Yellowstone National Park

We are planning a family trip to Yellowstone in August. I’m wondering where folks have stayed and what you would recommend. Any other tips are welcome as well.

Thank you!

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We are planning a family trip to Yellowstone in August. I’m wondering where folks have stayed and what you would recommend. Any other tips are welcome as well.

Thank you!

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Joel Nelson did an internship or something out there during college. He should be able to give you some great info. I’ll send him this thread by email to make sure he doesn’t miss it.

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We are planning a family trip to Yellowstone in August. I’m wondering where folks have stayed and what you would recommend. Any other tips are welcome as well.

Thank you!

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Joel Nelson did an internship or something out there during college. He should be able to give you some great info. I’ll send him this thread by email to make sure he doesn’t miss it.

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Thanks, brother!

We stayed in West Yellowstone..Even though it’s farther,on a daily basis it’s easier to access everything the park has to offer..
http://www.destinationyellowstone.com/sleep/hotels/

We went there a few years ago in August. Little did we know that Sturgis just doesn’t effect the Dakotas. Hotels were double in price and the traffic through the park was horrible. We stayed in Cody, WY. I believe it was the Sunset. About a 1/4 mile up the road they had a rodeo every night which was really fun. Just down the road was Wild Bills museum which was really cool. We spent 3 days in the park and we went to the museum 2 different days. Kids will enjoy.

Was there last year 1st week of August with the family. One of the best vacations ever. We also stayed in West Yellowstone at Kelly’s Inn. Nice place. Depending on your goals the Grand Tetons just south are beautiful, great hiking everywhere. Good luck.

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We went there a few years ago in August. Little did we know that Sturgis just doesn’t effect the Dakotas. Hotels were double in price and the traffic through the park was horrible. We stayed in Cody, WY. I believe it was the Sunset. About a 1/4 mile up the road they had a rodeo every night which was really fun. Just down the road was Wild Bills museum which was really cool. We spent 3 days in the park and we went to the museum 2 different days. Kids will enjoy.

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Like swimminjig, we stayed at Cody too. The drive up to Y.S was fantastic. Great little Mom and Pops motels in Cody with pools

I rented a condo in Big Sky, MT from VRBO and travelled to Yellowstone a couple of times. Big Sky was peaceful and fun for the family. Biked, rafted and much more…

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I rented a condo in Big Sky, MT from VRBO and travelled to Yellowstone a couple of times. Big Sky was peaceful and fun for the family. Biked, rafted and much more…

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Big Sky is something awesome. We always stay in the Hot Springs campground in the NW corner of Yellowstone, not far from the Roosevelt entry. The town of Hot Springs sits just above the camp ground. There is a Bighorn Sheep management area a short distance from the campground and you’ll also find the Hot Springs where you can sit in a river with water about like what you’d find in a regular hot tub.

From this point you can do both loops of the park in two days.

The Cody entry is fun especially the trip thru the Bighorns to get there on route 14 A from Sheridan. West Yellowstone can be plagued with mosquitos and it tends to be pretty spendy, but then anywhere around the park is. The Tetons mentioned are beautiful mountains and that route will take you through Jackson Hole of skiing repute.

We did the trip to Yellowstone again last summer starting with four days at Roosevelt National Park in Medora North Dakota and then going to Yellowstone thru Livingston, Montana. Three weeks almost.

There’s something for everyone out there. The bighorns I mentioned…we watched a group of 19 cross a mountain meadow and then come off that mountain to feed right next to the hiway. They are truely awesome animals to watch.

Don’t rule out the MANY things to check out along the way. Our family road trip, was the best vacation we ever took

IDO Yellowstone post

Also, run a search on here for about a year back on yellowstone. There was a pretty long thread going with a lot of ideas posted.

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We went there a few years ago in August. Little did we know that Sturgis just doesn’t effect the Dakotas. Hotels were double in price and the traffic through the park was horrible. We stayed in Cody, WY. I believe it was the Sunset. About a 1/4 mile up the road they had a rodeo every night which was really fun. Just down the road was Wild Bills museum which was really cool. We spent 3 days in the park and we went to the museum 2 different days. Kids will enjoy.

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Wow, that sounds almost exactly what we did back in 2001. We where half way across South Dakota before we realized it was Sturgis week, but still visited the Black Hills, Yellowstone, the Tetons, Jackson Hole and some of Idaho in a three week vacation. The kids still talk about what a great time it was!
The drive from Cody to the park is long, but so beautiful it is not a bother. We even saw a sow grizzly right next to the road on the way back to Cody one night. We stayed there 3 nights. The Buffalo Bill museum is well worth a day in my opinion as well.
If you opt to stay in one of the Hotels in the park, I would start checking on reservations soon. They tend to be booked very early for the prime summer vacation periods.

We went from Yellowstone up to Glacier, Fishing is free in Glacier, fishing is fantastic in Glacier! We hiked back into an area with the family and my kids hammered trout until they got tired of catching fish. I went down that same stream and caught some real dandy’s. I could not understate how good the fishing was!

Wade:

Here’s a link to another Yellowstone post as well.

I’ll echo my same comments in that the place is big, there’s a million things to do, and you can literally stress yourself out trying to hit all the tourist attractions (old faithful, grand prismatic, etc.), wildlife watch, and relax at the same time. Pick a few from the list below, and resolve to go back and check out what you missed a different time. Here were some of my favorite things to do out there, not in any order:

-Early morning PMD hatch on the Firehole River – Blinding steam everywhere – geothermal inputs into this “warm” river in the Old Faithful area
-Backcountry trips – can be short, phenomenal fishing off the beaten path
-Grayling fishing on Wolf/Grebe Lakes
-Hike to the top of Bunsen Peak
-Beartooth Mountains – Northeast of the park – all above the treeline – snow in August
-Salmon fly hatch on the Yellowstone north of Fishing Bridge
-Backcountry waterfalls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
-Cody Rodeo
-Gardiner, MT – north entrance of the park
-Steakhouses in Bozeman
-Wind River Range WY – one of the wildest places I’ve ever been to in the lower 48

As for camping, depending on the size of your family, camping outside of the park and doing day trips in might be worthwhile.

I’d plan on seeing only a few of the major attractions if you can help it. Old Faitful wasn’t that impressive to me personally, and it’s the most crowded of the attractions in the park. Far more impressive to me were Artists point (grand canyon of the yellowstone) and Grand Prismatic. Fishing Bridge, at the Lake was awesome……kill some of the many bugs on the bridge and drop them to watch 18-20″ cutthroats rise and eat them. Sheridan peak has sheep, Hayden Valley has buffalo and Grizzlies somewhere nearby, and the Lamar Valley has some of the best wolf watching depending on what you’re into. People often have spotting scopes setup on the hillsides on one of the many pulloffs in the Lamar, watching the wolves. They’ll let you look in the scopes and it’s pretty cool watching them hunt.

Remember to roll with the punches. A bear jam inside the park can cause a 3 hour or more delay easily. Plans can and often will change in an instant there.

Careful with kids especially of buffalo, thermal features, and elk in that order.

My favorite area was near the north entrance, just up from Gardiner, MT. Lots of things to do in the area! The trick is picking a handful of the best of the best and taking your time to enjoy them each thoroughly!!!

Joel

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-Beartooth Mountains – Northeast of the park – all above the treeline – snow in August

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And 300 miles a day MAX! I would do it again in a heart beat!

Wade, just an idea to share. I bought each of my kids a Kodak dig camera, and a couple SD cards along with rechargeable batteries. Installed the inverter in the truck, so the batteries were always charging. Kids went nuts shooting thousands of images. Well worth it after I got home. My wife and I only needed to take care of the most critical pictures we wanted, and the kids had plenty for us to crop/edit and work with. My two daughters were a little competitive to see who could shoot the most/best, which worked in my favor

Here is some random pics from our trip. Like stated above, patience is key, and go with the flow. Plans will change, you’ll find awe, and still see some foolish people that are lacking from the gene pool











<img src="/wp-content/uploads/bbu

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you’ll find awe, and still see some foolish people that are lacking from the gene pool

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Randy,
Wade can do that just looking in the mirror

Wade, I take it Aug is out of the question for our Mille Lacs smallie trip

Try to swing through Custer Park!

We went to Yellowstone the first week in August this year, very beautiful, but…too many people compared to when I was there in June years back…we were on motorcycles and couldn’t hardly find a place to park, it was like one huge parade and about that speed too. But don’t let that discourage you…the wildlife is just tremendous ! We got to see a grizzly up close…2 cars away…actually too close, remember we were on motorcycles! Take the Beartooth Pass Hwy 212 from Red Lodge MT to the north entrance of Yellowstone, it’s worth the drive, and if you like scenery try 14 and 14A just west of Sheridan WY, you can make a day of it and see lots of different country.