Without further ado, below is a guide you can feel free to reference or copy and paste for your road trip. Staying there will help you avoid backtracking and set you up nicely for the morning drive to Grand Teton. Its definitely a favorite hike of ours, mellow the whole way and winding through multiple meadows with plenty of wildlife sightings. Learn how your comment data is processed. There are two trail loops here worth seeing. teton salt Make sure to check the roads report. That being said, we would never recommend something to you that we dont stand behind 100%. Nothing is more bizarre than walking on wooden paths above steaming ground, viewing countless terraced pools and bubbling mud pools by giant orange mound geysers that resemble Wild Thing monsters. From camping to staying in the parks lodges, that guide has a strategy for choosing the perfect home base (spoiler, its actually home bases) in Yellowstone National Park. Where Mt. Jackson is a resort town and there are quite a few options spanning from basic sites and RV parks to luxury rentals and hotel stays. The trail from the Visitor Center takes you on a 4.9 mile loop with 350 feet of elevation gain around all the sights. rushmore yellowstone teton If you choose to partake in the jump, make sure someone snaps a photo of you midair. Both are famous artists notable within the national park movement, and both were extremely drawn to documenting the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. For the sake of seeing the most attractions in just a few days, youll probably want to stay in a couple of different parts of the park to minimize driving. From the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve Center, the trail enters a forest and eventually (roughly 0.25 miles from the parking lot) comes to a junction where hikers can choose either the Woodland Trail or Lake Creek Trail. Sign up receive our monthly newsletter with updates and new in-depth guides. Contrary to popular belief, Yellowstone isnt the largest national park in the US. If you arrive in Bozeman on an afternoon or evening flight, we recommend finding a place to stay in the evening and then starting your journey the next morning. For more information on which beaches have tourist access, see the NPS site. However, the flight selection is limited. Nearby, the geysers and hot springs in Upper Geyser Basin are truly iconic. This itinerary for Day 3 gets you to Old Faithful first thing in the morning, leaving the rest of the day for more hot spring, waterfall, and wildlife spotting. There are plenty of geysers above the shoreline that you can see via more boardwalks and trail systems (like Upper Geyser Basin), but we bet you didnt know there are geyser eruptions occurring every day under the water as well. Bear spray is a necessity while in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Split between three days in Yellowstone and two days in Grand Teton. Recently, the park financed new pull-outs and sidewalks by the arch, so make sure to stop and take a picture the first of many on this grand adventure! teton alene missoula Has many facilities located nearby. Stay around Old Faithful (there are three park lodges) or in the town of West Yellowstone, which is outside the western entrance and is the best town in terms of hotel selection and amenities around Yellowstones border. If this is a one-off trip or youre flying into the parks, we recommend renting bear spray. Moran. This otherworldly chalky-limestone landscape is a Yellowstone must-see and you can view all of the features easily by accessing two short boardwalks from the parking lot. Gentle lake loops or spots of interest that dont require much activity or additional elevation gain, like the ones on this itinerary, would be perfect! Were starting off the first day of this trip with a sizzling itinerary: youll pass through the impressive North Entrance arch, visit the flowing limestone pools and mounds of Mammoth Hot Springs, hike through meadows and pine forests to Bunsen Peak, and see Norris Geyser Basin by sunset. Accepts tents and smaller RVs. You definitely need to visit Yellowstone! We think it is, which is why this itinerary is designed to go one-way. Visit our guide on the 9 Best Hikes in Grand Teton National Park to plan out another day hike or two if you have extra time to spare. ), Snake River Overlook, Oxbow Bend, and Willow Flats Overlook. Were big hikers, which means we were a little disappointed to find that there really arent too many good hikes on San Juan Island, which is the most visited island in the archipelago. Im a designer living in San Francisco Bay Area and Seventy Five Miles is a side project that I started as an outlet to share my travel experience through photographs. Because Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park are two of the most visited in the US and there is limited parking, we recommend that guests that want the best accessibility to the parks arrive early in the morning (9:00am at the latest). There are always bison herds to be seen in Hayden Valley at most times of the day. Moran and the Tetons, and a horde of wildlife. The two areas couldnt be any different, really. Beware that the road is unpaved and somewhat unmaintained. Cascade Canyon Trail begins at the west dock of Jenny Lake, accessed by a 10 minute, $10-per-way ferry ride. We just came back from the west and went to Grand Teton for a day trip. Grand Teton is a sweet, smaller park just south of Yellowstone, unique for dramatic views of the Teton Mountain Range, strenuous hikes to high-elevation glacial lakes, and prolific wildlife. The Oregon Coast is one of the most gorgeous pieces of the Pacific Northwest, and thats saying something considering the Northwest is full of incredible natural beauty. Back to your regularly scheduled programming of more iconic viewpoints: Oxbow Bend is one of the best spots in the park to view Mt. canyon bryce yellowstone vegas las grand tour bus antelope teton national overnight park Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (aka Teton Village) located by the south end of the park also has quite a few lodges and hotels. Conservation is a massive issue of philanthropy and federal protection in and around these parks, though folks sometimes forget that the smallest actions also add up and can affect local ecosystems. This is also another great site to bring binoculars and look for herds of bison in the distant plains beyond Mormon Row. With populous large mammal wildlife, geothermal activity unlike anywhere else in the world, and towering peaks full of sprawling rocky mountain ecosystems, it makes sense that they are also two of the most visited parksYellowstone named the second most-visited national park in 2020 and Grand Teton coming in fifth. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is a must-see, and its a great stop to spend your afternoon after hiking Mt. There are also a number of trails that let you partway into the canyon for a better view of the river and the yellow stone this park is named for. Every time it erupts, it shoots boiling water 130 feet into the sky. Visitors can learn about Rockefellers conservation philanthropy, historical ranch history, and sensory exhibits on plants and wildlife. Lastly, its always important to practice Leave No Trace principles. This trail is sure to make you feel part of the Yellowstone ecosystem, with a birds-eye view of Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Geyser Basin. An America the Beautiful Annual Pass (which gets you into any national park and also covers parking fees at most national monuments or national forest trailheads) is $80, and a single day pass into any national park, per vehicle, is $30. Yellowstone has so many iconic features, its difficult to choose one. tours Colter Bay Campground: A large 324-site camp near Jackson Lake, with spectacular views of Mt. Your email address will not be published. Day 4 is going to feel like a good rest day after all the activity in Day 3. Just be prepared for some extra driving in the morning. This hike travels through some meadows with wildflowers, though the majority of the way youll be hiking through pine forests. Its only two nights, and Grand Teton is a lot smaller than Yellowstone, so it will be nice to have a central home base. Its as faithful as can be, and we wouldnt tell you to visit unless it was a transformative stop. You dont even have to leave your car to see these springs, so they are the perfect final adventure for this packed geothermal-themed day. The second reason we recommend visiting at sunset: imagine the magic that happens when rainbow-colored hot springs mirror a rainbow-colored sky. Washburn by mid-morning, seeing the Grand Canyon and falls of Yellowstone during the golden afternoon, and looking over herds of bison and the deepening vista of Hayden Valley at dusk. We recommend the hike to Point Sublime, a 2.7 mile round-trip hike with 340 feet of elevation gain that takes you past Artist Point and several other majestic views of the canyon. It took us forever because of how many deep potholes there were, and we had a truck. Panoramic views of 50 miles in the distance at a peak elevation of 10,243 feet, frequent bighorn sheep sightings, and carpets of wildflowers blooming in July are some of the aspects you can look forward to on this hike. Owen, and Teewinot). You can find a list of campsites in Yellowstone and links to reservation systems through the National Park Service Camping website. An opportunity to take a week off work came out during my transition to a new team so I gladly took it. If you live close by Salt Lake City, Denver, or Idaho, for example you can drive to the starting point in Bozeman. Instead, we would recommend advance booking a stay or site at Jenny Lake, Signal Mountain, or Colter Bay. You can watch from boardwalks that circle the geyser, or from an observation viewpoint above. yellowstone tetons backroads tour itinerary guests dates included straight activity overview talk level prices Its a geothermal hotspot accessible by car at all times of the year, and it is iconically Yellowstone. Earlier is better here because this attraction really draws crowds. If you thought you were joyously overwhelmed visiting Old Faithful and the other geysers and pools of the Upper Basin, Grand Prismatic Overlook will impress you beyond belief. Yellowstone and Grand Teton are two of the most impressive national parks in the US. Heres what this itinerary looks like written out. This cone-geyser is aptly named due to its predictable pattern of eruptions which occur every 45 minutes to two hours. We really recommend seeing Mammoth Hot Springs as the first thing you do once entering Yellowstone. Here are a few of those activities we can recommend: Yellowstone has so many pit stops and a few really good hikes, but the hikes in Grand Teton are really prolific and quite strenuous and they always have a magnificent end-point attraction worth the journey. Splitting your time between these two towns right outside the park will give you a nice set of home bases for exploring the sprawling park without too much driving. The hottest and most-changing spot in Yellowstone, Norris Geyser Basin is full of constantly shifting and evolving features. Yellowstone is a massive park. Phelps Lake Loop begins and ends at the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve Center, originally a dude ranch known as JY Ranch. Both are pretty short and flat. But since I relocated to California almost a decade ago, weve made a bunch of trips to the area that I used to call home. Touring the parks on trail horses is another great option for skipping crowds. In the itinerary for Yellowstone and Grand Teton below, youll find a guide with the most efficient route for hitting the best of both parks in just seven days. If you do plan to only fly into one of the airports, we would recommend Jackson Hole Airport. Now that youre firmly in the south end of the park, it makes sense to stay in a new place to minimize driving. It has 61 spots, tents only, and has pay-showers nearby. On one of the first pullouts (this one), we saw multiple moose, a baby moose, and a bear and three cubs. Yellowstone Lake is a massive lake the largest high elevation lake in North America. This trail may be closed due to ongoing construction on Dunraven Pass. Youre going to need them to keep track of all the magnificence youll see on this week-long ride. So large that you could dedicate the entire week you have on this road trip just to touring Yellowstone. Well reiterate here and recommend that you stay at the same campsite or lodge for your entire stay in Grand Teton. Youll find that dawn and dusk are the best times to spot wildlife in the parks as these are the parts of the day when wildlife, especially large mammal wildlife, are most active. Youll walk on a mixture of dirt trails and boardwalks, and have the chance to see not only the geothermal features, but plenty of birds nesting in the lodgepole pines in this basin. and a locals tips for additional activities to do, like renting bikes, booking fishing guides, and touring the parks via horse rides. Finding accommodation in Jackson Hole is going to be your best bet. Youll get to experience trail systems from a completely different perspective. Yellowstone and Grand Teton are both surrounded by vast amounts of open space. We have compiled some great guides for sunrise drives on this itinerary to get you in the park as early as possible they will not only let you avoid mass crowds and the heat of the day, but will present you with the best opportunities to see wildlife like wolves, moose, and bears. yellowstone map bozeman adventure tetons winter snow grand montana tour trips teton jackson We recommend checking out these predictions the evening before venturing to Old Faithful. but do so from a very safe distance. All by breakfast time! These parks are both consistently busy between Memorial Day and Labor Day, so if you want to experience them with less people, traffic, and commotion, its generally a good idea to travel before June or after September. yellowstone tetons backroads tour document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Grand Teton is known for its hikes, and Cascade Canyon is one of the best in the park. Early fall and late spring are definitely our favorite times to visit these parks, with trees in full fall glory or budding spring bloom, and active wildlife taking advantage of the last or first of the summer season. Today, bookend one of the best hikes in Grand Teton National Park with a sunrise and sunset wildlife drive. Lamar is Yellowstones most expansive basin easily accessed by park roads, and wildlife especially herds of elk, bison, and wolves tend to thrive and roam freely here. There is such an incredible amount of things to do, see, and, Read More How To Plan an Unforgettable Northern California Road TripContinue, Orcas Island is our favorite of the San Juan Islands, and it makes a perfect weekend getaway from Seattle. You can even bring a blanket and make a sunset picnic spot on any of these stops, waiting for the stars to emerge on your final night in this magnificent park. What do they say as the crow flies? tetons rushmore mayflower These areas of the park are arguably the most popular parts though, so book campsites or lodging as early as you can to avoid competition. You can also drive to the Midway Geyser Basin trail to visit Grand Prismatic and walk on boardwalks around the feature if you want to examine the otherworldly textures and colors up close. Signal Mountain Lodge: A rustic, semi-luxury lodge close to Jackson Lake, offering rooms and bungalows, as well as dining and other activities. If not, fly straight to the source. When we travel, we always opt for experiences over just having a list of places to check off.