Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park
Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park are so close together, and we visited them on the same trip so I chose to combine them in this article. They are wonderful parks with tons of overlooks, pullouts, and easy hiking so these parks are great for almost anyone.
Yellowstone National Park is one of the most amazing national parks, and it is currently our second favorite national park out of the 34 we have visited as of May 2024. We spent two long weekends in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons while we were living in Montana over the summer for Mr. Vork’s job (this was long before we started working remotely and vorking = vacation and working). Before going to the parks, I mainly researched using Trip Advisor, especially the Forums section. A lot can be learned just reading through the site, and there are great great people available for help if needed. We also bought a small guidebook for Yellowstone (FalconGuides). The park is so massive that doing research before going is recommended to get the most out of your trip.
We visited most of the major areas between the two trips. For each trip we focused on different areas of the park. We stayed in new places each night which allowed us to explore more of the park without too much backtracking. We also were somewhat forced to do this because we did not make reservations until a couple of weeks prior to our first trip. We were lucky enough to find places to stay to make the trips work well. It helped that we were very flexible on the weekends we decided to go; we went when there was availability. I would not suggest this method; you should book as far in advance as you can.
On our first trip, we stayed in West Yellowstone the night before entering the park. The first day, we headed south after entering the park and did the Lower Geyser Basin, Midway Geyser Basin, Upper Geyser Basin including Old Faithful, and West Thumb Geyser Basin.
We then went on to the Grand Tetons and loved sitting on the patio at the Jackson Lake Lodge where we stayed in cottages. The patio area of the lodge was beautiful. We saw lots of elk, and the mountain views were stunning. We explored Teton Park Road and Jenny Lake the next day before heading home.
The second trip we stayed at Chico Hot Springs Report the night before entering the park which was a wonderful and memorable stay. On the first day, we headed directly south on the park road to the do western portion of the Park Loop Road, and then went on to the Lower and Upper Falls, and Yellowstone Lake. We stayed at Canyon Lodge in the park.
The next day we drove north on the Park Loop Road to see the eastern side of the park including Lamar Valley. We saw all kinds of animals that day including mountain goats, a coyote, lots more elk, and a baby black bear. Most were seen from the road or near the road.
Finally, we explored the Mammoth Hot Springs area. The Mammoth Hot Springs area was gorgeous and otherworldly!
All areas of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons that we visited are unique and worth seeing. We packed a lot into our days, but it was so worth it to see so much of this wonderful place. We hope that we get to go back someday!