Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks
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Getting there
If you’re flying to visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, you have a few airport options:
- Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN)
- Idaho Falls Airport (IDA)
- Jackson Hole Airport (JAC)
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
Day 1 was a full travel day – TPA to PHX to SLC, followed by a 5-hour drive to West Yellowstone. We chose SLC because I was pregnant at the time of this trip and wanted to fly Southwest Airlines in case we had to cancel last minute. Otherwise, I would have chosen a closer airport. This trip was taken from May 11th to May 18th.
1 week at Yellowstone and Grand Teton
For our Yellowstone visit, we stayed at Moose Creek Inn in West Yellowstone.
Day 2 started at Ernie’s Bakery. We sat and ordered breakfast and then bought boxed lunches to go. When we walked outside, flurries started to fall! Being Floridians, we were overly excited and frolicked around the parking lot for a bit. Then we were off to the park! All visitors must have a pass to enter the park -you can purchase ahead of time online, at the gate, or use your America the Beautiful pass.
We had a general plan but knew that we would have to be flexible. When we arrived at the entrance, the ranger told us that our originally planned route had road closures due to snow. So we went with plan B and explored the geysers on day 1 instead.
It was cold and snowing/raining but that made the steam on all of the geysers extra dramatic and fun to see! We also spotted some bison and elk.
After making our way through the popular geysers, we ended the day with Old Faithful around 2:30 PM. We drove back to Moose Creek Inn, napped for a bit, changed, and went to dinner at Madison Crossing Lounge.
Day 3 started at Ernie’s again for breakfast and our boxed lunches. Then we decided to make the long drive out to Lamar Valley. There were tons of beautiful stops along the way, so it took us a few hours to get there.
Lamar Valley is known for wildlife viewing. But what we found is that you need to be there EARLY, willing to stay in the same spot all day long, and hope for the best. You also need a good scope or camera lens because not every sighting is a close one. My 200mm lens was really sad compared to the gear we saw! We were lucky enough to see a sleeping black bear on the way, so our day had already been made.
We enjoyed the gorgeous views of the valley and made our way back, with a lot of additional stops in between. We made it back to Moose Creek around 4:00 PM and followed our previous routine – quick nap, changed, and went to dinner at Wild West Pizza.
Day 4 we took the route that had been previously closed due to snow. It had opened but there was still so much snow along the way! We didn’t have an itinerary or destination in mind and just drove around and stopped for all the pretty views. The Upper and Lower Yellowstone River Falls were a highlight.
At one point in the day, we saw a lot of cars pulled over and big scopes and cameras set up. We stopped and joined the crowd to see what they were looking at. A very nice gentleman offered to let us look through his scope and we were able to see a mama grizzly and one of her cubs!
We ended our day around 4:00 PM again and had dinner at Taqueria Las Palmitas (a taco truck). After dinner, we walked around a few shops and enjoyed ice cream from a local shop.
Day 5 was our final day at Yellowstone. We checked out of Moose Creek Inn, had breakfast and ordered boxed lunches at Ernie’s (yes, again!), then started making our way to Grand Teton through Yellowstone. This drive will typically take about 2.5 hours if there are no reported delays. We stopped for a few beautiful picture spots, so it took a bit longer.
In the afternoon, we arrived at the Rustic Inn Creekside Resort. We checked-in, explored the property, and went to downtown Jackson for shops and dinner.
Day 6 started with a morning scenic float trip through Grand Teton booked through Solitude Float Trips. This slow and steady trip takes you 10 miles down the Snake River. This float trip was the first and only time that I’ve ever seen a moose!
After the float trip, we made our way to the Hidden Falls trailhead. In early May, there were still sections of ice and snow along the trail. The best part of the trail (besides the waterfall, of course) was that we could see a momma and her baby bears playing off in the distance when we started the hike.
Alltrails stats for Hidden Falls: Length – 4.9 miles; Elevation Gain – 590 ft; Route Type – Loop; Difficulty – Moderate
After the hike, we went back to the hotel to change and made our way back downtown. We hung out at Snake River Brewing for a while, perused a few more shops, and had dinner at Moe’s Original BBQ (no longer open).
Day 7 we woke up and went to the Taggart Lake trail. If you want a beautiful reflection and a chance to see wildlife, I recommend doing this hike first thing in the morning. There was a momma and baby moose ahead at one point, but it was too close for comfort so we got out of there quick!
After the hike, we went back to the hotel to pack, check out, and start our drive to Salt Lake City.
We checked into an Airbnb late that afternoon and took off from SLC early on Day 8.
Tips for visiting the National Parks:
- Download the offline park maps on your Google Maps app – driving directions will work when you don’t have service in the park
- Pack binoculars
- Pack a hot/cold bag to store boxed lunches in the car
- Pack plenty of water each day (preferably reusable water bottles)
- DO NOT approach wildlife
- DO NOT stray from the path when viewing geysers (or anything else)
- Follow the 7 principles of Leave No Trace