sioFont

Hi,
I'm planning this year holiday in late September.
I have several destinations crossing my mind. One of them is take a tour of Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP.
I won't take a car. (This is the key element for my holiday: I know it's not the best decision to explore the US.)
So what I'm looking for is a basecamp, from which I can take 'escorted' tours to the parks. But I see there is several cities around the parks (Jackson, Cody, West Yellowstone...) And I can't figure out which one could be the best as for tour offerings and the easiest access (widest offer) by plane or coach.

Or do you know any travel agent that do tours in the area. The only I have seen is Tauck and Caravan Tours (that looks too crowded).

Thank you in advance!

azcoyote

Been there a few times, but by no means an area expert - but I've got to think that Jackson Hole would be much better than Cody. It's got close to both Grand Tetons along with Yellowstone. It's a great walking around town, and Several raft trips depart from there.

mjtx

We just got back from there a few weeks ago. A lot depends upon where you are flying from. We found the most convenient for us was to fly into Jackson WY and rent a car because we live in a city where American Airlines is the main carrier and doesn't fly into Montana. We did not stay in that area the whole time because we wanted to see some of the sites around the state We stayed in Jackson Hole the first and last night. We also stayed in West Yellowstone one night. We found Jackson Hole to be very convenient and you drive through the Tetons to get to Yellowstone. West Yellowstone borders Yellowstone so is also convenient.

ludocdoc

i've done this trip twice, both times with a car. It's fairly unimaginable without a car, so if thats negotiable, I'd very strongly suggest it.

The tours I looked into for my mother looked marginal -- if the goal is Yellowstone and Grand Teton, I didnt see oturs that focus there. There wre tours of the west, but they started with Mt Rushmore and ended in Salt Lake City, with alot of time outside YNP and GT.

You'll find that there are lodges inside the parks that are expensive, but located where you need to be. Then there are the gateway cities. For the Tetons it's Jackson Hole. For YNP the best 2 are West Yellowstone and Gardner, MT. I'd bet there are bus tours you can get from each, as there are probably enough non-drivers looking for tours there. I stayed at the Snake River Lodge in Teton village and I think they had organized tours. If the internet and FT fail you, you could call the nicer hotels and see what they can set up. Obviously, cash lubricates the process, but I suspect there are budget options. None as cheap as a rental car, though.

YNP and GTNP are not close enough to legitimately visit one from the other, except in a very cursory way. We flew into Jackson Hole and out of Bozeman, MT -- the closest airport to the north end of Yellowstone. If you can get your tours lined up, you could work your way north or South through the parks as well.

sioFont

Thank you for answering!
I see Jackson must be my first stop.,at least in order to see Grand Teton. And think of having another base in West Yellowstone.
It's a great idea to ask hotels about tours. I will look some of them and try to send an email asking for options.
I must recognize that the idea of adding a visit to mt Rushmore to my USA trip is tempting me, but I need a careful planning.
So, according to your comments, I will try to find flight connections to Jackson, check for tours via Google (and maybe via local hotels), and search info about how to go to West Yellowstone (maybe by Greyhound bus).
Thank you!

ludocdoc

There are budget hotels in both Jackson and the yellowsotne Gateway cities, but the only place you'll find luxiry type hotesl is in the Jackson Hole area (and some otehr ski areas less convenient to the park). Google "teton village" for the hotels there -- Snake River Lodge is a nice one, and there is a 4 Seasons too. They will, of course, be higher service and more adept at helping with tours, for a price. WYS has seasonal air service, and BZN is year round (I think).

darthbimmer

Why are you opposed to renting a car? In most of the USA, points of interest are spread very far apart, making a car the only practical way to get around.

If you do insist on not renting a car, I suggest you begin making your travel plans by looking at tour operators first. Find the dates and locations of service they offer. For example, there may be a great tour operator that serves one city but not another. Or you might find a good package tour that includes a hotel room and airport transfers. Plan the rest of your trip around the tour schedule.

mjtx

Many of the tour companies offer packages that include the hotels that are in Yellowstone National Park. In fact a large percentage of the rooms at the properties in Yellowstone are booked by the tour companies. If you want to spend a few days in Yellowstone you might enjoy staying in the park. You just have to be careful which package you book because not all of the rooms have private bathrooms.

sioFont

Hi. I've been reading a bit more about Yellowstone tours in a Frommer's guidebook I could find in a travel bookshop.

I see they are two good options for Yellowstone:
1) One of the several tour companies operating from West Yellowstone. Looking for more information, I see there is an area on Tripadvisor with reviews on tours. (I only think about Tripadvisor for hotels).
2) Xanterra, the company that runs hotels and lodges at Yellowstone National Parks, also runs several tours from lodges and from Gardiner. Some are on old yellow buses.

For Grand Teton, it looks as the easiest option is a Gray Line tour from Jackson.

The trouble is that I can't find a scheduled connection between Jackson and West Yellowstone or Gardiner. I think I always could take a taxi, but this could be very expensive.

Delta website offers me a flight connection WYS-JAC via SLC, but it's very time-consuming --long layovers at SLC-- (although it's not very expensive if I add it as a segment for a general itinerary including an intercontinental flight from Spain).
Any luck with a connection Jackson-Gardiner.

As mjtx says, I would enjoy staying in the park, but this appears to me very difficult without a car (darthbimmer, I not opposed to rent a car, but I will try to run out my options about not driving --I prefer 'to be driven' this year. My first option was an escorted tour from Europe, but the dates I found didn't fit on my calendar)

MilesAndMore

Thank you - very useful thread.

I am planning a similar trip late this month, all hotels are booked out thru Xanterra. 4 Seasons JAC seems far away, I want to stay closer to the park. I am currently thinking of West Yellowstone area hotels - Days Inn or similar.

I am wondering if anyone has any advice on other lodging options inside the park and what the best accommodation will be in W Yellowstone.

Also the Xanterra agent mentioned rooms free up closer to the actual date - wondering if anyone has any experiences relating to this.

We will be driving, two male adults.

mjtx

We stayed at the Holiday Inn in West Yellowstone in June and it was nice.

If you book a room inside the park be careful and read the room description since some rooms and cabins don't have private bathrooms.

OliverB

I'm planning a trip to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone Nat'l Park for next summer as the lodgings that I'd like to reserve are already booked solid through this season, so I would like to get a head start for 2014. I have several questions and would greatly appreciate your help in planning an itinerary.

I plan to fly directly into Jackson Hole (JAC) and rent a 4WD at the airport to take into Grand Teton. Our first destination would be Jenny Lake Lodge, and I'd like to know whether this would be a convenient base for several nights (as our only lodging for the Grand Teton leg of this trip) to explore the majority of the Park?

We plan to hike along Teton Crest Trail and perhaps some more extensive journeys into the back country (Lupine Meadows, Death Canyon Trailhead, etc) if time permits, view the wildlife across the Gros Ventre Range, float down the Snake River, swim, canoe and trail hike at Jackson Lake, visit Oxbow Bend and Signal Mountain, Cascade Canyon, Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, drive along Antelope Flats, and just take the beauty and splendor of nature in at leisure by relaxing around the lodge with books and games, enjoying the many lakes and meadows, etc.

My first question is whether ALL of the above would be possible and practical from Jenny Lake Lodge?

Both my wife and I are far more preferential to historical lodgings, and for myself personally, it's an absolute necessity and requisite when visiting America's National Parks, as the grand lodges are as much a part of the heritage and wealth of the Parks as the ancient forests and wildernesses that inspired them. So that said, can all of the above be achieved solely from Jenny Lake Lodge as our base?

If so, how many days and nights would ideally be recommended to take in all of the sights and activities at leisure? And what time of year (early or mid June, July, August, etc) would be the best to a) avoid the crowds of seasonal tourists b) appreciate the wildlife in abundance c) be able to enjoy the lakes and rivers and hike along the trails in the high country without encountering snow, mudslides, or blackflies and mosquitoes? I gather that we cannot have it all, but what dates would be most recommended to best accommodate the above?

Now on to Yellowstone...

After x-number of days in the Tetons (from Jenny Lake Lodge) we would then drive through the interior, along Teton Park Road, towards the southwest(?) entrance of Yellowstone, to our next destination: Old Faithful Inn.

The same questions re. lodging as above would again apply to my next inquiry for Old Faithful Inn - would this be a reasonable base for exploring ALL of Yellowstone over a period of several days, or would it be recommended that we stay in different lodgings in various areas of the Park?

From the many trip reports that I have read online, it seems that a popular way to visit Yellowstone, is to spend time in each of the Park's sections - Old Faithful, Canyon, and Mammoth.

Again, it would be far preferable to us if we could base ourselves from Old Faithful Inn for the duration of the stay, as we prefer to not move around every couple of nights, and because we greatly appreciate the history and grandeur of the lodge itself. That said, there are many sights and activities which we look forward to enjoying.

The obvious ranger led walk through the Upper basin and black sand basin are musts, taking in all of the geysers, springs, terraces and thermal pools. We would also like to tour the Midway and Lower basins, which I suspect would require a separate day. We'd like to spend a morning along the Madison Junction Route viewing wildlife, an afternoon at the Norris Geyser Basin and Mammoth Hot Springs, and drive along the North Rim towards Artist Point to view the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Lower Falls, Red Rock Trail and Crystal Falls.

Again, we would like to plan all of this at a leisurely pace, winding down our normal speed to truly appreciate the beauty of the surroundings and nature in all of it's unspoiled splendor.

As I plan to contact my travel agent for early bookings next week, I would greatly appreciate your help in planning for best lodging, dates, timespan, etc. The prime weeks to visit the Park for all of the purposes cited above, whether the choice of accomodations seems practical and convenient to our intended daily activities and itinerary, and the suggested amount of time to spend at each destination in order to achieve all of our proposed activities and visit all of the planned sites at a relaxed and gentle pace.

Thank you so much in advance for any advice, tips or helpful suggestions you can offer!

- Oliver

djp98374

I don't think you need a 4 wheel vehicle....unles you plan on doing something else outside of the parks.

My feeling on Jenny lake....it's something that I'd do one night at. Personally I think it's way overpriced. Also you are in the park and not in the city of Jackson. It will be about 25 min drive from the hotel to the city. Thus you are closer to shops and stores.

There is also Teton village which is at the ski resort area where there are resorts, restaurants, and the gondola up the mountain you can take.

The park itself can be done in 2-3 days. One am you want to go to x bow for pics, anther early morning there s a stone gravel road into a valley called schwabacher . In the am you get good pics f the mountains with water reflections. In the evening these two places are good for evening photos and seeing wildlife.

In the afternoon you go closer to the mountains be doing the Jenny lake boat across the lake for hiking.

In Yellowstone, I would try and nt to a sngle base otherwise you will have mch more driving back and forth.

The areas to look at are Gardner/mamouth area and up the road there is big sky resort. Next area is west Yellowstone and old faithful nn. West Yellowstone is a town just outside the park that has more restaurant options. The other areas are tower junction / Cooke city. These are on opposite sides of Lamar valley where you find the high concentration of wildlife. The other area is Yellowstone lake.

I look at the park as two parts where you spend half your time in one then half in the other. If you look at a map the park is roughly a lopsided figure 8. Old faithful is in the bottom corner.

Do old faithful/ grant/west Yellowstone for some nights then switch to tower/ Cooke city/ mammoth/Gardner

djp98374

Part two......

The parks generally run from memorial day through labor day with some lodging staying open to the end of September. But all is closed by the end ofseptember.

Peak season is July to mid August. If you go early June or late August it will be a little less tourists. Mid September is best for avoiding tourists. End of september is fall color season.

In terms of time...I would say 2 days in grand Teton/ Jenny lake, go up to Yellowstone fore 3 days in each of the two areas....then come back down to Jackson and do 2 nights there at the end before flight out.

If you are going to do an all day hike somewhere then add a day.

The trade off if you stay at old faithful is the driving you do. Assume you drive at around 25 mph given traffic and stops you will make.

From old faithful to towner is about a 2 hr drive.

May/ early June you can be cold and snow falls. Same for late September/early October.

In August is wildfire season which is always a risk. This summer. Think is the 25th anniversary of the big wildfire that threatened old faithful.


August/early September may be the best time.

In late june/July you have wild flower time which will bring bugs.

In mammoth there is just as much history there because it's the ld fort that was set up and has the park headquarters area.


In this trip, have you thought about exploring outside the park boundaries? Cody is and old western town. One of the most scenic roads to drive is hwy 212 from Cooke ity to red lodge. Big sky ski resort is outside the park. There are lewisand lark stuff in Montana.

Not sure where you are traveling from, but keep open the option of lying into Bozeman, billings, or great falls, or Idaho springs when you look at car rental costs.

4 wheel drive eats gas. Gas stations are remote and expensive. You will do some driving.

Also as part of this trip you ould look at lacier national park. In great falls there is a Lewis and lark festival the last weekend in June.

OliverB

Thank you SO much for the detailed response, it's hugely helpful!

To recap a few things that you pointed out...

Regarding Jenny Lake, the appeal is that it is indeed deep inside the Park and well outside of Jackson, which is exactly what we're after. We're looking to escape civilization for a week or two, and surround ourselves in the primeval wilderness of Montana, away from all resorts and touristy areas.

Although you suggest a single night at Jenny Lake, would that afford us enough time to do all of the proposed activities and visit all of the sites that I mentioned above?

Value-aside (I have heard that it's indeed overpriced, but this seems standard for all historic Nat'l Park lodgings) we are very much looking forward to our stay there. We plan to stay at least one full night in Jackson upon our return at the tail end of the trip, but as soon as we fly in, we want to head straight into the Park!

In order to do the Teton Crest Trail, Lupine Meadows, Death Canyon Trailhead, Gros Ventre Range, Antelope Flats, Cascade Canyon, Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, Oxbow Bend and Signal Mountain, Jackson Lake and Snake River, I would have estimated at least 2-3 days.

Would you suggest that 2 nights at Jenny Lake Lodge would be sufficient and not feel too rushed? One single night is too short for us, as we'll have just flown in from the West Coast (San Francisco) and we'll want to spend at least a couple of days to unwind before moving on to the next destination.

Personally, I'd prefer to stay at Teton Village in winter, when I'm able to take advantage of the mountain and skiing. I've been to Big Sky and Whitefish in the winter (we stayed at fancier/luxury resorts) and it was beautiful, however I'd prefer to stick with the old historic Nat'l ParK lodges and stay away from any resort areas in the summer months as the purpose of this trip is an escape from the civilized world and a return to nature and the wild.

Thank you for the info on the 4WD rental btw; I wasn't sure if it would be necessary and usually feel more comfortable in an SUV in the National Parks because road conditions can be unpredictable, but I'll heed your advice and go for a regular rental for the duration of our trip.

Moving on to Yellowstone now...

I've looked over the Park map and am considering a couple of nighs at both Old Faithfull Inn, and in a more rustic Frontier or Roughrider Cabin at Roosevelt Lodge, towards the NorthEast entrance.

Would this work out well in dividing our stay between the North and South portions of the Park? I would also consider staying one night at Lake Lodge as well, if you think that would be enjoyable in allowing us more time to take in all the areas of Yellowstone. What do you think?

I'm not very partial to the more modern hotels like Mammoth, Grant Village, etc. I'm thinking that if we spend a couple of nights in the Roosevelt Lodge area of the Northern Park, we'd be afforded easy access to the Mammoth section of the Park at the North entreance as well, right?

Now on to the time of year... Would August/September not be late in the season for wildlife viewing and be the busiest time of year due to Labor Day crowds? Would the second week of June still present the possibility of snow and mud on the trails, and would it still be too cold for water activities in the lakes?

I would consider going the second week of August and spending a good week-and-a-half exploring both Parks, but I would just want to make sure that it'd still be prime viewing for wildlife, not too cold in the evenings, and we'd avoid the blackflies and mosquitoes most importantly!

Would you recommend August 14th to the 25th or so?

Is it possible to beat the crowds at this time of year?

Thank you again SO very much for all of your help and in depth feedback, advice and suggestions. I really genuinely appreciate it!

Cheers,
Oliver