Trip planning input / help request

Ranger431 wrote:
Think I'll look at paring down the trip down a bit and focus on Yellowstone and GT this year, maybe follow up with separate trips the the GC and 4 surrounding areas & Rushmore / Custer for future stops.

Good move! It's a long trip west and your kids will get more out of it if they're out of the truck and in the outdoors. One can easily spend all of the time you have (6-10 days?) in GTNP and YNP. So very much to see and do. My mother worked at one of the curio shops near Old Faithful for 10 years and always found something new to do every year.

Definitely split the camping between the two parks, as "commuting" every day would eat big time into every day.

At GTNP, take the boat across Jenny Lake and do some walking up Cascade Creek. Look for moose in the evening in marshy areas. I would split my time 1/3 GTNP, 2/3rds YNP (or more).

At YNP, stop at the Visitors Center at Old Faithful and look at the predicted eruption times for some of the major geysers and plan your day in the geyser basins around those times. Take a hike down into the canyon and view the falls from there. Check out the trout swimming below Fishing Bridge. FB CG is the only one with hookups in the park, and staying in the park means less driving every day. But another option is to stay at a CG w/o hookups but with showers (Canyon or Grant Village). That way you can shower when needed. You won't need electricity for a/c, as it just doesn't get that warm there. You also may find you don't spend much time at your campsite, as there as so many things to see and program and hikes to do.

I would also agree with leaving the dogs behind. They can't go on any of the trails and you wouldn't want to leave them behind in the trailer and have to go back in the middle of the day to let them out.