Ah… Yellowstone!

This was my pilgrimage to the Mecca of National Parks. A bucket list visit that I hope to make many more times over the span of my life. It’s not just the first National Park, but one of the absolute best (in my humble opinion).

The park itself is dauntingly large. I must confess, I 100% underestimated the size of this place when I was planning this trip. For some reason I had it my head that one could drive the “figure 8” (more on this later) of the park in relatively short order. Trust me you can’t. The place is massive.

If you take a look at the park website, they estimate the size of the park to be a little shy of 3,500 square miles, but it’s so damn big that that is still up for debate. Clearly measuring something of those proportions is easier said than done. For those of you who have trouble grasping land size in square miles, that is about 2.2 MILLION acres. If acres or square miles is not your thing, it’s roughly the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

I say all that just to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into if you plan a trip here. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can just “drive thru” this park and take in all the sights in a day or so. If you only have a day, then so be it, but just know that you’re only going to experience a fraction of what this amazing place has to offer.

Now back to that “figure 8” thing. The park itself is so huge that having road access to everything is impossible, but they did a pretty darn good job of getting you close to some of the most popular areas via a circuit of sorts that is shaped… you guessed it… like a big figure 8. The nice thing is that this route lets you hit all the major attractions such as Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone fairly easily. But again, don’t think you’re going to drive this loop in one day and enjoy yourself. Each of the “loops” take anywhere from 3 to 4 hours to drive with very little stopping.

The figure 8 is in the interior of the park, and obviously if you’re going on a trip to the park, you’ll need to pick an entrance that you’ll be using to access it. There are essentially 5 entrances to the park aptly named by the direction you’ll be coming from.

The North Entrance - located nearest to Gardiner, MT
The Northeast Entrance - located nearest to Silver Gate, MT
The East Entrance - not much out there, but good if you’re coming from Cody, WY
The South Entrance - best if you’re coming from Grand Teton NP
The West Entrance - located nearest to West Yellowstone, MT

For us, we were coming from Grand Teton, so we used the South Entrance, and since we booked a little late (best recommendation is to look at least a year before you want to go), we ended up staying in West Yellowstone, MT at a sweet little place called the Moose Creek Inn (https://www.moosecreekinn.com/). There are plenty of lodging options inside and outside of the parks, so definitely do your research on where you’d like to stay, and if I could do one thing differently, I’d try to spend a night or two in West Yellowstone, and then a night or two inside the park, and maybe even a little time in the town of Gardiner to the North.

If you do end up in West Yellowstone like us, I’d definitely recommend the Moose Creek Inn. It’s not going to have amazing views or 5 star accommodations, but it’s clean, staff is friendly, the beds were comfy (handy after all the hiking and travel), and it’s smack in the middle of town. Plus it’s cheap! Regarding the town itself, there are plenty of touristy little shops that are worth checking out during your evenings, and there are a few spots that are definitely worth grabbing some food or a drink at. Our favorites below:

Slippery Otter Pub - I was sold as soon as I saw the name, but truthfully it’s a good place to grab a beer or a cocktail after spending a nice day in the park and watching a game on TV. (4.2 stars on Google)

Wild West Pizzeria - Really solid pizza, cool environment, and it’s half bar half restaurant. It’s a busy place and for good reason. Go here. (4.3 stars on Google)

Running Bear Pancake House - Our favorite breakfast that we had while we were here. It’s small, cozy, and super friendly staff. I got this thing called the Cordon Bleu Skillet. It’s got everything you need to fuel you in the park for the day. (4.3 stars on Google)

We’ve covered a lot on this post, and we really haven’t even gotten to any of the epic stuff inside the park itself, so I’m going to call this good for now, and we’ll actually visit the park’s many sights and sounds in the next post. Trust me when I say, it’s a LOT to cover.

This park is unreal.

Schwabacher’s Landing - Grand Teton National Park

If you like mountains, and I mean jagged, sharp-peaked, Lord of the Rings-esque mountains, then you’re really going to love this place. The scenery is breathtaking around just about every corner, there is abundant wildlife, and it’s really a photographer’s dream. We spent about two and a half days in this rocky mountain paradise during early September, and here’s how we did it.

Travel & Lodging

We fly out of Austin Bergstrom International for pretty much all our excursions. As a result, direct flights are hard to come by, and our airline of choice is usually Southwest Airlines (Quiet travel snobs). So we took the cheapest flights we could book with points that would get us close, and that meant Salt Lake City. The city is about a a 4.5 hour drive from Jackson Hole, Wyoming which is just about the closest decent sized town to the park (more on Jackson later).

The park itself sits just north of Jackson, so for lodging, you can definitely get away with staying in Jackson the whole time, or if you’d like to stay a little more central in the park, there are several lodging options available. Depending on your budget and how many creature comforts you like in your lodging you’ll be able to make a good decision on which location you choose, but for us we spent one night in Jackson and two nights in Colter Bay Village on the shores of Jackson Lake.

Jackson

The town of Jackson (frequently referred to as Jackson Hole) is a cool mountain town that features a neat little square, a ton of shops, and plenty of restaurants and amenities. It’s got just about everything you need in terms of creature comforts, and there are options for just about any budget in terms of food and lodging. We stayed at a place called the Alpine Motel which is just off of the main square of Jackson, and while it’s definitely no 5-star hotel, it’s a clean enjoyable place to stay within walking distance of most of the places we wanted to visit in the town. One sort of cool thing is that our room featured a kitchenette, which if we were staying there longer would have definitely been handy to cook our own meals and save some cash on eating out. #staythriftymyfriends

While you’re here, you definitely want to spend some time walking around Jackson Square. The thing that will instantly jump out to just about anyone who’s been there are the elk antler arches on each corner of the square. These arches are massive, and they’re built entirely from the shed antlers of elk that winter in the nearby National Elk Refuge. We visited the refuge at dawn after our stay in Jackson, and while we didn’t see any elk during our visit, I’m told there are thousands of them during the winter months. Since we went in September, the elk were MIA. Oh well… there were plenty in the parks.

You really can’t go wrong in Jackson, just spend some time on Yelp to find food that interests you, stock up on supplies/groceries that you’ll need when you’re in the park, and wander around the town until you decide it’s time to head to Grand Teton.

Inside the Park

Once you’re inside the park itself, just drive.

As you enter the south entrance of the park, the Tetons will dominate the skyline to your left, and you’ll find yourself almost constantly peering out of your left window (just stay in your lane!). The views are amazing everywhere you look, and have your camera ready for wildlife! Elk, bison, moose, antelope and even predators can pop up just about anywhere in the park, and they can be gone in a flash, so it pays to be ready with a long lens if you’ve got it.

While the drive through the park is amazing, you’ll definitely want to make some key stops along the way. Below were some of our favorite spots that we visited:

Schwabacher’s Landing - fantastic sunrise location with reflections of the Tetons in the meandering waters. Autumn color is also a definite possibility depending on the time you’re visiting.
Mormon Row - a neat bit of history where you can see some very cool and rustic barns that are almost 100 years old. The Tetons behind the barns make for some fantastic and iconic photography. Just be prepared to share the area with other photographers. According to Flickr, these are the most photographed barns in the United States!
Snake River Overlook - Ansel Adams was here. If you’re a photographer, you’re probably familiar with Ansel Adams, and this spot is where he took one of his most recognized photos. Definitely worth a look, though the trees have grown considerably since his time.
Jenny Lake - We hiked to the far side of this lake to check out Hidden Falls and Inspiration point. It’s a fairly easy hike to there, and if you’re feeling tired once you get to the far side, you can pay a few bucks to have a boat take you back to the trailhead, or if you’re up for a full circuit, the total hike is about 5 miles. Don’t miss out on taking a small diversion to Moose Pond. As you might imagine from the name, moose like to frequent the area, and if you’re lucky (like us!) you’ll catch a moose feeding on the aquatic vegetation.
Colter Bay Marina & Jackson Lake - Kayaking here was a blast! There are cabins and a small general store at Colter Bay Village, and the marina offers kayak and canoe rentals. Highly recommended as a way to get a different perspective of the mountains and cruise around one of the most beautiful lakes around.

You can’t go wrong in this place. It’s unbelievably beautiful, rugged, and full of surprises at each turn!

The Park that Started it All - Yellowstone! (part 1)

Ah… Yellowstone!

First Visit - Grand Teton National Park

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Ah… Yellowstone!