Yellowstone Hikes

In August, we are flying in to SLC, spending 2 days in Grand Teton, 4 days in Yellowstone, 4 days in Glacier, and 1 day in Waterton-Lakes. I found a great book on Glacier that has some good hikes, but I can%26#39;t seem to find a good one for Yellowstone.

What are the best hikes for those in good shape? We could either do 2-3 shorter hikes or 1 longer hike (up to 10 miles) per day. We would like to fill all four days with hikes, however I know it takes awhile to drive around the park and get to different locations. We are staying in a Lake Yellowstone Frontier Cabin.

So far I only have these suggestions:

- Shoshone Lake

- Mount Washburn

- Lone Star Geyser

- Fairy Falls

Thank you!

Yellowstone Hikes

I had considered Specimen Ridge but didn%26#39;t have time (or energy) to go. The trail to the brink of the lower falls is interesting as is Uncle Tom%26#39;s Trail that takes you to the lower side of the falls on the opposite side of the river. If you want another look over the park, Bunsen Peak could be a nice hike.

Yellowstone Hikes

There are several good books available covering all of the hiking trails within Yellowstone. Did you know that there are over 1,000 miles of trails in Yellowstone? I use a guide called, ';YELLOWSTONE TRAILS ... A hiking guide'; by Mike Marschall. It gives descriptions and maps of all the trails. It shows you how to locate the trailheads, and it gives detailed info about each trail, such as distances, elevation changes, terrain conditions, and just about anything you want to know. It also contains lots of other tips and general info about wildlife and backcountry hiking in the park. If you can%26#39;t find it locally, you can order the book from The Yellowstone Association right on line @

www.yellowstoneassociation.org then go to the online store.

Enjoy!

Have you checked the Park website? Here%26#39;s their link for hikes: www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/hiking.htm

The book I use is: Hiking in YNP by Bill Schneider (a Falcon Guide). I like it because it divides the hikes by area, length, difficulty, etc. But there are lots of other good books out there too - you might check the Barnes and Noble or Borders websites, if you haven%26#39;t already.

Have a great trip!

Try this link if you like waterfalls. Some aren%26#39;t a hike, but you can pick out ones that are short hikes.

www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/wfalls.htm

It%26#39;s been a while since we were there and we are anxious to go back when my DH retires this year.

Outdoor,

What types of hikes interest you and what are you interested in seeing on those hikes. There are a slew of great Yellowstone hikes but I hate to throw out ideas without knowing what you are looking for.

Our two favorite day hike books for YNP are ';Day Hiking Yellowstone'; by Tom Carter and ';Hiking the Yellowstone Backcountry'; by Orveill Bach. Hopefully, they are still in print.

Specimen Ridge. The Specimen Ridge trail is 17.5 miles long, but . . . there is a short-cut trail (3 miles rt, but steep 1300 ft climb and not well-marked) to a slew of standing petrified trees and nice vistas. Hence you want a good trail book guide or, if they are offering it, the all-day ranger-led hike. The short-cut trail starts about 4.3 miles east of Tower Junction, on the Northeast Entrance Road.

Hi RobUSA,

How far into the Specimen Ridge trail are the petrified trees?

Hi again, 1TravelingFamily!

If you use the short-cut both ways, the petrified trees are about 1.5 miles in. I think the last time we took houseguests, we took a more visible trail up the open ridge a little further to the east, headed west into the forest to find the stumps, and then came straight down (north) the shortcut, so it was a little longer (3.5? rt) for us. Once you are up on the ridge, you will find well-worn paths to the specimens. It%26#39;s the shortcut(s) to and from that section of the ridge that are hard to find. If they aren%26#39;t doing a ranger-led hike, I would recommend getting some map guidance from a ranger.

yellowstonepark.com/Things/…

RobUSA:

Thank you for the specific info re. the petrified trees. Hopefully there will be a ranger-led hike, but if not, we still will hike there.

Loved the website! I checked out the various topics-(I wasn%26#39;t aware that YNP was home to trumpeter swans. Would love to see some!)

Thanks, Rob.