7 Days in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park (July 2018)

 

Day 1 – Getting there

yellowstone

Yellowstone is the first national park of the world.
96 % of the park is in Wyoming, 3 % in Montana and 1 % in Idaho.

Quickest way to get to the Park is by air.
There are several small airports close to the park. The Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport is on North side, Yellowstone Regional Airport (Cody WY) is on East side, Jackson Hole Airport is on South side and Yellowstone airport is on West side.

airports 2

My trip started from Bozeman MT, I decided to fly to Bozeman simply because cost of flying to Bozeman from Chicago was half as compared to any other airports in the Yellowstone area.

Where to Stay

Gardiner is a small beautiful town on the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. It offers multiple hotels and restaurants.

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Cabins
Yellowstone Big Rock Inn 902 Scott St, Gardiner, MT, 59030
Yellowstone Gateway Inn 103 Bigelow Lane, Gardiner, MT, 59030

Where to Eat

Breakfast: Yellowstone Grill, 404 Scott St, Gardiner MT
Lunch/Dinner: Lighthouse Restaurant, 752 Hwy 89 S, Gardiner, MT
Lunch/Dinner: The Raven Grill, 118 East Park Street, Gardiner, MT

Day 2 – Roosevelt Arch to West Yellowstone

Things to do

Map

Day 2

Roosevelt Arch – Time to spend: 15 minutes.

Roosevelt Arch

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt laid cornerstone of Roosevelt Arch. Arch became the first entrance point of the first National Park of the world.
Know More

Mammoth Hot Springs – Time to Spend: 1-2 hour

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs deposits about 2 tons of calcium carbonate or travertine limestone per day. There are two ways to see Hot Springs. You can either 1.75 miles on boardwalk or if you do not wish to walk, you could drive a very short scenic drive called upper terraces drive. Surrounding area has general store, gift shops, restaurant and beautiful Mammoth Springs Hotel. During summer its really hard to find a lodging inside Yellowstone but if you plan early you could definitely find a lodge.

Norris Geyser – Time to spend: 1.5 hours

Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest geyser basin in Yellowstone. This area has 2.5 miles of boardwalk. The largest geyser in the world is located here. Its called Steamboat Geyser. It does not erupt often but when it does it pushes water more than 370 feet high.

Click here to see steamboat geyser on youtube

Artists Paint pots Trail

This is 1 mile of boardwalk offers several hot springs and very unique mud pots.

Grand Prismatic Spring – Time to spend: 2 hour

This is my favorite spot in Yellowstone National Park and I have no words to describe how beautiful this place is. Grand Prismatic Spring is the third largest hot spring in the world and the largest in United States. Hot Spring is approximately 50m deep and about 110m in diameter . There is a board walk around the hot spring but to get an aerial view you have to do a short hike. Grand Prismatic overlook is located on Fairy Falls trail. It is a short 20 min walk to overlook from the trail head of Fairy Falls.

Grand prismatic

Old Faithful: Time to spend: 90 min

It is not the biggest but most regular geyser in Yellowstone National Park. Since 2000 it has been erupting every 45-120 minutes.
Check in the visitor center for eruption timings.

Old Faithful
By R. Robinson – Downloaded from National Park Service Photo Gallery:www.nps.gov/archive/yell/slidefile/history/1946_1999/thermalfeatures/Images/11017.jpg

Where to Eat

Breakfast: Yellowstone Grill, 404 Scott St, Gardiner MT
Lunch: Mammoth Hotel Dining Room - Menu
Dinner: Old Faithful Inn Dining Room - Menu

Where to sleep

Its ideal to stay in a hotel inside the park but I was not lucky enough to find a hotel there. If you cannot find accommodation inside the park then West Yellowstone area is a great place to stay. It also has a lot of restaurants and gift shops.

Hotels inside the park

 Old Faithful Inn 
Grant Village Lodging
Old Faithful Inn 

Hotels in West Yellowstone

World Mark West Yellowstone, 110 Gray Wolf Ave, West Yellowstone, MT 59758
Explorer Cabins At Yellowstone
Best Western Desert Inn, 133 North Canyon Street, West Yellowstone

Day 3 – Grand Canyon Of Yellowstone and Hayden Valley

Map

Day 3

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone – Time to spend: 3.5 – 4 hours

This place is ranked 1 by TripAdvisor.com in places to see in Yellowstone National Park. The area is divided into two sections North Rim and South Rim. Both the sides can be easily accessed through road. There are several overlooks in the area with plenty of parking. Almost all of the overlooks are handicap accessible. I stopped at every view point in this map except inspiration point which was closed in July 2018 because of construction. Please see below for the map.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone - map

Things to do

North Rim view points

  • Bring of Lower Falls – 0.8 mile (out and back) moderate hike
  • Red Rock Point – Hike – 0,8 miles (out and back) moderate hike
  • Lookout point
  • Grand View
  • Inspiration Point

South Rim

  • Uncle Tom’s Trail – Moderate 0.6 mile (out and back)
  • Artist Point

Artist Point

Hayden Valley – Time to spend: 1.5 hour

Aside from the gorgeous wide open views, Hayden Valley is great place for wild life viewing. Best time to see wild life is early in the morning or around sunset time. I wasn’t lucky enough to see a bear but I did see hundreds of bisons. The Valley approximately covers 130 square km area of Yellowstone National Park. Aside from the gorgeous wide open views, Hayden Valley is great place for wild life viewing. Best time to see wild life is early in the morning or around sunset time. I wasn’t lucky enough to see a bear but I did see hundreds of bisons. The Valley approximately covers 130 square km area of Yellowstone National Park.

Where to Sleep

Lake Yellowstone Hotel & Cabins 
Grant Village 
Old Faithful Inn

Where to Eat

Grant Village Dining room
Lake Hotel Dining Room
Grant Village Lake House Restaurant 

Day Four – Yellowstone National Park to Grand Teton NP

Things to do

Day 4

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb

Black Pool

Moose Falls

Moose Falls

Jackson Lake Overlook

Jackson Lake Overlook

Signal Mountain Summit Road

This road is less travelled which makes it great for serious wild life watchers. Black bears can be spotted in this area. I saw two black bears on my way signal mountain summit. Check out a video here

Signal Mountain Summit

Potholes Turnout

Potholes

Jackson, WY

Where to Stay

Hotel Jackson, Jackson
50 N Glenwood St, Jackson, WY, 83001 

The Lexington at Jackson Hole Hotel & Suites, Jackson3-star 
285 North Cache, Jackson, WY, 83001
 
Wort Hotel, Jackson WY
50 N Glenwood St, Jackson, WY, 83001

Day 5 – Jackson, Grand Teton Village and Jenny Lake

Map

Day 5

Things to Do

Teton Village Gondola – Time to spend: 2 hours

Gondola ride can be booked here

Teton Village

Jenny Lake Tour – Time to spend: 2 hours

Jenny lake boat tours can be booked here.

Jenny Lake

Mormon Row Historic District and Antelope Flats – Time to spend: 15- 45 min

Mormon District2

Oxbow Bend – Time to spend: 15 min

Oxbow Bend

Where to Stay

Jackson Lake Lodge

Grant Village Lodge

Day 6 – Lamar Valley

Map

Day 6

Things to do

Tower Falls – Time to spend: 30 min

This wasn’t super exciting but its a very short walk from a parking lot.

tower falls

LAMAR VALLEY

If you are looking for wild life then this is the place for you. This valley is home to bisons, wolfs, bears, elks and coyotes. Bisons and Elks are not hard to spot as, they are pretty much every where is the valley. If you want to see Grizzly bears and Wolfs then visit the valley early morning or close to sunset.

Lamar Valley

Where to Stay

Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Cabins
Roosevelt Lodge
Yellowstone Big Rock Inn, 902 Scott St, Gardiner, MT, 59030
Yellowstone Gateway Inn 103 Bigelow Lane, Gardiner, MT, 59030

Where to Eat

Breakfast: Yellowstone Grill, 404 Scott St, Gardiner MT
Lunch/Dinner: Lighthouse Restaurant, 752 Hwy 89 S, Gardiner, MT
Lunch/Dinner: The Raven Grill, 118 East Park Street, Gardiner, MT

Day Seven

Drive to Bozeman airport to fly back home.


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