Please Suggest! Yellowstone...

[3mtnlabbie]

My family is planning to leave in about two weeks to head to Yellowstone from Colorado.
Please give us suggestions on:

1. What to do
2. Where to stay
3. What to expect
4. How long to stay
5. Supplies we will need

Thanks a bunch in advance!

[katleman]

Best way to beat the crowds this time of year is to get on the park road by sunrise, or as close as you can. Parking areas around artist paint pots, midway geyser, etc fill up by 9. Old Faithful gets busy too, but there is plenty of parking there, can usually find parking anytime of the day there.

Your early drive will be rewarded by more wildlife viewing, as animals are early risers. Drawback is you will have to spot them yourself as there are fewer folks out and about.

A hike I highly recommend is the 2.5 mile walk out to Lone Star geyser. Very easy, level, on an old road. Lone Star is an impressive geyser, erupting every 3 hours, just like it did in 1872.

[Jim_Shoe]

An extra two hour drive into the park every morning? Grizzly is two blocks from the entrance, and the 12 miles to the grand loop at Madison aren't thru a tunnel. The animals don't follow a script. That's what causes the delay. Auto jams, from people stopping to see the wildlife up close and personal. Just don't get too personal. They are wild animals. One spring day, it took me 4 hours to get to the loop. A pair of Eagles feeding their new babies, a couple of elk feeding themselves, a mama fox and her kits, and the bison crossing the road each AM to feed in the meadow on the other side of the road. And they're in no hurry. One morning I saw a lady complaining to a trooper because she tried to drive thru a bison herd crossing the road, and one put a rather large dent in her car door.
Since she couldn't possibly identify the specific animal, no ticket was issued. 🙂

[photonut4]

If you head towards the north entrance, you could stop for a soak in the boiliing river.

[Mountain_Mama]

I would keep checking different times of the day online for reservations in the park. There may be cancellations pop up!

[AH64ID]

I highly recommend staying in the park if possible, the drive from West will get old on the 2nd day especially if you want to do any dawn/dusk drives thru Hayden or Lamar Valley to see more critters.

My folks stayed in West 3 years ago and we stayed in a campground. They had an additional 2 hours of driving time every day, and now they stay in the park.

Canyon and Madison are our favorite campgrounds. We have always wanted to stay at Norris, but don't like moving or waiting on the first come, first serve.

I would call Yellowstone Reservations and see what you can do. 1-866-GEYSERLAND (866-439-7375)


As for in the park, pack a nice lunch and pick a good spot in different parts of the park to enjoy. We like to eat in Mammoth, any of the places between Old Faithful and West Thumb, and Lamar Valley.

We also like to plan a short hike each day. There is so much driving that the kids need to get out and burn some energy. Lot's of day hikes in the park.

The Jr Ranger program gives the kids a lot to look for in the park, and something to show their friends when they get home. I think they are supposed to be 4, but it may be worth looking into.

[littlemo]

Atlee wrote:
Speaking of Bear Tooth Highway. I know its one of, if not the most scenic highways in America. Does it encompass sheer drops of hundreds or thousands of feet, with no shoulder and no guard rail?

littlemo wrote:
Ditto on staying IN THE PARK. Yellowstone is HUGE and encompasses many miles. Don't waste any precious time having to drive into the park every day. Make sure on one of your days you drive the Beartooth Highway! Take your time and enjoy.

"Yes" to drop-offs but "yes" also to guardrails where they are needed. Don't try it if you don't have a toad, though. Not good place for motor home but if you have toad please don't miss this beautiful drive!

[Atlee]

Speaking of Bear Tooth Highway. I know its one of, if not the most scenic highways in America. Does it encompass sheer drops of hundreds or thousands of feet, with no shoulder and no guard rail?

littlemo wrote:
Ditto on staying IN THE PARK. Yellowstone is HUGE and encompasses many miles. Don't waste any precious time having to drive into the park every day. Make sure on one of your days you drive the Beartooth Highway! Take your time and enjoy.

[2gypsies1]

3mtnlabbie wrote:

We will stock our own groceries for the entire trip (hopefully) as well as fuel up before getting into the park, bring our own snacks and lunch every day, and plan for typical Colorado weather - as in you never know what could happen in the next hour!

First of all you might bring a good map. West Yellowstone is in Montana, not Colorado. 🙂

For things to do you might check out this official national park site and explore things listed on the left side, too. :

Yellowstone - Plan Your Visit

[GeoBoy]

See if you can get into Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone. I stayed 8 nights but you may get away with 6 or 7 nights. You can buy groceries at 2 grocery stores in town. There are nice places to eat in West Yellowstone and reasonable. The nice thing about West Yellowstone you can go north, south or east and do a loop to see all of Yellowstone. Great location.

[littlemo]

Ditto on staying IN THE PARK. Yellowstone is HUGE and encompasses many miles. Don't waste any precious time having to drive into the park every day. Make sure on one of your days you drive the Beartooth Highway! Take your time and enjoy.

[3mtnlabbie]

Well we got RESERVATIONS in West Yellowstone! Thank goodness. We considered inside the park which did have options but it would be a bit more difficult as we would have to get a LOT of water for us that we would need to carry in as well as showers, and bring a generator.

To make life easier, we have opted to stay at a place with water and electric, so no generator, no worries for carrying water, and we can cook ourselves.

Thanks for all the recommendations!

We will stock our own groceries for the entire trip (hopefully) as well as fuel up before getting into the park, bring our own snacks and lunch every day, and plan for typical Colorado weather - as in you never know what could happen in the next hour!

Hopefully our 3-year-old will have a blast. She enjoyed the moose and fishing while we were gone the past two weeks so hopefully she doesn't get too board! Thank goodness for the DVD player and individual headphones.

So any MUST Do's?

I was in Yellowstone when I was maybe 9 or 10. So decades ago...

We are allowing ourselves FOUR full days in the park... Things I KNOW we can' miss:

1. Old Faithful
2. other thermal features
3. Fountain Paint Pots
4. Wildlife - duh
5. Grand Prismatic Spring
6. Mammoth Hot Springs
7. Grand Canyon of YSNP
8. Grizzly/Wolf Discovery Center

[ewarnerusa]

If you're comfortable boondocking a short drive outside of the park, I suggest Beaver Creek (Hebgen Lake). It is about a 15-20 min drive from West Yellowstone and even on the busiest of weekends for the Park there seems to be plenty of dispersed/primitive camp spots available. My wife and I always camp there when we take our long weekend trips to Yellowstone.

[rr2254545]

Beyond my help if you are only planning 2 weeks out

[kknowlton]

Indian Creek is a lovely little CG, BUT this year it's in the midst of a long stretch of MAJOR road construction. (And I suspect next year, and possibly the year after that. As I said, it's major construction.) Much of this stretch of road is one-lane, with up to 30-minute delays while the other side waits for the pilot car. Staying at Indian Creek might be a pain while this is going on. That said, there are lots of other attractive CGs in the park. The smaller ones are first-come, the others reservable.