Trip to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Etc.

We%26#39;re planning a trip with our boys, 12 and 15, to see Yellowstone and Grand Teton around the third week of August. We%26#39;ll be able to spend 9-10 days (including travel). We%26#39;re planning to spend part of that time in West Yellowstone.

Questions:

*We%26#39;re flying out of the NY area. What is the best major airport to fly into?

*We want to see other things while we%26#39;re out west, such as Mount Rushmore. Is it feasible to see Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Mount Rushmore, given the amount of time we have? What route would you recommend?

*What else would you recommend we see/do while we%26#39;re out there?

Thanks for any tips!

Trip to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Etc.

You can fly into Salt Lake City and drive to Jackson or West Yellowstone from there. Or, you can fly into a smaller airport such as Idaho Falls, Pocatello (ID), or Bozeman (MT). I can drive to West Yellowstone or Jackson from Idaho Falls in about 2 hours. Salt Lake to Idaho Falls is about 3 and a half hours. Rush hour traffic in Salt Lake will add to that.

Mount Rushmore is at least 400 miles from Cody, WY. You%26#39;ll spend a whole day driving from the Yellowstone area to Mount Rushmore. Personally, I wouldn%26#39;t do it. There are miles of trails to hike in both Grand Teton and Yellowstone. You could spend a couple of days viewing the museums in Cody alone. There is a nice wildlife art museum in Jackson. There are waterfalls and lakes in Island Park, ID. You could take scenic horseback rides both inside and outside the park. You can take a scenic or whitewater float trip with a number of Jackson outfitters. In short, there are many things to do in the area without involving a trek to South Dakota. I guess it just depends on how badly you want to see Mt. Rushmore, and how much time you want to spend in a car. Get some good maps of both the parks as well as Wyoming to help you with this decision. Things are a lot farther apart out here than back east.

Best of Luck!

Trip to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Etc.

Something else to consider would be whether you are flying in and out of the same airport. If you would fly into an airport close to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and fly out of Rapid City, it would still be feasible to do both in one trip, maybe even with stops at Little Bighorn Battlefield and Devil%26#39;s Tower on the way. It would be a lot of driving and extra time on the road to fly in and out of the same airport. But I know it can be a pain to arrange flights the other way.

I%26#39;m flying out of New York in September, visiting Big Sky, MT - Yellowstone - Grand Teton Nat%26#39;l Park - Jackson.

After doing some research, I found that United, out of LaGuardia, and via Denver, had the most options: I am booked LGA/DENVER/BOZEMAN, returning JACKSON/DENVER/LGA. I chose this routing because there are several flights each day through Denver, so that if we misconnect, we will always have a nonstop back-up flight, no overnight at the airport, and we avoid a much more complicated itinerary. Our departures are in the early morning.

You can also check out Delta via Atlanta or Salt Lake City, but I found that UA worked best for itinerary support.

We too are visiting the area in July. My original plan was the same as yours, trying to fit in Mount Rushmore and a day at Badlands. We have 10 days but did not want to rush through Grand Teton and Yellowstone. We like to take ranger walks, picnic etc. Since both me and my husband hate long drives (anything over 5 hours) we changed plans and are now flying from LGA -JAC round trip (thanks to United FF miles). But these days I feel myself flip flopping again, because if we don%26#39;t do Badlands and Mount Rushmore on this trip, it%26#39;s unlikely we%26#39;ll ever see it. So now I%26#39;m considering into JAC and out of RAP. I just couldn%26#39;t figure out a 10 day ';circle'; like when we went to Vegas-Grand Canyon- Lake Powell-Bryce-Zion Vegas. Any other suggestions out there?

Somersmom.....My husband and I traveling to the same areas as you are this August. We are flying into Rapid City. I have never been to any of these areas of the country, but Rapid City seems to be the best for Mount Rushmore, Grand Tetons, and Custer State Park. You might want to consider flying back from Jackson Wyoming if you are visiting Yellowstone and not wanting to drive back to RAP.

Our trip is also continuing on to Yosemite and then to the Grand Canyon. We are flying back from Phoenix.

It sounds like you are using FF miles. What I thought was strange is that our airfare was cheaper flying multicity than roundtrip.

There are quite a few people on this forum that have excellent knowlegde and suggestions. I am sure you will get the suggestions that you need.

Good Luck!

Karyn

Sorry...I was looking at the wrong post concerning FF miles!

Karyn

Somersmom, We vacationed in these areas quite a few times,driving from Pa.We were just in this area this past Sep.

Gibby2 gives good advice about airport and some nice places to visit. halfcrazymom some decent advice but bad advice to leave Mt rushmore out and spend a few days in museums???? The scenic Black Hills of S.D. a must.Mt Rushmore,Custer State Park,Crazy Horse Monument,needles highway,iron mountain road etc.Mt Rushmore night (lighting) ceremony awesome. Bear Country USA a good stop on way to Hill City from Rapid City. When here in the Black Hills we always stay in Hill City ,a quiet charming little western town.Alpine Inn the marquee of H.C. the BEST for dining and deserts can%26#39;t be beat.This is one of the many GEMS of the Black Hills.If Rapid City In and Out airport then:

Day 1 Rapid City Badlands?Wall Drugs

Day 2-3 Hill city S.D.

Day 4 Red Lodge Montana via Little Bighorn Battlefield,

420 miles from H.C to Red Lodge.

Day 5 Northern Part of Yellowstone Staying in the Mammoth area

via highway 212 (Beartooth Pass )considered one of the most scenic roads in America

Day 6-7 Southern part of Yellowstone(Old Faithful) with a day trip

to view the gorgeous Grand Teton Park.

Day 8 Cody

Day 9 Sundance Wyoming (Devils Tower N. M.)

Day 10 Rapid City via Deadwood.

All Gorgeous Stops....so LITTLE TIME.............

Planning is part of the fun but can be frustrating until u put it all

together,Only u will know when it all clicks together.

Time is short but don%26#39;t leave out the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Good Luck with this AWESOME trip....

GadaboutLady make time for Mt Rushmore.....the GEM of S.D.

Rest when u get back

Thanks for your helpful replies! After doing some more research, wanted to get suggestions/feedback on this possible itinerary:

fly from NY to Rapid City, SD

2 nights in Rapid City

Drive to Sheridan, Wyoming

2 nights in Sheridan

Drive to Cody - spend afternoon - en route to West Yellowstone

4 or 5 nights in West Yellowstone

visit Yellowstone (of course), Grand Teton, relax at hotel, etc.

fly to NY from ? Bozeman, Montana? Not sure what biggest airport is within a reasonable drive from West Yellowstone.

Appreciate your thoughts!

Somersom,I think you should go back to the drawing board.......

2 days in Sheridan???????????????

Your itinerary needs LOTS of work..................