Yellowstone Experts Help welcomed. :)

[funhouse8]

I would love to know the best way to go about touring the park. I have been doing a lot of research and find this a bit overwhelming. I have written up a plan of attack but I would love to know your ideas. Yellowstone is where I am having trouble, so much to see. This is where we are staying. I have all my reservations in place and those I will not change we are three couples early 50s. I am planning this trip so I want to make sure everything goes smoothly. Thanks so much in advance.
We are going to SD first to visit that area.
8/18 flying into Rapid City- 8/21
Spending the night we think in Gillette then driving to Cody
Day in Cody with Museum, dinner show and rodeo
8/22 Drive into Yellowstone
8/22, 8/23 Canyon Lodge - Frontier Cabins - 2 nights
8/24 Mammoth Springs Hotel - Frontier Cabin
8/25 Old Faithful Inn
8/26 Finish up Yellowstone and drive to Jackson Hole
8/26 - 8/29 Stay in Jackson Hole area and tour Grand Tetons. Flying home from Jackson Hole.
You always helped me in the best.

 

[bcla]

Roosevelt Old West Dinner Cookout.

http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/roosevelt-old-west-dinner-cookout-7201.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDQm2CGzrHE

 

[funhouse8]

Roosevelt Old West Dinner Cookout.

http://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/roosevelt-old-west-dinner-cookout-7201.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDQm2CGzrHE

That looks like so much fun. Can y
ou tell me how ruff the ride is my friend has a bad back. Thanks

 

[bcla]

That looks like so much fun. Can y
ou tell me how ruff the ride is my friend has a bad back. Thanks

There are two options. The first is a guided horseback ride to the dinner site of 1 hour or two hours. The other is wagon ride. The wagon ride isn't bad at all. The wagons themselves are on rubber tires, so it's not like you're on wooden wheels. It was pretty smooth. There is a stagecoach option on wooden wheels, but I'm guessing you would choose the regular wagon.

 

[bcla]

It's been a while for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner cookout. I was with the family, and dad didn't want to drive to West Yellowstone (had reservations at the Days Inn) at night and managed to book one of the Roughrider Cabins at Roosevelt Lodge for a night.

Driving late at night might be an issue. The roads are a little bit scary (no lighting whatsoever) at night, and having stayed there we could walk right from the wagon to our cabin. You could drive from Tower/Roosevelt to Canyon or Mammoth Hot Springs, although I'm not sure what night would be best.

I know they say that they hold reservations until early morning, but I seem to remember that some of the lodges seemed abandoned late a night. You might need to use a phone to wake someone up for a late night checkin.

 

[funhouse8]

It's been a while for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner cookout. I was with the family, and dad didn't want to drive to West Yellowstone (had reservations at the Days Inn) at night and managed to book one of the Roughrider Cabins at Roosevelt Lodge for a night.

Driving late at night might be an issue. The roads are a little bit scary (no lighting whatsoever) at night, and having stayed there we could walk right from the wagon to our cabin. You could drive from Tower/Roosevelt to Canyon or Mammoth Hot Springs, although I'm not sure what night would be best.

I know they say that they hold reservations until early morning, but I seem to remember that some of the lodges seemed abandoned late a night. You might need to use a phone to wake someone up for a late night checkin.

Great advice we are staying two nights at canyon so I'm thinking the second night might be best since we already have our rooms. Not too concerned with the night driving. My DH works nights driving tractor trailers in NYC at night. LOL Thanks for the information.

 

[hsmamato2]

I'm gonna watch this thread...I'm planning a trip too, and wish I could get Canyon cabins like you,OP! Tripadvisor has a lot of forums about yellowstone

 

[Spwhoney]

Love Yellowstone! Went every year as a child. Bit of advice, don't let the road fool you. Calculate it out and it dosent seem far but consider that the road can be windy and traffic and wildlife can slow you down. Take at least two days to see whole park from mammoth down. Beautiful now but should gave seen before the fire. WOW. Amazing place.

 

[hsmamato2]

to pp, if I stay in canyon village,will I be able to visit mammoth area from there?

 

[disneyfaninaz]

to pp, if I stay in canyon village,will I be able to visit mammoth area from there?

Yes.

 

[SA mom]

Night driving in Yellowstone is not like night driving anywhere else. The roads are narrow, one lane each way, no shoulder, occasional high mountain passes, and there is an abundance of wildlife. Amazing!

Driving in Yellowstone in general is slow going. Traffic will back up due to wildlife jams. That is a traffic jam caused by sightings of wildlife along the road. Remember, no shoulders, so getting around parked cars is very difficult. The roads are sort of like a figure 8 and it took at least an hour to drive between the major areas.

My husband and I took turns driving because if you are driving, you really have to keep your eyes on the road. There is no site seeing for the driver.

One night we were staying in the Roosevelt area and drove out toward the Northeast Entrance just to see what we could see. The bison started to cross the road. It took us almost an hour just to get through the bison. We got a big kick out it!

Definitely do the cookout, it was really fun. We also took one of the tours in the historic touring cars. It was an early morning wildlife tour that departed from Roosevelt. The guides know where the wildlife like to hang out and they radio each other of where they are seeing things. We saw a moose cow and calve, a grissly bear (almost too closely), osprey, and so much more.

Have a great time and remember to wear sunblock.

 

[mgrace79]

Loved Yellowstone and yeah to visiting Cody and Jackson's Hole 2 adorable little towns! Loved mammoth in Yellowstone. And the park is much bigger than you realize. I takes longer due to single lane traffic that is slow going but absolutely beautiful. Of course be on the look out for wild life but more so drivers that slam in there brakes regardless of where they are to stop and take pictures. LOL more close calls from that that the wildlife. Have a good trip!

 

[hsmamato2]

I've asked this elsewhere, so I'll ask here too We are planning a trip with 2 nites in Grand tetons, then 2 nites at Old Faithful, 1 night at mammoth,and 3 nights at canyon. Should I cut one of those last nights out? Is it too long? I can cut it to 2 nights at Canyon,or will we be sorry if we do that?

 

[bcla]

I've asked this elsewhere, so I'll ask here too We are planning a trip with 2 nites in Grand tetons, then 2 nites at Old Faithful, 1 night at mammoth,and 3 nights at canyon. Should I cut one of those last nights out? Is it too long? I can cut it to 2 nights at Canyon,or will we be sorry if we do that?

Yellowstone is one of those places where you can literally spend a lot of time.

I've seen people camped out at certain geysers just waiting for an eruption. I can imagine someone staying at Old Faitful for a week just watching geysers and hiking the backcountry.

 

[CPT Tripss]

I've asked this elsewhere, so I'll ask here too We are planning a trip with 2 nites in Grand tetons, then 2 nites at Old Faithful, 1 night at mammoth,and 3 nights at canyon. Should I cut one of those last nights out? Is it too long? I can cut it to 2 nights at Canyon,or will we be sorry if we do that?

Do not make it any shorter. You will barely have enough time as it is. Yellowstone is really big with a lot of attractions.

 

[mgrace79]

We ended up spending more time at the Tetons and Yellowstone than originally planned. I second don't cut

 

[JeffB13]

We went to Yellowstone in 2010 and had a great time. I agree with the campout cookout. We took the wagons instead of the horseback and it was fun, but bring bug spray for sure as we got eaten alive on the way back!!!

Now we were more interested in the wildlife so take this with a grain of salt... The first day you are there, I would do the yellow bus sightseeing tour. Your guide will drive you around and show you where all the prime wildlife viewing is that week. We were amazed as we saw black and grizzly bears, moose, and wolves all during the bus tour. It was so beneficial when exploring on our own later in the week. Most of our time was spent in the northeast quadrant of the park as that is where the majority of the wildlife is. And make sure you bring good binoculars and maybe even a spotting scope. There is a place in the NE where all the wolf watchers will congregate and you can see the wolves up on the hillside. We even saw several cubs which was super cool. We stayed at the Canyon lodge for the four nights we were there and while we were ready to move on to the Tetons and Jackson, within a few days, we wished we were back in Yellowstone.