August Trip Planning...need advice!

We are planning an 8 day stay in Yellowstone in August with our 3 yr old daughter. We will be camping, one of our favorite things to do! This will be our first visit to YS. What are the absolute must-sees? We will be staying in the Canyon campground. We are definitely planning on seeing the geyser area, the canyon and some fly fishing as well. Any suggestions on where to fish or if fishing is even good at that time of the year would be good. We are driving from Indiana and plan to make Sioux Falls our stop-over point so if anyone knows of anything interesting in that area to see while we are there would be appreciated also! Thanks!!!

August Trip Planning...need advice!

Hi MorgansMommy,

Your daughter will love the animals. We stayed in the Canyon area one August and there were herds of elk and buffalo close by.

We did not fish, but we did see may who were. Here is a link with more info: www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/fishing.htm

And for the die hard fishmen: www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/fishbsn.htm

Must sees:

Canyon-Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Upper and Lower Falls

Old Faithful-Geyser Basin, Old Faithful Geyser, Old Faithful Inn

Lamar Valley-Many animals and if you are lucky you may hear a wolf

Mammoth- Hot Spings and Fort Yellowstone

Norris-Geyser Basin

The Ranger led programs are great. They do not have 2008, but here is a link to what they did in 2007: www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/rangerprog.htm

Day trip to Cody, Jackson and Grand Tetons. Also a drive out the North East Entrance along the Beartooth Highway. Great views.

This is just a few ideas, I am sure that the other members of the forum will have many more.

For me, a trip to Yellowstone is one that you will always remember. Enjoy your trip!

August Trip Planning...need advice!

Thanks for the advice! I will definitely check out some of the things you mentioned!

Rwdw has given you a great list of must sees. I always caution families with young children visiting the thermal areas. Some of these areas are very colorful and can look inviting to a small child. I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ve already thought of this, but keep a very close watch on your daughter in these areas to avoid any potential accidents.

We don%26#39;t fish either, but we did see a lot of fly fisherman on the western side of the park.

Enjoy your trip; this trip will be extremely memorable for you and will quite possibly be the most spectacular place you%26#39;ve ever seen!

the drive from the hayden valley area to the yellowstone lake area is full of buffalo. we love going to the yellowstone lake hotel %26amp; eating dinner.

also, a good side trip is to go out the ne entrance %26amp; take the chief joseph scenic hwy to cody. the cody rodeo (nightly) is a must %26amp; your daughter would love the clowns %26amp; kid rodeo riders.

ynp is great but i%26#39;d also spend some tine just south in grand teton national park. it%26#39;s just as beautiful %26amp; has some great hikes. take the boat ride across jenny lake %26amp; hike up to inspiration point. it%26#39;s about a mile but the view is gorgeous. you can continue on to hidden falls %26amp; even make a long hike out of it into cascade canyon where two moose always hang out.

jackson lake lodge is a neat place to visit too. splurge %26amp; have a homemade milkshake in any of the national park lodge soda fountains.

also, don%26#39;t forget to visit jackson. the town square is one of my favorite areas %26amp; every evening at 6 they have a ';shootout';. there is also a rodeo in jackson on wed %26amp; saturday nights.

Thanks for all of your help! We will definitely add the rodeo to our plans. Wasn%26#39;t sure when Cody had them, but glad to hear they are nightly. I%26#39;m sure it will make me wish I had a couple of our horses along for the trip, what a beautiful ride that would be! If only it wasn%26#39;t such a long haul! Again, thanks everyone for all of your help!

The nightly Cody rodeo is a must for families, the kids clearly seem to have the most fun.

I second the caution in the thermal areas. Even at Mud Volcano. So often, I see kids running ahead of their parents, and I hold my breath. At 3 years, it is even more important, because telling a kid that the clear blue water is 200 degrees doesn%26#39;t do any good.

Unless you dig through all the YNP posts, you might find better fly fishing advice on some other message board or website. I%26#39;ve done it once at YNP, but I am a total novice.

The Beartooth Pass drive is a must from my perspective.

I was thinking about you stopping at Sioux Falls. We drove by, so I do not know what is there. You may want to consider also stopping in the Rapid City area. There is a great deal to do there. Some ideas are:

Mount Rushmore

Badlands National Park

Wind Cave National Park

Wall, SD(You will see hundreds of signs for this place on I-90, Be sure to get your free ice water)

And across the border in WY is Devils Tower Nat. Mon.

You should post in the SD forum for more ideas.

Also if you do end up going to several National Parks you will want to get a America the Beautiful Pass. It is $80.00 and will cover the entrance fee to national parks and Federal recreation sites for 1 year. Web site: http://store.usgs.gov/pass/

A couple of other ideas-

There is a daily ranger presentation just for kids (and parents) at the Old Faithful benches. I think it is usually at 1:15 PM, but you can check at the Visitor Information center for more info %26amp; times.

There are visitor centers throughout the park that have different wildlife and nature displays. The Canyon Visitor Center has different hands-on exhibits about the supervolcano; Fishing Bridge has an otter family.

And, there are great ice cream cones at the Tower Falls store!

If you go through West Yellowstone, you might want to visit the Grizzly %26amp; Wolf Discovery Center. This is neat place for young kids. They have live grizzly bears and a wolf pack, and a really neat display about black bears. There are talks throughout the day by naturalists and movies.

Are you planning to fly fish?

Is the Grizzly and Wolf DIscovery Center good for adults too?

I%26#39;m old and I find it really interesting. There are naturalists who are at the wolf and bear locations that answer any questions and always have interesting stories. They also have presentations during the day with a Korelian bear dog - the dogs that are trained to help deter bears - and raptors. I like those as well. The IMAX theater is just across the parking lot and has movies about Yellowstone, Wolves, %26amp; Bears. (I let my young nephew take a nap while I watch the movie!).

lips