SUV or Car Rental

My husband and I are planning on visiting Yellowstone over the memorial day week. We have booked for a car (compact) rental. But we were told by people who have been there before that we have to rent a SUV because there are going to be lots of animals around. What should we do?

SUV or Car Rental

We always rent a SUV because it gives more window view area to see wildlife and scenery. It sits higher off the road therefore better viewing in my opinion.

SUV or Car Rental

You would be able to see out better in an SUV, but you don%26#39;t have to have one. If the animals are so far out that you can%26#39;t see out of a car, chances are you won%26#39;t sit in the SUV to look either.

If there is a big price difference I wouldn%26#39;t worry about it.

We get an SUV for the additional room. Makes it easy to keep the ice chest and cameras accessible. Gives us a place to put baggage on move day. We don%26#39;t have to be as organized. Sometimes when you pull off the road, the extra clearance is nice.

Other than those points, I don%26#39;t think it matters. It also doesn%26#39;t need to be a big SUV.

Make sure you check all the rental places to compare prices. We rented from one in town and it worked out fine. Even with an early return flight.

Do you HAVE to rent an SUV to enjoy Yellowstone safely? NO. However Yellowstone requires a LOT of driving. For the purposes of mobility, visibility, ease of getting in and out repeatedly, and just plain room and comfort with a cooler and all our gear, we(two adults)always rent an SUV. If you can be comfortable scrambling in and out of a compact car for a week, then by all means enjoy the savings!

As for the animals, an adult bison is larger than most compact cars, true... BUT ...If you use common sense and follow the park rules about respecting and keeping a safe distance from all wildlife, you should not have any problems. If a full grown bull bison decided to become aggressive, he could tear up a large SUV, just as easily as he could a small car, so safety alone isn%26#39;t really a good reason to rent an SUV. In fact the SUV would be more expensive to repair, and somehow I doubt that wild animal hoof and horn damage would be covered by insurance anyway! :-)

My advice would be for you to go with what YOU will be comfortable with, both size and expense wise. Then relax and enjoy your visit.

Thanks everyone for all the input....

BKGK - You have already had lots of great advice. One question though, are you planning to drive the Beartooth Highway or just stay in Yellowstone?

Hi yellowstonefan, allow me to piggyback on your qn please. i intend to drive through beartooth from billings to reach YNP. are there specific tips or advice you have on the type of car to rent? Thanks!

Keep in mind that at those elevations, it%26#39;s not unusual to have snowfall even in early June, so we%26#39;ve always opted for an SUV...Note that if the road conditions become too slippery/treacherous, they%26#39;ll close them.

I will agree with the previous posters. We we there June 6-12 last year and had a mid-size SUV. With the snow they had, there were a couple of days that the began getting slushy and slick. I was very glad to be able to slip into 4 wheel drive.

Also, the visibility is a great point. When traveling along beside bison, we were able to look ath their shoulders and not their knees. As many times as we backed and unbacked, the SUV made it easy to get stuff in and out and we had fairly easy access to our suitcases during the day if we needed it. If the cost difference is huge, I would probably take the car. If you can get an SUV for a little more, I would opt for it.

Just keep in mind not all SUV%26#39;s are 4wd. You%26#39;ll have to ask for a 4wd otherwise there%26#39;s a fair chance the give you a 2wd.