During the late summer this year we decided to visit Yellowstone with my husband, two kids (7 & 12 years old at the time) and my in laws (both in their 70s). I am very comfortable traveling with my kids because we have been doing it their entire lives. However, traveling with senior people combined with kids, brings a whole new level preparation to make sure everyone has the best time. I would like to share our itinerary and some tips to help you plan your next Yellowstone vacation.
Per our usual, we wanted to combine a few important aspects of traveling to National Parks with the kids. We wanted to learn about the park, connect with nature, make sure we do as much as possible and of course, have fun. This sounds easy, but in reality, when you go on a vacation trying to do as much as possible, it is really easy to forget to connect with nature and relax a bit.
Before I start telling you all about what we did, I want to tell you up front that Yellowstone ended up as my favorite National Park so far. I have been in a kick of national parks lately, and by far this has been my favorite so far in the USA. It was beautiful, it was diverse, plenty to do and see for all ages and above all, it was super different and fun.
We went for only 5 days but as I mentioned, we wanted to do as much as possible. Here
is an example of our itinerary:
Day 1- Flying from Home to BZN (slept at Lake Yellowstone Hotel). Our flights were a bit delayed so we got to BZN pretty late, got the rental car and drove to Lake Yellowstone to check-in.
Day 2 - Stop at the shop close to Lake Yellowstone Hotel for snacks and waters. Drive North towards the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Lower Falls, Upper Falls, Uncle Tom's Point, Canyon Visitor Education Center (stopping along the way in every area we see beautiful), back to the Hotel for a nice relax dinner, the 4th of July parade, and a walk towards Lake Lodge Cabin (we spotted some bears by the lake at the Lodge Cabin).
Note: some parts of the north side of the park were closed due to the floods this year (2022).
Day 3 - Drive Southwest towards Old Faithful Inn (this was the day with a full agenda!)
Starting to drive south along the lake and then west at the West Thumb Geyser Basin (Abyss Pool), see the continental divide, Old Faithful Inn, Old Faithful Geyser and hike all the spots from that site all the way to Morning Glory Pool and back doing the loop. Black Sand Basin, Biscuit Basin Grand Prismatic Spring (this was our favorite spot!), Firehole river area to take a break and look around. Check-in at our last 2nd hotel (Under Canvas which is located in Montana after the west entrance).
Tip: We drove most of the sites except the site was close to Old Faithful Inn. We got the map at the visitor's center there and hiked for many hours there (kids and seniors included). This is one of the main sites of the park.
We like to stay at Under Canvas (we have stayed with them at other National Parks) because we get to spend our evenings outdoors enjoying the smores, the games, family time, we meet new people, we connect with nature in a glamping sort of way, and many times they even have live music to enjoy sitting outside. My kids love it!
(this is not a paid advertisement)
Day 4 - Unplanned Day (plan it based on what we see and whatever we feel like doing)
At first, I was nervous to not have a plan for one day (I am a planner), but I enjoyed this family day so much that I will be adding "unplanned" days in some of our future vacations!
In our exploration day (unplanned day) we took the girls Horse Back Ridding at a Montana ranch, visited the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center (my girls really wanted to stop here unplanned and they liked it), then drove around to the other close state (Idaho) and enjoyed the drive with no plans (stopping wherever we wanted). We stopped along the way (and of course we had some potatoes, chips and French fries in Idaho), stopped at Henry's lake state park and Island Park where the girls went into the waters to swim and have fun. Went back to Under Canvas for a relax evening outdoors.
Day 5 - Fly home
Tips
- Make sure you download any maps because the signal is terrible (pretty much non-existent) inside the park.
- Grab a map and the park newspaper at the entrance of the park (we arrived at night and the gate was opened, so we made sure to grab the newsletter at the entrance).
- To make the best our of your destination, have some milestone spots, but give yourself plenty of time to stop in whatever you see that may be interesting. This is how we found so many awesome places that we had no idea they existed.
- Be flexible with your plans. A few weeks before we arrived, there were some massive flooding at the park, so the north entrance was closed. We had to drive a little more than planned because of it, we used the west entrance.
- Pack plenty of snacks and drinks in your car since there are not many food options. With the kids, this is super important for me!
- Make sure you have a full tank before you start driving around and have a plan for when to get gas and food.
Yellowstone did not disappoint! It was fun for all ages, and we strongly recommend it to add it to your list of places to visit with your family. Enjoy!
Comments