Impulse June trip to Yellowstone

Dear all Yellowstone and Grand Tetons experts,

My husband and I just made a last minute decision to take our first time trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. We will fly into Idaho Falls on May 31 and return back home on June 5. We are not sure if we should skip Grand Tetons and just concentrate on Yellowstone, but we thought since we are already there and it is so close by, we might as well swing by. Do you think it is a good idea? Could you please advise us on the best routes and best sceneries? Since it is a short trip, we just want to go for sightseeing and low impact hiking. Also, please advice us on where to stay the nights. Our budget is ~ $150-$250 per night. Willing to spend more if it is a must stay place. Thank you.

Impulse June trip to Yellowstone

First, go to www.travelyellowstone.com and find the 800 number for Xanterra. Call it and see if they even have anything.

Best locations are Canyon and Lake in my opinion because of proximity to wildlife. Old Faithful Inn is also cool and on the other side of the park. It isn%26#39;t unusual for people to stay at more than one place.

Get reservations now as you%26#39;re very late. Outside the park look at West Yellowstone, MT, Gardiner, MT and Cooke City, MT.

Yes its a good idea if you can get accommodations. Staying in the park is best and your budget will handle it. Ok to stay outside too.

You might check here. We put together planning information for the park including links to useful organizations.

alandsuejohnson.com/yellowstone_planning_a_t…

There%26#39;s also a lot of other Yellowstone information there as well.

It will likely be colder there than Houston and you could see snow while there. Dress accordingly.

The Tetons are worth a day trip or more. We usually fly into Jackson Hole and enjoy the drive through the Tetons to Yellowstone.

Impulse June trip to Yellowstone

Thank you AKJ. We want to start off from Jackson Hole, but we can%26#39;t get the flights for the days that we wanted. So our best option is Idaho Falls. Should we use West entrance? I can%26#39;t access your link from work, they blocked it. Do you think it is possible for us to visit both parks? Can you please give us advise on our itinerary? How many days to stay at each of the parks. What is the best cover route for this short trip.

Sorry, I meant South Entrance.

I%26#39;m a little surprised that my link is blocked. Oh, well. Its worth a day in the Tetons. There%26#39;s a section on that park on our site when you get home. The Tetons home page has links to the accommodations in the park. We liked Jackson Lake Lodge. The mountain view rooms are spectacular.

Hard to make suggestions without knowing where you%26#39;re staying. Any reservation you get in the park would be good. You might be able to change it to something later if you want.

If you don%26#39;t make it to the Tetons, you%26#39;ll be saving something for your next visit.

I looked at a map. I%26#39;d go to Jackson from Idaho Falls. I don%26#39;t know if it is the best route but it gives you a good look at the Tetons. You drive right up through them getting to Yellowstone.

You didn%26#39;t say what time you get to Idaho Falls. That might impact what you%26#39;re doing too. You may need to plan on spending the night in Jackson and heading north in the morning.

If you examine AKJ%26#39;s site and map, or the YNP site and interactive map, you will see that the figure 8 loops pretty much direct you on the path to see everything, so don%26#39;t worry about myriad roads. Whether volcanic activity, geysers or wildlife, you will drive by it or to it.

The National Park website contains a lot of very good information, have fun reading it. http://www.nps.gov/yell/

If you have been reading these posts, things emphasized are - bring camera, binoculars and cooler (buy a cheap one at local stores). Then, you won%26#39;t have to leave a ';hot spot'; to go back to dining area.

Given your short stay, you do have time to drive to and enjoy the Tetons scenery, but I suggest you will have more than filled your time in YNP and would focus on that.

Thank you all very much for your help.

We are able to extend our trip. We just booked our flights from May 30 (arrival morning) to Jun 6 (departure afteroon). I just called to book the hotels inside the park and they told me they still have rooms available. They just want to know what route I wanted to take.

I%26#39;m easily confused. What do they care what route you take?

Very good that you can extend a couple of days.

Can you change from Idaho Falls or is that still the only choice?

I%26#39;d still drive to Jackson and then north through the Tetons to Yellowstone. You can spend a night in the Tetons on the way back if you can manage the drive to the airport. I don%26#39;t have any idea how far that is.

It is too late. I already bought the tickets for Idaho Falls. They asked me the routes in order to know to look for the accommodations.