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Road trip to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone
Posted on 12/31/22 at 5:25 pm
Posted on 12/31/22 at 5:25 pm
We'll be driving up from Denver to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. Any recs on what to put on the itinerary? Also any suggestions on durations? was thinking 2 days in Grand Tetons and 3-4 days in Yellowstone.
6
Posted on 12/31/22 at 5:41 pm to philly444
Time of year is very important.
I would suggest 2 nights at most in Yellowstone that will give you 2.5 days in the park.
The rest in jackson/ GTNP. Yellowstone’s best features are amazing but generally speaking just being in the mountains and out west stuff to do is better in GTNP/ Jackson.
I would suggest 2 nights at most in Yellowstone that will give you 2.5 days in the park.
The rest in jackson/ GTNP. Yellowstone’s best features are amazing but generally speaking just being in the mountains and out west stuff to do is better in GTNP/ Jackson.
Posted on 12/31/22 at 5:50 pm to baldona
Yeah this trip would take place in late May. Interesting, I assumed due to Yellowstone's size compared to GTNP, there would be more to see/do there. thanks for the tip.
Posted on 12/31/22 at 6:15 pm to philly444
counterpoint
Yellowstone has so much to see and do that you could do a week there and still leave half unexplored. We did 4 in Yellowstone and 2 in the Tetons and that was perfect
1 nite at mammoth
2 nites at the canyon
1 nite at the lake
I’ve never before or since seen anything so incredible as Yellowstone. Get off the road and get out into the wild and you will be rewarded
Yellowstone has so much to see and do that you could do a week there and still leave half unexplored. We did 4 in Yellowstone and 2 in the Tetons and that was perfect
1 nite at mammoth
2 nites at the canyon
1 nite at the lake
I’ve never before or since seen anything so incredible as Yellowstone. Get off the road and get out into the wild and you will be rewarded
Posted on 12/31/22 at 6:28 pm to philly444
quote:
Yeah this trip would take place in late May.
Consider doing it later in the summer. May is mud season when everything melts, and you are also very likely to get snow.
Yellowstone is amazing and has more well known sites but it’s very touristy and most things are very close to the road so you don’t get away from people. Yellowstone a lot of the wildlife but the Buffalo are also well off the road. Better hiking for the most part and better wildlife in GTNP imo.
Posted on 12/31/22 at 7:41 pm to philly444
Interested in hiking?
Tetons - Delta Lake. I have other recs as well if interested
Tetons - Delta Lake. I have other recs as well if interested
Posted on 12/31/22 at 9:25 pm to philly444
I’ve made that drive 6-7 times. Go up through Landers and Dubois. The drive from Dubois to the park is badass so make sure it’s day time.
If you are not doing hikes then Tetons is one day. There will probably be snow in May so hiking will be limited most likely. If it’s dry for some reason the hikes around the Teton mtns are some of the best I’ve ever done.
Yellowstone is absolutely incredible and has things you won’t see anywhere else. I’ve probably done 20 days in the park and haven’t seen everything I want there. Bring binoculars for wildlife viewing and bring swim suits for swimming.
If you are not doing hikes then Tetons is one day. There will probably be snow in May so hiking will be limited most likely. If it’s dry for some reason the hikes around the Teton mtns are some of the best I’ve ever done.
Yellowstone is absolutely incredible and has things you won’t see anywhere else. I’ve probably done 20 days in the park and haven’t seen everything I want there. Bring binoculars for wildlife viewing and bring swim suits for swimming.
Posted on 12/31/22 at 9:27 pm to philly444
Did this a year and half ago, here are my thoughts
We enjoyed Tetons much more than Yellowstone. Yellowstone is really freaking cool, but it is the Disney of the National Parks. The park is massive and you are going to be driving to each attraction, park, hike to nature and return to car. There is a ton of great hikes in Yellowstone, but I am talking about the main attractions. Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, Mammoth, upper and lower falls, valley areas with the Buffalo, etc.
Give yourself a minimum of 3 days to do it all and easily 5 days if you want to explore some less traveled places there or enjoy the wildlife more. Staying in the park is of course pretty cool, but outside the park is nice as well. West Yellowstone is probably the closest, but we enjoyed staying in Cody, WY and Gardiner, MT more. You can spend a day in Cody alone, if you stay a night there do the Chuck Wagon and Rodeo - https://www.thecodycattlecompany.com/. Gardiner got cutoff after the floods, but it appears the North Entrance is open again. Gardiner is a cool little town and we stayed at a little B&B there. Easy access to Northern part of the park and some nice hot springs on the north side of town that are less of hassle than in the park. https://yellowstonehotspringsmt.com/. Lots of good wildlife viewing around Gardiner, head up to Yankee Jim Canyon. Tom Miner Creek Rd is good for bears. We saw a Black and Grizzly. If you want to raft, try this place out - https://www.flyingpigrafting.com/
Moving on to Grand Tetons, this is our current favorite National Park. It bumped Badlands off our top spot. If we did it again, Tetons would be our main focus and not Yellowstone. Once you have done the Yellowstone tourist attractions, you really will probably not want to visit them again. To us Tetons felt like a traditional National Park and really had some amazing scenery and hikes. It is just breathtaking beautiful area and once you go there it will make sense. Real fun hikes up into the mountains and canyons and then others where we would just hike around Jenny Lake and then just stop for secluded swims.
My favorite swimming spot to watch a sunset.
Very, very peaceful and relaxing. We stayed in Jackson, great little town and I really want to ski there now.
I think only RMNP can top hiking over Grand Tetons, but GTNP was much more beautiful to us. That is saying a lot if you have been to RMNP. RMNP had knocked off Badlands in this same trip and would have been our #1 is we had not gone to GTNP
We enjoyed Tetons much more than Yellowstone. Yellowstone is really freaking cool, but it is the Disney of the National Parks. The park is massive and you are going to be driving to each attraction, park, hike to nature and return to car. There is a ton of great hikes in Yellowstone, but I am talking about the main attractions. Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic, Mammoth, upper and lower falls, valley areas with the Buffalo, etc.
Give yourself a minimum of 3 days to do it all and easily 5 days if you want to explore some less traveled places there or enjoy the wildlife more. Staying in the park is of course pretty cool, but outside the park is nice as well. West Yellowstone is probably the closest, but we enjoyed staying in Cody, WY and Gardiner, MT more. You can spend a day in Cody alone, if you stay a night there do the Chuck Wagon and Rodeo - https://www.thecodycattlecompany.com/. Gardiner got cutoff after the floods, but it appears the North Entrance is open again. Gardiner is a cool little town and we stayed at a little B&B there. Easy access to Northern part of the park and some nice hot springs on the north side of town that are less of hassle than in the park. https://yellowstonehotspringsmt.com/. Lots of good wildlife viewing around Gardiner, head up to Yankee Jim Canyon. Tom Miner Creek Rd is good for bears. We saw a Black and Grizzly. If you want to raft, try this place out - https://www.flyingpigrafting.com/
Moving on to Grand Tetons, this is our current favorite National Park. It bumped Badlands off our top spot. If we did it again, Tetons would be our main focus and not Yellowstone. Once you have done the Yellowstone tourist attractions, you really will probably not want to visit them again. To us Tetons felt like a traditional National Park and really had some amazing scenery and hikes. It is just breathtaking beautiful area and once you go there it will make sense. Real fun hikes up into the mountains and canyons and then others where we would just hike around Jenny Lake and then just stop for secluded swims.
My favorite swimming spot to watch a sunset.
Very, very peaceful and relaxing. We stayed in Jackson, great little town and I really want to ski there now.
I think only RMNP can top hiking over Grand Tetons, but GTNP was much more beautiful to us. That is saying a lot if you have been to RMNP. RMNP had knocked off Badlands in this same trip and would have been our #1 is we had not gone to GTNP
Posted on 12/31/22 at 9:53 pm to philly444
as mentioned, May is still early. If at all possible, make the trip right after labor day. The crowds will be much smaller and the weather will be great. If that's not an option, July and August are ideal, just much more crowded.
both are great parks, YT is spread out and more crowded. I'd do 3 days if possible, but you could spend a week. The Tetons are incredible, I'd give that 3-4 days minimum.
my biggest regrets on our trip were not staying longer and not booking a fly fishing trip.
both are great parks, YT is spread out and more crowded. I'd do 3 days if possible, but you could spend a week. The Tetons are incredible, I'd give that 3-4 days minimum.
my biggest regrets on our trip were not staying longer and not booking a fly fishing trip.
Posted on 1/1/23 at 9:25 am to DarthRebel
Agreed. We much preferred GTNP to Yellowstone. Yellowstone was extremely crowded in the summer when we went. Traffic sucked.
Posted on 1/1/23 at 1:07 pm to philly444
Anong's is a great Thai restaurant in Laramie that we found by chance. West of Laramie is the Medicine Bow range with some nice hikes at the summit of the road that crosses the range. I liked the Sugarloaf Mountain hike. Not a lot of people in the Medicine Bow range which is more to my taste.
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