Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
The Mash
Feb 17, 2007

You have to say I can open my presents
Hi!

My girlfriend and I are going to the US in august/september and are planning on going to Yellowstone to hike for at least a few of those days -- likely ~5 days in mid-august.

It looks like we'll be flying in to Bozeman airport north of Yellowstone and renting a car there to drive down to Yellowstone itself. From what I gather, we'll have to find a place to stay outside Yellowstone itself and then drive in for day-hikes.

What things should we generally be aware of when planning a trip like this? I realize we're probably already late on booking a place to stay etc, but hopefully we can find something if we expand our budget a bit.

We could be interested in both single day hikes and longer hikes with camping in the park itself.

Any good ressources to study online before we go?

Thanks :)

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

The Walrus
Jul 9, 2002

by Fluffdaddy
hike mystic falls, beaver ponds, and the trail behind the yellowstone river picnic area, thats three of my favourite less popular day hikes

The Mash
Feb 17, 2007

You have to say I can open my presents

The Walrus posted:

hike mystic falls, beaver ponds, and the trail behind the yellowstone river picnic area, thats three of my favourite less popular day hikes

Thanks, I'll check those out :)

The Walrus
Jul 9, 2002

by Fluffdaddy
oh also just get this book it's amazing I can't recommend it enough, I wish one like it existed for every national park. there's trail guides, then there's this book

https://www.amazon.ca/Rangers-Guide...=gateway&sr=8-5

https://books.google.ca/books/about...epage&q&f=false

The Walrus fucked around with this message at 04:48 on May 28, 2019

vonnegutt
Aug 7, 2006
Hobocamp.
I did Yellowstone / Grand Tetons a year ago.

If you have a day to spare, head down to Grand Tetons - Grand Tetons is another park touching the southern border of Yellowstone, imho it's better hiking - there is everything from high alpine climbs to almost-desert prairie. Yellowstone is very centered around the thermal features, which are cool, but they get less cool after seeing them for multiple days. We planned to spend 4 days in Yellowstone and 2 in Grand Tetons and ended up swapping that, spent 4 days in Grand Tetons instead.

Features to see in Yellowstone:
Spend a day seeing the geysers, mudpots, and thermal features. This will be lots of driving and crowds, so just know once you've walked the boardwalks around Old Faithful, it's all pretty similar. Still, worth it.

The drive on the north side of the park from Mammoth Hot Springs to Lamar Valley is gorgeous the entire distance, bring a picnic and do at least one large hike in that area. I recommend the Slough Creek Trail. Animals are plentiful and the scenery is amazing. Mammoth Hot Springs is my exception to the "seen one thermal feature, seen 'em all".

Features to see in Grand Tetons:
Schwabacher’s Landing - small parking area with trails running up and down the length of a river, frequented by moose, raccoons, waterbirds, and other wetland species.
Jenny Lake - several trails of various lengths connect alpine lakes, hike to one or many, backdrop of gorgeous mountains.
Mormon Row and other homesteading sites - less of a hike, more of a visit, but the old log cabins make the mountains seem even bigger somehow.

The Mash
Feb 17, 2007

You have to say I can open my presents
Thanks for this!

I ordered the book suggested and it's been a big help.

Slough Creek sounds great. We've already decided to do 5 days in Yellowstone (and booked campsites), so we'll try to find varied hikes there. I don't think we'll have time to see Grand Tetons this time unfortunately.

The Walrus
Jul 9, 2002

by Fluffdaddy
You are going to have such a good time, Yellowstone is the best place on the planet and that book is such a treat. Other cool stuff that's a bit off the beaten path - make sure you check out the firehole river and or the boiling river swimming spots. both are thermal heated water, very very neat to experience.

Post pics when you get back.

Biohazard
Apr 17, 2002

Anyone know the current status of the park? I'm going to be driving from denver to montana and back starting tomorrow, but its unclear whether you can camp in the parks or not.

BetterLekNextTime
Jul 22, 2008

It's all a matter of perspective...
Grimey Drawer
I went late last September, and have also been a couple of times right when it opened in the spring. I have no idea what facilities are open now.

For wildlife, one of the best places is the Lamar Valley, and it's usually best and less crowded early morning/late afternoon. One good plan is to spend a night or two just outside the Northeast Gate in Silver Gate or Cooke City. That way you're heading out and back through the valley at the best times of day.

My trip in the fall was with my dad who has mobility issues. We booked nights in some of the in park lodges. Canyon was pretty expensive, but the cabins at Old Faithful weren't too bad. This won't really match your needs/question but I'll put my itinerary because it worked really well for a week-ish trip in/out of Jackson with non camping/hiking old folks and we saw a lot but weren't doing 18 hour days.

Day 0/1: Arrive Jackson

Day 2: Grand Teton Loop (past Jenny Lake)

Day 3: Drive to Old Faithful Lodge. See Old Faithful and do the Geyser Basin boardwalk.

Day 4: Lonestar Geyser Trail, Grand Prismatic Spring, Madison River. Back to Old Faithful Lodge

Day 5: Loop past Yellowstone Lake, Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley and around to Norris Geyser Basin. Stay Canyon

Day 6: Hayden Valley (pre-breakfast), Yellowstone Falls Overlook, Dunraven Pass to Lamar Valley and over to Mammoth.

Day 7: Mammoth Hot Springs, drive back to Jackson.

Sex Skeleton
Aug 16, 2018

For when lonely nights turn bonely
Grab the National Geographic map for Yellowstone. There's zero cell service in the park and having the road map, plus all the store locations and camp sites, plus picnic areas, plus the hiking trails in one map is an excellent resource. The fact that it's a topo map is a nice bonus.

Also if you head out of the park via the Mammoth Hot Springs entrance then check out the resort at Chico. They have a huge open-air pool that's full of warm water piped in from a hot spring. You can get a little cabin there.

Carry bear spray if you're doing any hiking. Say hi to the ravens for me.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Paracelsus
Apr 6, 2009

bless this post ~kya

Sex Skeleton posted:

Grab the National Geographic map for Yellowstone. There's zero cell service in the park and having the road map, plus all the store locations and camp sites, plus picnic areas, plus the hiking trails in one map is an excellent resource. The fact that it's a topo map is a nice bonus.

Also if you head out of the park via the Mammoth Hot Springs entrance then check out the resort at Chico. They have a huge open-air pool that's full of warm water piped in from a hot spring. You can get a little cabin there.

You can also grab map data for your phone to store for offline use and still be able to use GPS.

Can confirm that Chico was quite nice, at least when I went there almost 20 years ago. Paradise Valley is beautiful.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply