I was there a week and a half ago. Crowds weren't bad, but the park wasn't fully available either due to snow.
This went way better than I expected. We are in flying into Montrose next month and all of this is good intel. I need to talk to my buddy who went last year, but will google all of these things. Thanks tspa
Favorite hikes from our recent trip out west: North Rim - North Kaibab Trail to Supai Tunnel Bryce - Peekaboo Loop Trail Zion - Canyon Overlook was quick and easy but the Observation Point view was amazing
That was Wall Street in Bryce. Here is another set of switchbacks in Bryce- coming down from Thors Hammer to Two Bridges.
weather looking pretty great for me. I’ve been watching it like a hawk. my fiancée not quite as excited bc she says she needs two outfits per day. can’t wait to see how much shit she tries to pack.
So I'm sure most national parks will be slammed during Memorial Day weekend -- but what about Monday? We don't actually arrive in Yellowstone until Monday morning, so hoping people will be leaving/weekend crowd will have thinned out some.
obviously a bit different, but we're getting to Stehekin on Monday because the lodge was sold out for the weekend. We got a cabin easily on Monday, and as of a couple of weeks ago the lodge had plenty of rooms. Next week is probably as good as it's going to get crowd-wise in a place like Yellowstone because it's still early enough in the summer that some kids might still be in school
I’ve been wondering the same thing. Getting to Jackson hole tonight and planning on waiting until Tuesday to hit up Yellowstone bc I figured it would be even less crowded. Just going to be checking out shit in Jackson for the holiday.
Thinking of flying out to Calgary, renting a car and driving through banff and jasper, then out to Vancouver and Vancouver island over 10-12 days in august. Think it’ll be an amazing road trip through the Canadian Rockies.
Also went to Death Valley during this… it honestly added to the experience. We were almost the only people there.
They are both awesome. Canadian Rockies don’t have the elevation, but Jasper/Banff trip was one of my best ever.
Is Canada open? I was strongly looking into doing a Vancouver Island and British Colombia road trip this summer. But everything I was reading made it seem like they wouldn't open the border until fall at the earliest. Nevertheless Banff and Jasper are awesome, and if you can get in you should go. I'm doing two weeks all around Idaho instead.
Doing the Zion Narrows then Bryce on back to back says will definitely be a benchmarker on how old and out of shape I’ve gotten since my last big hike before kids. Can’t wait.
It was a little warmer when we went and I almost felt like I was going to collapse. We don’t have hills in Florida.
I went last summer, but it was pretty different since the buses were at 25% capacity. We got a permit to drive the park road that they usually don't give out. I can try to answer some questions. I think I have also written a few things on it in this thread.
We just kinda expected Canada to reopen sometime this summer but we definitely considered that as an issue. Worst case scenario, we’ll probably end up in Alaska. Was planning on going to Europe this summer but I believe that ship has sailed. Who knows, may end up in Austria and Switzerland.
Rumors of border opening June 22 Also doing that much of BC is too much. That’s like trying to see all of California in 10 days. I’d spend ten days in Vancouver, Vancouver island and perhaps kelowna or Banff and Jasper but not all of it. You are just a pullover tourist at that point imo
Where did you fly into? Can I rely on the buses to take us everywhere and not rent a car or should I get a car to drive around Denali? We’re tent campers but have never gone tent camping with the whole family on a plane - we always have a van as a home base. I see the Road lottery is back in place So I’m thinking a car might be pointless.
It was weird. I’m used to high humidity so it didn’t feel overwhelming. Felt like I was cooking after awhile out there. Was really cool because we were the only people there. We would go 20-30 mins without seeing a soul so it added to atmosphere. Palm Springs was a different kind of hot. That was brutal. No indoor dining made it hard. We went during that heatwave last year so eating outside in 115 degree heat sucked.
I flew into anchorage. You will likely need to rent a car to get to the park. It's four hours from Anchorage, two or so hours from Fairbanks. As far as I know the only public transit there would be the train. There is a train depot at the park. In Denali you can only drive the first 15 miles without a permit. Almost everything that is maintained and setup like other national parks is within the first 15 miles. They have different bus systems. One that has a tour guide who will be doing a presentation the whole time and pointing out wildlife to you. You will stay on this same bus the whole time with the same group. It will make a few stops to get out, stretch your legs, use the bathroom. The other is a transit bus system. You get on one bus that drops you off at hiking areas and another bus will pick you and take further up the road or back to the entrance. These will stop to take pictures of wildlife, but probably not as long or as frequently, and the driver will provide some narration on the way, but no formal presentation. There is also a camping bus that will take you to your backcountry campsite at a scheduled time and pick you up at a scheduled time. There is one campsite, Teklanika, that you can get a special permit to drive to, and it looks like this year they are doing special road permits to visitors that just want to drive to Teklanika. That would take you 15 more miles into the park. Last year my permit got me to the Eielson Visitor Center at mile 66. If you are driving the park road you won't need 4WD, unless it were raining or snowing, but most name brand rental companies in Alaska do not let you drive on non-paved roads. You would likely have to rent from a 4x4 company and it will be more expensive. We used https://www.alaska4x4rentals.com/ and it was about $1,200 for 11 days for a Jeep Cherokee, but we had no issues with pickup or drop off and they were quick to answer a couple questions via email. On my trip we did 2 1/2 days in Denali and then were in other spots the rest of the time. It looks like my trip recap is on page 21 if you want to check it out.
Ya, when I was there last summer a trail I wanted to do was closed because the day before a lady got swiped by one. She was hiking alone and rounded a corner where a mother and cubs were. It basically just pushed her down a slope and moved on. I've only come close to a grizzly once on a trail. We were in Waterton Lakes and luckily going through a grassy area. We spotted it coming our direction across the field. Started banging our hiking poles and talking. Had two cans of bear spray ready. The bear just kept going and went past us like it did not care about us at all, probably stayed 70 yards away. It turned away from the trail and into the woods, and we continued on. I've come across black bears a few times in the smokies. They are usually skittish and want to avoid you as much as you do them.
prob shouldn’t have clicked that the day before I venture into Yellowstone. although I’ll be sticking to the more popular and crowded areas
Weather was awesome, drove into the North Entrance of Yellowstone today around noon, knocked out a bunch of tourist stuff. Mammoth hot springs: Spoiler Incredible. Hopeful to get away from the crowds tomorrow. Spoiler Bear spray in tow [/spoiler]
Flying into Bozeman in about two weeks and still trying to piece the trip together. Just me and the gf (soon to be fiancé). We'll be out there for 5 days/5 nights. I had dreams of staying at a single spot where we could split time between Yellowstone and Grand Teton, but that's proving to be somewhat difficult. I typically piece trips like this together late in the game and usually have success, but I'm having a tough time on this one, maybe because everyone is trying to get out and about post-COVID. Anyone have suggestions for a single spot to stay where both parks are fairly easily accessible (90 minutes or less away)? I'm trying to do a Airbnb or VRBO spot so that we can cook our own meals, etc. Right now, my best candidate is a spot on the Idaho/Wyoming border that's an hour away from Yellowstone and 2 hours away from Grand Teton, but looking for other options before locking that in. Other than flying into Bozeman, none of the other logistics are locked in at this point. I'm not sure if I should just bail on the Grand Teton part of the trip altogether or not (and just focus on Yellowstone). I've spent some time in Yellowstone in the past and it obviously is monstrous, so I realize we could really just focus the trip on the single park and still get our money's worth. Other option is to stay at multiple spots during the 5 days in order to maximize time at both parks, but that makes the Airbnb/VRBO path much less cost effective.
Lucky you. I had tentative itineraries plotted out for various summer weekends via Kalispell, Bozeman, Missoula, West Yellowstone and even further airports like Spokane but just could not get a rental car, or not for under $200-300 or so per day. Spokane was the only exception but we just agreed to do Colorado instead.
The only places that I can think of that would be convenient to both parks would be inside the parks, Grant Village in Yellowstone, or Colter Bay or Flagg Ranch in Teton. At this point I would bet those are booked, and much more expensive than most AirBNBs. I did Yellowstone and Tetons last summer. For Tetons I stayed in Victor, Idaho for four nights, and for Yellowstone I stayed in Island Park, Idaho for four nights. Both add a little more driving, but when you spend all day in the the park that was not a big deal to me. Both were AirBNB and substantially cheaper than the typical spots like Jackson and West Yellowstone. What are you wanting to do? If its more hiking, spend more time in Tetons. If its more sightseeing (wildlife viewing, geothermal features) spend more time in Yellowstone.
Hiking is the bigger priority. Considering that, maybe the better itinerary is: Fly into Bozeman early Day 1 and do some site seeing in Yellowstone as we move south to our primary home base somewhere in driving distance of Grand Teton. Stay in Airbnb/VRBO within closer driving distance of Grand Teton for most of our stay. Stay in hotel closer to Bozeman final night of stay and spend the second to last day driving north through Yellowstone and do additional site seeing/day hiking as we move north to hotel. Any favorite hikes in Grand Teton? We won't be doing any backcountry, but she's a marathon runner and experienced hiker so we can do pretty challenging hikes, assuming not too much technical climbing.
And now I'm seeing the rental car dilemma mentioned above. Holy shit. Thankfully I have great flexibility with the flight itinerary, but wow that is expensive enough where the economics of the trip totally changes.
Yellowstone and Teton seems like a lot for 5 days. What time do you get into Bozeman? Depending on the timing, I’d recommend spending the first day in Livingston/Paradise Valley. Check out the Old Saloon and the BBQ restaurant next door with an awesome view of Emigrant Peak then head over to Chico Hot Springs for the night.