<p>We went–spent a week at Yellowstone & a 2nd week at Tetons. Had a FABULOUS time & spent several nights at several different cabins throughout the parks. It was wonderful! Started at Mount Rushmore & spent a week there & driving to Yellowstone. Flew home from Jackson Hole. Loved cabins at the lake & the great free string quartet concert at the lodge in the evenings. HEAVENLY!</p>
<p>Be prepared for ALL KINDS of weather–the 1st day there, it was t-shirt weather, rain, sleet, hail & snow, all int he same June day! Hubby didn’t believe me & didn’t pack for cold weather & had to share our clothing. We took pity on him & bought him a warm pullover for an early Father’s Day present.</p>
<p>There are several offerings we enjoyed, including a stagecoach ride & barqeque dinner. We also did a SLOW river rafting drip in the Tetons. Had a great time & no crowds as we left just before they arrived.</p>
<p>Toldeo…did you stay somewhere interesting between SLC and Yellowstone?<br>
I’m thinking about flying in there because I hate those small regional planes! If we do, I can’t see driving all the way out the same day…or back for that matter. We’re in the east so it’s a long flight already.
I already have some reservations. Old Faithful Inn for a couple of nights, and Western Cabins in Canyon. Plus Signal Hill in the Grand Tetons. All are much more expensive than I thought! Is Old Faithful really worth it…maybe I should switch to snow lodge?
So MANY choices. Fun though…</p>
<p>We drove to Jackson, WY (Jackson Hole) the first day and stayed at Jackson Cowboy Village, which was reasonable. Old Faithful Inn is expensive, but worth it! One night there may be enough.
If money is a consideration, staying just outside the park is always a possibility. I think most people stay in West Yellowstone. Gardiner was also reasonable. As far as park lodging, Roosevelt Cabins are reasonable, but very rustic.
We actually moved around a lot, staying at 7 hotels/lodges/cabins in 8 days. I think we saw it all.</p>
<p>May not be the same for you but from the Twin Cities I’ve found it’s often cheaper to fly into Bozeman, MT or Billings, MT than Jackson, WY, a high-priced resort-y sort of town. Bozeman is a college town about an hour north of Gardiner, MT and the North Gate to Yellowstone. Billings, Montana’s “metropolis,” is about 2.5 hours from Gardiner or about an hour from Red Lodge, MT, where you can enter the park at the Northeast Gate via the spectacular Beartooth Highway. You’ve got to plan your seasons right, though, as the Beartooth is the highest-elevation highway in the Northern Rockies—Beartooth Pass is at 10,974 feet—and it’s usually closed until Memorial Day and may have temporary closures for snow even well into June. Gardiner’s a safer bet if you’re looking at a May/June trip. But if the Beartooth is open, you’ll see the wildest and most rugged corner of Yellowstone. The late, great Charles Kuralt called it “the most beautiful drive in America.”</p>
<p>My recollection is that the planes flying into both Bozeman and Billings are pretty decent-sized, though I don’t recall the exact aircraft.</p>
<p>Thanks Toledo. Roosevelt Cabins are closed until June 11…just when we’re leaving.
I am now leaning toward flying into Jackson Hole and flying out of Bozeman. Air fares are just a tad more expensive and one of the car rental places doesn’t charge more for a Bozeman dropoff (I guess they get rentals in both places). I like the idea of less driving!
Cross posted with BClink! Thanks…I hope the planes (and the pilots) in these dinky airports are OK!<br>
Has anyone been to Chico Hot Springs? I see it’s on the way from North YS to Bozeman and looks like a cool place…</p>
<p>We did the drive from Salt Lake City to Tetons in a day. It was a long day. We only did it one way since we had our own car and on the way out of Yellowstone we headed to Sun Valley.
National Park lodging is very expensive for what you get. Just returned from Yosemite and the prices were high even in the so called off season.</p>
<ol>
<li>Skip Thermopolis. Not worth the trip. Cody also not worth the time it would take.</li>
<li> Jackson/Bozeman is good. Jackson/Billings is also good as you can do the Beartooth Highway mentioned above and lots more flight options in/out of Billings.</li>
<li> Canyon to Jackson will be a long day. Do a night at Yellowstone Lake Hotel. Gorgeous sunsets.</li>
<li> Chico Hot Springs is good. <em>Fabulous</em> restaurant there. Usually need reservation. Some Hollywood types hang out in the bar sometimes. Dennis Quaid and Peter Fonda are/used to be regulars. Make sure to book a room in the new wing unless you want to share a bathroom down the hallway.</li>
<li> Glacier is 6+ hour drive. If you’ve done the Canadian Rockies, you can skip it. It’s mini-me. Tetons are cool though.</li>
</ol>
<p>Airports are not dinky. Bozeman is quite mod in fact. Billings airstrip can handle a 747 (aka Air Force One). Don’t know Jackson airport. Most planes are not props but jets. Avoid Cody airport (dinky).</p>
<p>All right, 4 years ago me and my mom drove through there… we saw yellowstone and such, but it started to snow (this was kinda sorta toward the middle of june), and when we went through the grandtetons and got stuck behind a floridian (used to be one :P) and a texan… <em>sigh</em> that was one long trip and there was about 2 feet of snow out…</p>
<p>We found it much more relaxing to stay in the park in the “rustic” cabins. It served our needs OK, very basic. Back when we rented it about 10 years ago, the prices were about $100/night/cabin or so, if my memory serves. It is pretty far to be driving all over the park in the same day so really think about how much time you all enjoy being in the car vs. exploring the park in making your choice. We liked staying at least 2 nights at each different part of the park so we weren’t constantly driving from one part of the park to the other & back.</p>
<p>I’ve been to Chico Hot Springs. Very nice place in a Western/funky sort of way, good food, laid-back atmosphere, beautiful surroundings, nice hot springs, easy access to Yellowstone and to either Bozeman or Billings. Lots of fresh air and those amazing Montana skies. My only complaint is that my cell phone (AT&T) didn’t work up there and I had to drive down into the nearest town, Emigrant, MT, to call home and check in with my family.</p>
<p>Ok, adding Chico Hot Springs to the end of the trip (on the way to Bozeman). Sounds cool and it’s not very expensive…even the new rooms.
Those cabins in the park ARE expensive…I think 188 per night for basic stuff is pretty high…but we are paying a bit more for a private bath and queen beds (we’re all pretty tall so queen beds are worth it).
I’m now wondering whether or not I should move the trip to mid June. Seems like many ranger hikes and programs don’t start till then. We LOVE to hike but I continue to be worried about those bears! Read about an incident in the park yesterday (from a guy who does private tours…what else? Fear sells) …something I probably should have avoided! I don’t want to stay in the car!</p>
<p>Mid June is more reliable in terms of weather. Still not crowded then though so would be better. Trails are less likely to have snow/mud on them.</p>
<p>Never stayed either at Snow Lodge or Old Faithful but if I had to choose, I’d go with Snow Lodge. You can hang out at Old Faithful Inn for atmosphere, drinks and food but I prefer modern for my lodging. </p>
<p>We have stayed at the Canyon Lodge Rooms. They were fine and not too expensive as I recall. I’d avoid Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Mammoth area has really dried up, thermally speaking, and is a ghost of its previous self.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about bears too much. There are really very few bear contacts in the park itself. Most stuff involve hunters way out in the mountains in the fall. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I heard about a bear encounter in the Park. If there is a bear in the area, they will close off the area to hikers.</p>
<p>Lot more problems with Bison with stupid people approaching them. I still can’t believe some of the stuff I see people doing with Bison there. And Moose, they’re mean.</p>