Yellowstone + Grand Teton

Yellowstone is the world’s first national park, and awes visitors with its otherworldly bubbling hot pots and steamy geothermal features as well as its spectacular mountain scenery, vast canyons, and abundant wildlife. Its neighbor, Grand Teton, wows visitors in its own way with its dramatically carved peaks and gorgeous alpine lakes and rivers.

Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are open year-round, although access is limited during the winter months. July and August are by far the most popular times to visit. Fewer crowds make April through May and September and October some of the best times to visit.

The absolute minimum amount of time you should allow yourself to do sightseeing in both Yellowstone and Grand Teton is 3 days: 2 in Yellowstone, doing the Upper Loop one day, and the Lower Loop on the other day. Grand Teton can be seen in one day.

We share a couple of possible Yellowstone itineraries to help organize your time, but as the commentary plays based on your location, you have ultimate flexibility.

If you have more time, add an extra day in Yellowstone. It’s very worthwhile to allow yourself time in the geyser basin areas to wait for eruptions. Other than Old Faithful, the predicted geysers will often have a 1-2 hour window when the next eruption may occur, so it’s really helpful to have time to be patient and wait for things to happen. The different geysers gush in different ways, so each one has its own style!

With more time, you will also be able to enjoy several of the short hikes, and also relax and watch the wildlife that you spot along the way.

If you only have one day you can still enjoy some of the Yellowstone’s main attractions, but try to stay at least one night inside the park so you can start your sightseeing first thing in the morning. You need a minimum of three full days to see all the main sights and four is ideal.

Hotel-style accommodations, rustic cabins, campgrounds, RV parks and luxury suites are all available inside Yellowstone National Park but it can sometimes be difficult to secure reservations, especially during the peak summer season. Luckily there are numerous options for all budgets and tastes right outside Yellowstone. 

Read our blog – Where should I stay in Yellowstone for more details.

Geysers in Yellowstone fall into two categories of predictable and unpredictable.  Some, like Old Faithful are regular, erupting every 90 minutes or so, others, like Steamboat are more erratic, laying dormant for years and suddenly active with a string of eruptions.

So with an erratic schedule how do you plan your geyser watching? The National Park Visitor Centers have latest predictable times listed on their website, in their app (must be on wifi) and in person.  And geysertimes.org is updated by dedicated “geyser gazers”. 

So it’s worthwhile to check in the night before if you want to spend some of your day geyser gazing.

It’s quite exciting to see the many animals in Yellowstone and Grand Teton – both big and small. They are wild, so you need to remember their movements are never guaranteed and you always need to respect the recommended safe distances, keep in your vehicle and never feed them. You can rent spotting scopes, camera lens and binoculars to safety see animals up close.

Suggested areas to spot some of the 67 species of mammals, 300 species of birds, fish and amphibians you’ll find in Yellowstone include;

• Bison: Hayden and Lamar Valleys in Yellowstone. Around Snake river in Grand Teton.
• Bears: Grizzles in the Hayden and Lamar Valleys and Black Bears around Tower and Mammoth Wolves: Lamar Valley
• Pronghorn: Lamar Valley and Gardiner
• Elk: Gardiner and Grand Teton
• Moose: Grand Teton on Moose-Wilson Rd

Unfortunately each park now collects its own entrance fees so you will need to purchase a separate pass each for Grand Teton and Yellowstone.

Depending on the length of your stay it might be best value to purchase an America the Beautiful Annual Pass which gets you entry into any national park without any time restrictions.