Yellowstone is big. I read that it is bigger than Rhode Island. I guess I did not know how small Rhode Island is! Even though I knew that Yellowstone is big, I was not prepared for how pretty it is throughout. Our first day, we drove in from West Yellowstone along the Madison River. The sun was shining and the river glistened. The trees, the mountains, the animals were all together in one natural masterpiece. Truly a beautiful place and I am very glad it is protected. Please go visit and leave it beautiful for others to see and experience. What I was also pleasantly surprised by was the variety of sights Yellowstone offers. While I will admit, after a few hours this bison is the same as the other bison and that geyser is pretty much the same as the next geyser. Not all of us felt that way, however, and we saw lots of bison and lots of thermal features. Yellowstone is not one note and there is plenty for everyone.
Yellowstone general tips:
First, everything takes longer. When you read books or blogs about this stop taking 5 minutes or 20 minutes, that’s not true with kids. Our soon-to-be-6-year-old will take a whole minute by herself just getting out of the car. Also, prepare yourself for wining. The kids will complain for hiking and bugs and lack of internet. We did not have devices in the car this time. We gave them a “What I saw in Yellowstone” book and stopped at the ranger station for the Junior Ranger books. We also gave the kids cameras and let them take whatever pictures they wanted. Hopefully, we can pick one to share in a kid post.
Second, do download the Gypsy app. Pay for the content and download before you arrive in the park. It runs on GPS, so it will not run your data. It has lots of great stories, info, and tips for tours. It does repeat itself if you have to circle back over any roads (which was necessary in our case because the NE section of the grand circle was closed for all of 2021).
Third, you do not have to be spectacularly mobile to see TONS of great stuff inside Yellowstone. There are a number of spots where you can see either from the road or from a short walk to a look out. The Gypsy app does a great job setting expectations.
Lastly, there is quite a bit of elevation at Yellowstone. Lots of things will seem harder while you acclimate. Kids will not understand, but be aware and do what you can to hydrate them. We picked up hydration backpack at home and my 9 year old was super excited. He carried it all day with little complaint.
Lodging: Gray Wolf Inn and Suites
After our brief stay in Bozeman, we headed down to West Yellowstone, MT as our jump off spot for Yellowstone National Park. Lots and lots of folks will recommend that you stay in the park and that you stay in multiple places to cut down on driving. I guess driving does not really bother us. It is so lovely, we hardly noticed. With online school, we had to stay outside of the park to have WiFi access at least part of the time. I will say, with the road closure, Lamar Valley was quite far from West Yellowstone.
We ended up selecting Gray Wolf based on price, proximity to park, and size of room. We had a family suite which means a separate bedroom, bathroom, extra sink, kitchen, and living room. There was even a dishwasher! The free breakfast is continental, but with the kitchen we could have a full breakfast if we were determined to have hot breakfast (we were not). There was ice cream and s’mores in the evening. This hotel is trying really hard; service was very pleasant. I would suggest it, but be aware there are some issues. Furniture is dated and worn, we had to ask for replacement towels when the ones given to us were dirty (which were given promptly), and the WiFi is difficult in some aspects. The location is spectacularly close which helps get to the park early.
Sample Itinerary:
Yellowstone has major roadways that form a figure eight (8) through the main portions of the park. Some folks recommend you do just the lower loop if you have one day or one loop a day if you have two days. While we were there, the part of the loop from the middle to top on the right side was completely closed for construction. In addition, we did still have online school for the kids. With those things in mind, here is what we did:
Day 1: Gibbon Falls, Beryl Spring, Virginia Cascade, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Norris Geyser Basin
Day 2: UTV tour and school
Day 3: Wildlife tour with Yellowstone Wild (Lamar Valley, etc.) and Mammoth Hot Springs
Day 4: Lower Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic, Upper Geyser Basin, Old Faithful (and Inn)
If I had more time, I would have liked to have gotten up to Lake Village and do the boat tour on Yellowstone Lake. When the kids are older or if we were there without kids, I would have liked to check out all the falls in the Bechler area (Southeast corner not on either loop). Fording a river with the kids sounded like not a super good idea.
I have a lot to say about the different locations we stopped and activities we tried. So much so, that those will appear in separate post(s). I will update this page with links when they are complete.
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