to GTNP, it is done all the time (myself included) however remember this is BIG country and with the speed limits, animals and thermal attractions you will be doing a LOT of driving. From Grant Village Visitor Center (extreme S/E corner of the lower loop road) to Jackson, WY is about 80 miles with Coulter Bay being about 1/2 way then from Grant Village you have to add the distance to your CG it will be a Long days trip!

A point of Coulter Bay (GTNP) clarification- there are two (2) CG’s at Coulter Bay, One the “Coulter Bay RV Park” a full service “RV Park” with FHU’S that takes reservations. The other is the “Coulter Bay Campground “ has no hookups and doesn’t take reservations. Both have about 300 sites and are basically across the road from each other.

When in the Jackson area I highly recommend seeing the Bar J Chuckwagon dinner show! If you go, MAKE RESERVATIONS and BE THERE EARLY TO PICK UP YOUR MEAL TICKETS/ TABLE SEATING ASSIGNMENTS! They seat you by when you show up to get your tickets NOT by your reservation number. Tim, their fiddle player has won the "Idaho state old time fiddle contest 7 times and the US open fiddle championship twice". If you decide to go you will sit at picnic type of bench seats/table, they get pretty hard, I recommend that you take along a blanket/pads to sit on. We day trip it there 2-4 times every summer just to see them! Disclaimer- We have no financial or other interest in the Bar J only that it will be the best $$ value for your money on your trip! Check out their website.

http://www.barjchuckwagon.com

Also in Jackson check out the “COWBOY” bar, the bar stools are saddles and the # of Silver Dollars in the bar. The Wort Hotel Bar (just around the corner from the Cowboy Bar) also has Silver Dollars imbedded in the Bar

[fanrgs]

Go HERE for campground reviews/recommendations from many fellow RVers. There are four pages of RV parks and campgrounds listed on this Website just for the West Yellowstone area, far too many to review them on this thread.

I have worked in Yellowstone, staying in West Yellowstone and commuting to the Norris Geyser Basin. As others have said, even that relatively short distance can be very long during the early morning "rush hour" of tourists day-tripping from the west side of the park.

If I were doing your trip, I would try to get a reservation at relatively centrally located Canyon Village or a fc-fs site at Norris. Then you could visit Yellowstone Falls and Hayden Valley one day and the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins the following day. And, if you came north from Grand Teton NP, you would pass Yellowstone Lake on your way to Canyon. So, you would have seen most of the major attractions of YNP and the spectacular Tetons as well in only three looong days of driving.

[mkcurran]

Okay here's the route: https://www.rvparky.com/trip/4547933076979712

For most one night stops we will be stopping in parking lots or truck stops. Basically we will drive until we are done and find a place to stay. RV can hold 100 gallons of fuel so we will not have to stop but once a day for fuel. We will have a toad on a tow dolly up until Spokane. There we will drop it and just tow the dolly home. Assuming my husband doesn't find something he must have along the way.
We have a three-day buffer for this trip, which leaves us time for a break down or an interesting spur of the moment side trip.
I still need a place/park to stay in West Yellowstone. Recommendations?

[BarabooBob]

I have been to Yellowstone at least a dozen times so far. My wife and I are going back this summer to see it in more detail. We are planning a week long stay and still will not see it all. I will continue to visit the area at least every other year for the rest of my life. Living in Wisconsin gives us the advantage of being sort of central to everywhere we like to visit.
1000 miles to the Rockies
1000 miles to the east coast
1000 miles to New Orleans
We have been to the west coast and will not be going back. Sorry west coasters. We prefer the Rockies.
Alaska 4400 miles, this trip is in the planning.

[dave54]

For navigating inside Yellowstone, download the Avenza app to your phone. Then download the Yellowstone map from the Avenza store. Both are free.
The map is the same as the Visitor map you are handed at the entrance station, but the phone GPS will track you along the way, showing your current location. Works independently of cell signal, so you can still use it in the cell dead zones.

Many national park maps are offered free from the same source.

[richardcoxid]

X2 on Rt 20 from Idaho Falls

BTW check out the distance around the figure 8 loop road!

Some general information about YNP (some general items apply to GTNP also)

YNP is BIG!, about 45 miles E/W and about 65 miles N/S (2.2 mil. Acres total). The “figure 8 grand loop” road inside the park is about 140 miles around. The lower loop is 96 miles and the upper loop is 70 miles around and yes, it is bigger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.

Whatever time that you think you will need to see YNP you better double it, or to say it another way is that you will see one half as much as you planned on in the allotted time. The Bison think that they own the road (they do!) and will slow down the traffic to walking speed or stop all traffic for 1/4 mile or more blocking both directions of travel, the thermal attractions also tie up traffic and with a 5 month long summer tourist season that coincides with a 5 month long road construction season and a 45 MPH radar controlled speed limit it will take about a full day to see each loop and then you will only see the main attractions. In addition to the occasional construction delays they will also sometimes close whole sections of road (for uninterrupted night construction) between 10 PM and 8 AM in the morning, if you are running late and get caught at night in the wrong area it CAN be a LONG way around to your CG! (The entrance stations will have current construction information or go on line to check it out)

Then there is the elevation- YNP ranges from a low at Mammoth- 6239 ft to 7784 ft at Fishing Bridge or higher if you go hiking and there are passes on the grand loop road that are close to 8000 ft or so! Drink plenty of liquids and pace yourself when walking.

I recommend that you get up EARLY, leave the CG and be back by 4 or 6 PM have dinner and be sitting in your recliner drinking a cool one when your neighbor drags himself back to the CG at 8-10 PM. Remember that from mid May to mid July in YNP the sun doesn't set until about 9:30- 9:45 PM then there is a long twilight.

Cell Phone Service- Only at the major visitor centers, otherwise non-existent!

Clothing- Especially in the early or late season it is not unusual to have a 30 or even the occasional 40 degree temperature change throughout the day. Dress with easily shed layers of clothing. Also dress in bright easily seen clothing. I am sure that we all have been to a sporting event, parade or Disney World etc. and we blink our eyes and our partner/child has disappeared. My DIL was born and raised in HI, you guessed it, every Xmas, b-day or Father's Day I receive a Hawaiian shirt. One of them is shiny black with 4-5 inch dia. bright flowers. Not many of them in Wyoming and in YSNP, that is what I wear. If your partner has on a Violet blouse and a Orange scarf with a Pink hat I guarantee that she will be the only one within the boundaries of either NP. It can save you a few anxious moments.

Water- Now I will have to contradict myself, at the altitude of YNP yes, drink lots of water! HOWEVER, be aware that the flush toilet restrooms are are in the major tourist areas- Mammoth, Canyon, Fishing Bridge, Lake Hotel, Bridge Bay, Grant Village, Old Faithful, Madison Junction etc. The geyser basins and other thermal attractions areas only have pit toilets. I have seen the pit toilet line at the lower Geyser Basin (2 R/Rs) 25 or more feet long (bless the tour buses) So be smart about drinking your water and use the major tourist area R/Rs before leaving the area! I.e. “Never pass up a flush toilet!”

Sun- At YSNP altitude the Sun is intense (uv)have and apply sunscreen, wear that old floppy wide brim sun hat, wear Sunglasses!

If your luck is like mine Old Faithful will have just erupted when you get there and you will have up to a hour and 10 to 15 minutes wait for the next one. Tour tour the O/F Geyser basin while waiting. O/F INN is a must see, reportedly the largest LOG building in the U.S. (Meals in the O/F Inn dinning room are “A OK” also.

We have lived about 110 miles from West Yellowstone, MT since 1964, go to YSNP 3-4 times a summer (normally before Memorial Day and after Labor Day) and haven't seen it all yet! So don’t be discouraged that you didn’t have the time to see all of it. Just plan on coming back another time!

I honestly don’t mean to scare or discourage you but to give you a heads up as to what to expect! After all there was 4.1 million visitors in 2015! As far as I know we didn’t lose one of them. Except those who by their own stupidity step off the board walks into BOILING HOT water and ignoring the warnings about the WILD ANIMALS! That is called purifying the gene pool!

Note I have seen on this blog and others about folks “day tripping” from YSNP to GTNP, it is done all the time (myself included) however remember this is BIG country and with the speed limits, animals and thermal attractions you will be doing a LOT of driving. From Grant Village Visitor Center (extreme S/E corner of the lower loop road) to Jackson, WY is about 80 miles with Coulter Bay being about 1/2 way then from Grant Village you have to add the distance to your CG it will be a Long days trip!

A point of CoulterBay (GTNP) clarification- there are two (2) CG’s at Coulter Bay, One the “Coulter Bay RV Park” a full service “RV Park” with FHU’S that takes reservations. The other is the “Coulter Bay Campground “ has no hookups and doesn’t take reservations. Both have about 300 sites and are basically across the road from each other.

When in the Jackson area I highly recommend seeing the Bar J Chuckwagon dinner show! If you go, MAKE RESERVATIONS and BE THERE EARLY TO PICK UP YOUR MEAL TICKETS/ TABLE SEATING ASSIGNMENTS! They seat you by when you show up to get your tickets NOT by your reservation number. Tim, their fiddle player has won the "Idaho state old time fiddle contest 7 times and the US open fiddle championship twice". If you decide to go you will sit at picnic type of bench seats/table, they get pretty hard, I recommend that you take along a blanket/pads to sit on. We day trip it there 2-4 times every summer just to see them! Disclaimer- We have no financial or other interest in the Bar J only that it will be the best $$ value for your money for your trip! Check out their website.

http://www.barjchuckwagon.com

Also in Jackson check out the “COWBOY” bar, the bar stools are saddles and the # of Silver Dollars in the bar. The Wort Hotel Bar (just around the corner from the Cowboy Bar) also has Silver Dollars imbedded in the Bar

[mkcurran]

in5r wrote:
Giving yourself 2 days will limit greatly what you will see there. Just to put it in perspective the grand loop inside Yellowstone is 142 miles. Traffic can be slow moving in the park. And a lot of your time could be spent driving to sites within the park.

Understood this will just be a taste. More than anything it's a sampler trip to see how the RV handles and whether or not we want to come back and stay once the Fishing Bridge RV opens back up.

[mkcurran]

bobsallyh wrote:
You won't have any trouble on US 20 out of Idaho Falls. There is a slight pull on the West Yellowstone side of Ashton, but that is really it. US 20 is a truckers route to avoid I-90, the opposite way you will be traveling, going west. It saves them from continuing on thru I-90 to go south on I-15 at Butte.

That is the best thing to hear. Thanks!

[ReneeG]

You'll have no problems taking 20 into West Yellowstone and over Ashton Hill. It's a steep grade, but relatively short. Most vehicles make it over just fine.

Another route would be to take I-15 to 26 (instead of 20) in the Idaho Falls/Ammon area. Take 26 all the way to Alpine, then 89 into Jackson. If you take this route DO NOT turn off onto 31 to Victor, Idaho, or you will be forced to take Teton Pass down into Jackson. It's a long steep pass up and down. We did it once and never again. The I-15 to 26, then 89 into Jackson is easy all the way.

[in5r]

Giving yourself 2 days will limit greatly what you will see there. Just to put it in perspective the grand loop inside Yellowstone is 142 miles. Traffic can be slow moving in the park. And a lot of your time could be spent driving to sites within the park.

[bobsallyh]

You won't have any trouble on US 20 out of Idaho Falls. There is a slight pull on the West Yellowstone side of Ashton, but that is really it. US 20 is a truckers route to avoid I-90, the opposite way you will be traveling, going west. It saves them from continuing on thru I-90 to go south on I-15 at Butte.

[mkcurran]

We plan on staying somewhere around West Yellowstone and taking two days to see the park. At least there we have plenty of options. Jackson, WY didn't have great options.
Thanks y'all for easing my mind on this route.

[doc_brown]

Entered Yellowstone from all 4 entrances driving my 40’ pusher with jeep in tow and like many driven through the park.

[ppine]

All of them. I like to come in the east entrance from Cody and look for moose along the Shoshone River.

Two days is not enough to see the best National Park in the World.