About This Trip
We took this trip right around the time that everyone started "doing things" again after 2020. We had 4 adults and 4 children. Yellowstone was very crowded, but since we had not been before, we didn't really know what the alternative might look like. The park definitely could handle the crowd. Yellowstone is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Our youngest (6) was a bit young for this trip (he said that Old Faithful was just "water and some steam") but overall the kids had a great time. I will add that the face masks and hand sanitizer we all got used to carrying during the pandemic were very useful in the Yellowstone bathrooms.
Before you go, read Death at Yellowstone and make sure you know what not to do (or if you don't have time to do that, just read the signs and use common sense; please be safe).
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What Should I Do In Advance?
We booked our Wolf Tracker Tour, Boat Tour, and Old West Dinner Horseback riding in advance. It is useful to get your National Park Pass in advance. If you have a fourth grader, your national park pass is free; either way, it's still a "come by mail" thing, so order it in advance especially if you are doing more than one national park in a year to save money.
Of course, you need to book your stay and rental car early now that the park is more crowded than it used to be. And, for my procrastinating friends: pack earlier than you think you need to (especially if you are going with little kids) you will need all season type clothing for everyone which is a lot of work to assemble and group.
Travel, Stay, and Provisions
Travel
We took a roundtrip flight from Dallas Love Field to Bozeman Montana on Southwest Airlines.
Just one note on the return flight if leaving out of BZN, give yourself enough time at the airport especially if you want to eat there. We got there and there was a 30 minute wait for security (luckily we have TSA pre), one of the restaurants shut down while we were in line because they lost internet, almost everyone was out of food, and we managed to snag the last two grab and go sandwiches before flying home. (I realize this story might be very pandemic-times specific.)
Stay
We stayed at an Airbnb in Gardiner - which is at the northern entrance to the park (close to border of Montana and Wyoming). It was small, walkable, and lovely. There is a general store in Gardiner, but if you fly into Bozeman, I would recommend hitting the Walmart there before heading to Gardiner to get groceries. Everything in Gardiner is pretty expensive.
Dream Stay
You can also stay at the original Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone - if you don't mind the price tag and the one to two year wait; we minded both, but we did tour it on our trip to Old Faithful and got ice cream there.
Packing Tips
Bring bear spray, sunscreen, and mosquito spray (you probably won't need the bear spray but better safe than sorry). Bring a lot of layers for everyone. You will see a travel planning lists that tell you to pack rain coats, winter gear, summer clothes, and swimwear and that will seem like a lot - but let me tell you, we used all of it. We had some days that felt like 90 and a couple that felt like 35-40. For footwear, many of us were good with one pair of tennis/hiking shoes and a pair of flip flops for around the house (water shoes optional*).
*I did use my water shoes once, but only because we did a boat thing. I imagine water shoes might be more necessary for strenuous hikes, but not needed for anything we did.
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Planning for Food (Dining In vs. Dining Out) and Shopping
Park Days
For your park days, pack a cooler with lunches drinks and snacks. We didn't get too far out of touristy areas so we didn't worry about our cooler being extra bear proof or anything. If you take paths off the beaten trail, use caution.
Gardiner
When we went, Gardiner was tremedously understaffed. It was difficult to get into a restaurant without a reservation and most didn't take reservations. The town internet went down one night and all the restaurants closed. Another time, we went to a restaurant, and they had run out of food the day. They also weren't answering their phones so you had to walk there to make the reservations (which wasn't a big deal, just different).
That being said, we didn't cook a single dinner. We got so-so pizzas one night and we made a reservation at the delicious Wonderland Café (try the Elk Chili!) another night.
A hidden gem of Gardiner if you have hungry and impatient children or adults: there are food trucks just east of Wonderland along the river by the Yellowstone Dino Lube & Repair (oh, and buy souvenirs at the Dino place - they are 1/4 the price of the other gift shops).
I also heard Yellowstone Lodge and Iron Horse and Cowboy Saloon were fun, but we couldn't get in any of those places due to crowds.
Exploring The Park
Before you head into the park, check for entrance closures, blocked roads, or any other news. It's still a pretty wild area. Make sure you have snacks and food too (in a cooler).
Lower Grand Loop – On the lower loop you can see Grand Prismatic and Old Faithful. These are the two busiest parts of the park. Not much parking at Grand Prismatic but plenty at Old Faithful. There is more parking at Old Faithful and they have an additional 150+ geysers and hot springs on the trail next to Old Faithful, so give yourself time to do that.
Upper Grand Loop – The backside of the loop was closed so there was only one way in and out. If you go to Lamar Valley you will also go by Mammoth Hot Springs which is a great stopping point for viewing the hot springs, having a snack, and checking out the old hotel.
Wednesday, Wilderness Tour and River Boat Tour
We started our first non-travel day with a Wolf Tracker Wilderness Tour. If you can get past the idea of getting up at 4:00 a.m.(!), this was the highlight of the trip for most of our group. All you have to do is get up and get dressed (wear warm layers) they will take care of the rest. Your tour guide picks you up in a large van. They have food, video equipment, telescopes, and everything you need to spot animals. You will watch the sunrise over Lamar Valley (or somewhere else like that), eat breakfast, spot wildlife through telescopes, and learn about the animals & the park. My fourth grader was mesmerized by our tour guide who made us all love and appreciate wolves and could recount every way anyone ever died in Yellowstone (usually for doing something stupid, sadly). Highly recommend this experience. (You also get all of the hi resolution photos and videos they take on your tour as as souvenir.)
In the afternoon we did a boat tour on the Yellowstone River - they had options for tours based on how much adventure you were up for. Since we had little kids (and me) we chose the least adventurous option which was kind of like a slow log ride at six flags with no drops. It was cool to be on the water though!
Thursday and Friday
We used our next two park days to hit the highlights: Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, Mount Washburn, Mammoth Hot Springs, Wailing River, Snake River, and Tower Falls. Grand Prismatic was the highlight of the trip for me! It was like being on another planet. Absolutely surreal.
On Thursday evening, we booked an Old West Dinner Cookout | Yellowstone National Park Lodges. Things didn't go as planned for us. There was confusion when we booked as we had some "for sure" riders and some "maybe" riders so our entire reservation went to the standby list and no one got to ride, which was extremely disappointing. This was also not communicated to us until after we hung around there for a few hours. The area that we drove too was beautiful though, and if they hadn't made the booking error, I think it would have been cool experience. Non-riders can just hang out on the grounds if you choose to do this - just decide ahead of time who is riding and who is not!
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