Yellowstone vacation

[Steve Towers]

Ok, you traveling types, tell me all I need to know about seeing Yellowstone National Park. Wife and I want to go toward the end of September 2010 and from what I gather making reservations way in advance is the thing to do. What to see, what to skip, where to stay (or not), an so on. We are lodge / cabin types, so we won't be camping. Any advice will be appreciated. We'll be driving from so cal, so if you know of things to see or places to go along the way, that would be helpful also.

Thanks,
Steve Towers

[Glenn Duensing]

Love Yellowstone! :heyes:

Go up 15 to West Yellowstone (stop at the Idaho's visiter center and get your free potatos!) and on the way back exit south on 89 to the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole. Continue south on 89 til SLC.

We stayed at the North Entrance both times at Gardiner. More relaxed than West Yellowstone. Inside the park was too expensive for us. End of Sept should have better rates. Great hiking trails all over. Didn't care much for the north road out of Grant Village/Mammoth Springs. Yellowstone "Grand Canyon" is fantastic! And of course Old Faithful which wasn't too faithful on our last visit (about 45 minutes late).

Be prepared for all kinds of weather in late Sept. In '05, it snowed the day after we left which was the end of Sept.

Bottom line, great place, never saw any bears but did see lots of other critters

[John Prosser]

You are gonna love it. Make sure you have plenty of time. We spent 5 days going through the park and could have easily spent another couple weeks. Stayed in W. Yellowstone. Reasonable rates and lot's of restaurants.
The park is huge , so figure out what you want to see and stay near the closest entrance.
Early morning traffic (7ish) isn't bad but by afternoon you may crawl.
Drove up through the north west entrance and finished the trip by driving across and out the east entrance.
I highly recommend you go up through Zion, Bryce Canyon & Capitol Reef parks on your way up.

The best tips I can give:

Be ready for any weather it can go from cold to hot & back during any day.

Pack a light lunch every day. We hit the park by about 7:30am every morning. Brought our lunch and ate along a trail or at pickic tables, then headed out around 4 or 5.
Having the lunch really helped with flexibility, plus there were very long lines at most of the in park restaurants.

Enjoy
JP

[Lisa Severy]

Steve, Yellowstone is such a fantastic place! Full of wonderful sights! I think you will really enjoy it! A few years back, we went to Yellowstone and stayed in the Lake Lodge Cabins, which are in the park. They were simple, but comfortable accommodations. There is a cafeteria and restaurant on the same grounds. At the lodge, there are places to sit, relax and view the lake. Very relaxing! The Lake Lodge Cabins are open June 10-Sept. 30. We stayed a week. I recommend staying in the park, to make the best use of your time. I also highly recommend planning each day out, since the park is so large, and even in a week, you can't see it all. Of course, don't try to stuff too much in one day. We saw "old Faithful", the Yellowstone Falls, and may of the lesser known geysers, as well as many of the hot springs. The wildlife was amazing! If you ride horses, there is a great outfitter there and the guided trail rides are a good way to see the wildlife. We also did a BBQ ride, which was really good. You are taken to the "camp" in horse-drawn wagons. I thought is was fun - and the food was great. I will try to find the maps we had from our visit to see if I missed anything. We like to fish, but found that fishing wasn't really that good. You MUST also see the Grand Tetons!Very spectacular! We stopped by the car museum in Reno on our way home. If you haven't been there, it is a good stop for anyone who likes cars. There are other historical exhibits, such as clothing from the period.

[Tom Berry]

We also had a fabulous time in Yellowstone. We were there 3 days and thought it was enough. Grand Tetons are a must!! Spectacular! We did river rafting somewhere near Jackson Hole ( I think is was the Snake River ? ) and it was great.
Brice and Zion are also very much worth it. 1 day Brice.. 2 or 3 days for Zion ( more if you like to hike )
You will have a wonderful time!

[Steve Ekstrand]

Course closes Oct 12th.... Spectacular!
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