If you ever find yourself taking a trip to Yellowstone you have to visit Grand Teton National Park as well. The Tetons are the most majestic mountains we had ever seen in the United States. You could easily make this a day trip or spread it out to several days. We stayed for 2 days and wished we could had stayed longer. For all the campers out there we stayed at Turpin Meadow Campground in the national forest just outside of the park. Such a peaceful and relaxing campground away from all the hustle and bustle of the national park. The hike we did in the Grand Teton National Park started out at Jenny Lake going up to Inspiration Trail then onto the Cascade Canyon Trail. It was so beautiful because you were hiking in the valley of the Tetons and surrounded by so much beauty.
Jackson Hole is a tourist trap but we did drive down there for the afternoon and walked around downtown. They have several souvenir shops and lots of restaurants for when you get tired of eating camp food.
Yellowstone was one of the most interesting national parks and one of the most colorful to us! One of our most favorite hikes was the grand prismatic spring trail. It took you to a viewing from above overlooking the grand prismatic spring! A must if your up for a short uphill hike.
We also enjoyed Uncle Tom’s trail. This was a 300 step staircase that took you to a viewpoint at the base of Lower Yellowstone Falls.
What we recommend is a minimum of 3 days in the park. Split the park in half and do the west side of the park one day and the east side another day then your third day catch anything you missed. Of course this worked well for us because we stayed at a campground at the south end of the park in Grant Village. Depending on which side of the park you stay on will depend on your routes of travel. There will be hundreds of pull offs in the park for geyser viewings and if you’re going during the summer when tourist season is at its peak we recommend starting your day as early as possible to beat all the crowds and tour bus drop offs.
A must to see while you’re there is of course the Yellowstone waterfall viewing, Old Faithful, and Mammoth Hot Springs. It was so crazy and mesmerizing at the same time how you are walking pretty much on nothing but hot lava waiting to erupt the entire time you’re in the park.
At Old Faithful they have a pretty neat information center that tells you all about the history of Yellowstone and how its changed over time and how it will change in the future. The lodge at old faithful is also very gorgeous and would be a great place to stay for the non campers. In our two visits to Yellowstone we saw buffalo, elk, pronghorn sheep, deer, and one black bear.
