Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole

My husband and I are thinking about going taking a 1 week trip out west. I have a few questions.

1) How busy is it in the summer? What about the week after July 4th? How is it in late May/early June?

2) We want to spend most of our time outdoors but would like a nice place to stay at night. We live in New Orleans so we want to get away from it all but we enjoy a nice dinner with a glass of wine at the end of the day

3) Places to stay - we like small places - B%26amp;B%26#39;s or small inns. Would you recommend staying in Jackson for Grand Tetons or in the park itself? Also, what about Yellowstone?

Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole

1) Very busy. Busy both time periods you asked about but it will always be busier after school is out. We have been in mid June and mid July. Both are great but in June we saw more bears. Don%26#39;t worry about the crowds. I hate crowds and had no trouble dealing with them.

2) You need to look at West Yellowstone for the most central access to the park. www.travelyellowstone.com is the site for reservations inside the park. You%26#39;ll be very lucky to find anything at this point, though. If you are fortunate enough to get something inside, the food will be OK. Maybe very good but you never know. Lake Hotel is supposed to be the best.

3) Part of this is 2 I suppose. Check out Jackson Lake Lodge in the Tetons. It will meet your nice dinner and wine without trouble and throw in some great views too. We liked it. You can stay in Jackson to see the Tetons but its too far for seeing Yellowstone.

We put trip reports and planning information along with a bunch of pictures on our website. If you%26#39;re interested its at

www.AlandSueJohnson.com

You%26#39;ll see Yellowstone Links on the left. Teton information and pictures is mixed in with it.

You%26#39;re planning this trip pretty late as far as accomodations to. You%26#39;ll need to get moving.

If you can, I%26#39;d strongly suggest staying in the park if you can.

Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole

summer is the busy season but it%26#39;s not so busy that you find it annoying (it%26#39;s not ';beach in the summer'; busy).

some people want to limit the # of places they stay. i actually enjoy moving around to different lodges, hotels, %26amp; b %26amp; b%26#39;s.

depending on what all you want to do here is what i would enjoy...

day 1: fly into jackson %26amp; spend the first night there acclimating yourself to the town.

day 2: visit grand teton national park, including jenny lake (take the boat ride %26amp; hike up to inspiration point/hidden falls). you can also rent boats to take out on jackson lake, take a smooth water raft trip, horseback ride, or just enjoy visiting the area, sightseeing %26amp; looking for wildlife. options to stay include jenny lake lodge (expensive but great %26amp; includes two meals, horseback riding, bicycles, etc.), jackson lake lodge, or signal mountain lodge.

day 3,4: work your way into the park %26amp; stay at one of the lodges for a couple of days. the most popular are old faithful lodge %26amp; lake yellowstone hotel (my favorite). you can have a nice dinner in either%26#39;s dining room. from either one of these two lodges (or any of the others) you can do the figure 8 loop %26amp; see the park. you can spend 2 days or 2 weeks in yellowstone depending on what you want to do. if hiking is your thing there are just tons of options. many people just enjoy going to each area of the park, doing a little sightseeing without much hiking, %26amp; visiting each lodge/concession area.

day 5: ride out the northeast entrance %26amp; over the beartooth pass to red lodge. it%26#39;s a wonderful drive %26amp; there are some great places to stay/eat in red lodge. there are hiking options along the way if you are interested in that.

day 6: drive over to cody, wy via the chief joseph hwy (charles kuralt says it%26#39;s the most beautiful drive in america). see the buffalo bill museum, the irma hotel, %26amp; go to the rodeo that night. i didn%26#39;t think i%26#39;d be a fan of the rodeo but really enjoyed it.

day 7: drive back to jackson thru the east entrance (177 miles) %26amp; spend another night there.

my favorite places to stay (%26amp; there are many other great places to stay)...

jackson

-the sundance inn: 1 block from the square %26amp; a very quaint 60%26#39;s style motel with great owners. not fancy but very clean %26amp; convenient to downtown.

-inn on the creek: 3 blocks from the square %26amp; a great b%26amp;b type inn. only about 8 rooms but a wonderful place to stay. more upscale.

-the wort: nicest hotel in jackson, right on the square, great bar, convenient to everything.

-the trapper inn: recently renovated %26amp; about 2 blocks from the square. use to be a favorite of mine but haven%26#39;t stayed in it since they renovated.

other options are to stay in a condo at spring creek ranch or teton village. these are 10 minutes from downtown %26amp; wonderful properties but i prefer staying close to the square.

in grand teton i love jenny lake lodge. these are individual cabins %26amp; offer more privacy than jackson lake lodge, which is another good place to stay but more along the lines of a bigger multi-room hotel.

inside yellowstone i love the lake hotel. the lobby, sitting area, %26amp; dining room are great in the evenings.

red lodge: gallegher%26#39;s irish rose bed %26amp; breakfast is my favorite but the pollard is also very nice.

if you don%26#39;t go to red lodge another area just outsdie the park that i would highly recommend is chico hot springs. it%26#39;s 30 miles outside the north entrance of ynp. just a super place to stay for a night. great rooms (request warren%26#39;s wing), a full service spa, %26amp; the hot springs are a must. other excursions can be booked from here as well. their restaurant is very good too.

cody: i don%26#39;t have a favorite place in cody but there are plenty of good hotels.

this entire itinarary doesn%26#39;t require a ton of driving. depending on how much driving you do in ynp your longest drive is from cody back to jackson (3 hours).

Thanks for the great info. I have one more question - what about Glacier National Park. We were thinking about doing this instead because we though it might be less crowded.

Also, do you know anthing about the Bentwood Inn?

If you have not seen Yellowstone... I would got there. Glacier is also beautiful, but Yellowstone is the first National Park, and has so much to see.

Early June will be nice.. most kids/families will still be in school or not quite ready for a family trip.

Are you planning on flying in and out of Jackson?

Here%26#39;s an idea:

Day 1 Arrive Jackson. Stay in Jackson for more choices in lodging and dining options, but 3 nice places inside the park, not luxury, but nice.

Day 2 Visit Tetons.

Day 3 Visit Tetons in morning, maybe an early morning float trip, then drive up to YS.

Day 4 Visit YS. You may want to try to get reservations inside the park at www.travelyellowstone.com, also call them to see if there is availability. IF not, stay in West Yellowstone.

Day 5 YS day

Day 6 YS Day

Day 7 Drive back to Jackson to depart.

See Xanterra.com re: YNP lodging; do try to stay in the park. Call them and inquire occasionally to see if anything opened up.

Get lodging in W. Yellowstone to be your backup. Go for the experience, not luxe lodging and dining. If you are enthused about YNP scenery and wildlife, you won%26#39;t spend much time in your lodging anyway. It%26#39;s often found far more interesting than we originally think.

Spend as much time as possible in YNP. Forget about Glacier, that is another trip, perhaps along with Banff and Jasper National Parks.

Sorry, CasaAzul%26#39;s website is more focused, same company.

keep in mind that we%26#39;ve done ynp about 6 times so doing both ynp %26amp; gnp is not a problem for us because we don%26#39;t have to hit every spot in ynp each trip.

with great planning %26amp; about 8 days you can do both (glacier %26amp; ynp). we have done both the last 4 summers %26amp; love it. it requires flying into one area %26amp; out of another. we like working from glacier down to jackson. fly into kalispell %26amp; out of jackson. alamo for a one way rental car. you only have one long drive. here is how we do it...

day 1: fly into kalispell %26amp; stay on west side of gnp (whitefish or mcdonald lodge in west glacier).

day 2: drive going to the sun road all the way to many glacier %26amp; hike iceberg lake, staying at many glacier hotel (a super np lodge).

day 3: hike highline trail from logan pass all the way back to many glacier.

day 4: drive from gnp to chico hot springs (around 6 hours %26amp; the only long drive you have but it%26#39;s beautiful).

day 5: drive into ynp making the loop to see mammoth hot springs %26amp; the ne corridor (tower junction area)leaving the park out the ne entrance to red lodge via beartooth pass (unbelievably beautiful drive).

day 6: drive back to ynp %26amp; hike the grand canyon of yellowstone, afterwards heading to the lake yellowstonen area staying at the lake hotel. great place to have dinner too.

day 7: leave lake area going back up hayden valley (lot of wildlife on this road)%26amp; make a loop to norris geyser basin, madison, %26amp; on to old faithful. spend the night in grand teton national park area.

day 8: visit jenny lake, inspiration point, jackson lake lodge, %26amp; then leave for jackson. if you can squeeze another day in for jackson that would be great.

again, this may be asking a little much for someone who has never been to the park but it%26#39;s become an annual trip for my wife %26amp; i.

The OP said: ';... what about Glacier National Park. We were thinking about doing this instead because we though it might be less crowded.';

Totally different issues. As noted above, a short walk and you generally won%26#39;t find the crowds in YNP that burdensome. Except at the major geyser basins, and folks keep moving or return to their cars. And, they tend not to go very far, so the numbers diminish. YNP has more diversity and wildlife available for viewing than GNP. And YNP roads are such that you can double back and see yet more views and wildlife. It%26#39;s a ';take your time'; park, as there is much to see.

GNP is truly beautiful, but I maintain, if you can plan such, that it%26#39;s another trip, well worth taking with the Canadian Parks on your itinerary. Lastly, GNP and the GTTSHwy is crowded, so you have not gained in that way. So I concluded, if you have only a week, I%26#39;d focus on YNP and, for a lesser time, on GTNP. You%26#39;ll have a great time no matter what you do.

Focus on YNP and GT if you only have a week. Late May/early June is a great time to come. Some of the rates are lower on inns, the crowds are not as great and we were there last year at this time and going back again this year at the same time. If you are going then I would make my reservations ASAP. I made mine back in January.

Just a couple of things to add.

The Going to the Sun Road in Glacier is under construction and will be for several years. Also Logan Pass on the Road can open as late as June 15 if there%26#39;s lots of spring snow and there%26#39;s a good chance of that this year.

And this from the Xanterra web site:

Dinner reservations are required for Old Faithful Inn, Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Grant Village. On May 1st lodging, activity and dinner reservations are accepted for the following summer. Priority for dinner reservations is given to hotel guests. Visitors not staying at the Old Faithful Inn, Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Grant Village may make dinner reservations 60 days in advance. Please call 1-866 GEYSERLAND (866-439-7375) or 307.344.7311 to make reservations.