Here is my itinerary:
Yellowstone / Grand Teton 3.5 Day Itinerary – August 2024
Day 1 (Sunday)
9:45 my wife and I arrived in BZN (Bozeman Yellowstone Airport, Bozeman, Montana)
10:15 left rental car place (with a Toyota 4-runner from Costco) which is attached to the airport
10:25-11:00 stop at Walmart (they have Kosher bread, bagels, English muffins, Chumus etc.) buy sunscreen, baseball caps, water and drinks
Along the way you go for 2 minutes on a stretch of the I-90 which has a speed limit of 80 mph!
Along the way we saw antelopes
12:50 arrive North Entrance (which is a less busy entrance, we did not have to wait to get into the park, you must pay an entrance fee unless you have a National Parks pass)
(took pictures at “Yellowstone National Park sign” and at the Roosevelt Arch)
1:15 arrive at Mammoth Hot Springs Welcome Center (Park rangers at all visitor centers and info stations are very knowledgeable, and willing to help you plan your trip!)
1:30-2:10 Mammoth Hot Springs, a trail on a boardwalk around numerous hot springs which flow down the mountain
2:10 leave for Tower Falls, we missed the one-way Blacktail Plateau Drive (we love one-way streets in National Parks) but instead, on the main road we encountered a bison directly in front of our car!
(We stopped at Petrified Tree but we have no clue what it is all about)
2:25 took a picture at Undine Falls
2:30-2:55 Tower Falls
3:00-3:05 Calcite Springs, a 5-minute loop
3:10 leave for Canyon Village
(We did not do the long and gorgeous hike onto Mount Washburn)
4:00 arrive Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (check-in is 4pm) Mincha
4:50 leave lodge for Lower Falls (North Rim).
4:55-5:55 hike down to the brink of the Lower Falls featuring 9 switchbacks, which was a difficult hike getting back up to the parking lot but well worth it
(We did not go to Inspiration Point on the North Rim)
5:55 Leave for Mud Volcano, passing through Hayden Valley
6:25-6:27 Sulphur Caldron
6:30 Mud Volcano really cool springs but definitely the foulest (rotten eggs in saltwater) smell from all the hot springs we encountered
6:55 we met another bison at Mud Volcano
7:00 return to Canyon Village
7:25 arrive at Canyon Village for the night (nice place to stay, no air conditioning, but cool at night)
Day 2 (Monday)
5:30 wake up, daven and learn
6:30 נץ החמה
When you get closer to Old Faithful find out Old Faithful times 307-344-2751 or
www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/geyser-activity.htm8:35 leave for Canyon South Rim
8:40-9:40 from parking lot we went to trail and made a left until we got to an observation point, then we turned around and hiked to Artist Point, a bit strenuous hike with breathtaking views.
9:40 Artist Point parking lot features zero bathrooms
9:50-10:10 we walked on the street back to our parking lot
10:25-10:40 brink of the Upper Falls
10:45 leave for Norris Geyser Basin
11:10 arrive at Norris Geyser Basin (difficult to find parking, we parked in the RV lot)
11:25-11:50 we stopped for a few minutes at the museum and then we walked around the loop (the temperature here is said to be very hot because of these extremely hot springs)
(we skipped Artists Paintspots)
12:20-12:30 Gibbon Falls
12:40 we stopped at the Madison Information
12:55 leave for Firehole Falls
Take Firehole Canyon Drive to reach Firehole Falls
1:30-1:40 Fountain Paint Pot
2:05-2:50 arrive at Midway Geyser Basin (Grand Prismatic Spring) – difficult to find parking, may be worth it to park on the street. Walk around loop
2:50 drive for 3 minutes to parking for trail to overlook of Grand Prismatic Spring, once again parking spots are difficult to find.
3:05-3:50 Take trail up to overlook; the trail has little shade. (One can continue hike to Fairy Falls)
3:50 leave for Old Faithful
(Biscuit Basin was closed due to an eruption which took place a few weeks before)
4:30 arrived at Old Faithful a few minutes after eruption
We went to Old Faithful Inn and Old Faithful General Store
Old Faithful Visitor’s Center has a video about a half hour before eruption time. Old Faithful geyser is directly behind the Visitor’s Center
5:29 Old Faithful eruption, 2 minutes after estimated time.
5:50 left Old Faithful for Grant Village Picnic Area
6:00 one minute stop at the beautiful Kepler Cascades waterfalls
Before reaching Grant Village Picnic Area on the road on our left, way down, we saw the beautiful Yellowstone Lake. We put our disposable grill on the park’s grill.
8:00 arrived at Grant Village (passing by elk on the way) for the night. This room had a fridge. (Grant Village Lodges are much older than the nice Canyon Lodges we stayed the night before.)
Day 3 (Tuesday)
6:00 wake up, daven and learn
6:32 נץ החמה
8:50-9:20 davening on the deck of the Grant Village Information Station
9:30 West Thumb Geyser Visitor Center has videos every half hour.
9:30-10:00 West Thumb Geyser Basin has numerous geysers, some on the beach of Yellowstone Lake and some even in the lake itself!
10:05-10:40 Grant General Store and checkout
10:40-12:00 leave Yellowstone National Park and arrive at Grand Teton Colter Bay Visitor’s Center. (Due to construction, we were stuck in traffic for one half hour.) On the way on our left, we saw a spectacular canyon which the Lewis River runs through, but the canyon itself is not even listed on the map!
12:00-1:00 Grand Teton Visitor’s Center and lunch next to Jackson Lake
1:00 leave for Willow Flats.
1:15 Willow Flats (wildlife viewing areas)
1:35-1:45 Oxbow Bend Turnout for wildlife viewing and you can go down into the beautiful Snake River with the mountains in the background. (Crocs and perhaps a bathing suit.) Depending on the weather, at Oxbow Bend, Signal Mountain Summit and Jenny Lake you may be able to see the reflection of the mountains in the water!
1:50-2:30 up to Signal Mountain Summit. Park and walk around the top of the mountain. Go down back to main road and make a left.
2:30-3:00 drive to Jenny Lake (there are many turnouts for pictures along the way)
3:00-6:45 Jenny Lake Ferry ($20 roundtrip or $12 for one-way) to other side of the lake. Ferries leave about every ten minutes. Take hike to Hidden Falls (perhaps crocs) then hike way up to Inspiration Point. (We found 8 men over Bar Mitzvah but not the last two we needed for a minyan.) Bring and drink plenty of water. Expect the hike to take 60-90 minutes.
6:45 left Jenny Lake.
7:15 Mincha and grilling on a disposable grill in Miller Park, Jackson, WY
8:00-9:45 drive to Fairfield Inn, Rexburg, Idaho. The first half hour was a crazy drive up the Tetons. (You can take pictures at the summit.) And then a less crazy drive down the mountain. The last hour was a normal drive in Idaho.
Day 4 (Wednesday)
5:30 wake up, daven and learn
6:39 נץ החמה
(Bagels in the hotel, and many hotels, were OU-Pas Yisroel. We took a closed 6-pack of bagels.)
8:00-9:30 left for Parade Rest Ranch (406-646-7217) for a beautiful one-hour horseback riding tour. (They also offer 2-hour and 4-hour rides.) Arrive 30 minutes before scheduled trip.
10:20-11:30 horseback riding
11:30-1:02 drive back to BZN on the scenic 191 North. (There is a gas station on the way to the airport, right next to the airport.)
1:02 arrived at BZN, checked in luggage and then drove around to return car
2:00 flight from BZN
A few notes:
• It is recommended to fly into BZN and fly out of JAC or vice versa, however tickets to/from JAC can be pricy. Plus the one-way rental fee adds to the costs.
• If you plan on being in Yellowstone for only a few days then it is probably worthwhile to stay “inside the park” in the pricy lodges rather than finding an Airbnb or hotel/motel in West Yellowstone, MT, Gardiner, MT or Island Park, ID
• Even Yellowstone Lodges give soap, shampoo, tissues and towels
• We brought with us a bear cooler, a 2-pack of disposable grills, a small sandwich maker and a small Kumkum (electric kettle)
• Living in the Eastern Time Zone we tried to stay on Eastern Time Zone schedule when out west, as you can accomplish much more during daylight hours.
•
https://www.godaven.com/temporary-minyanim • Phone service, internet and Waze is spotty throughout the parks.
• Yellowstone National Park is shaped like an 8. There is the Grand Loop with the road from Canyon to Norris slicing through it. This itinerary does not cover the upper left side of the and the bottom portion of the bottom right part of the 8.
Activities we did not do:
• Kayaking tours in Yellowstone Lake, which depart from Grant Village Marina
• Whitewater rafting (call to check the water levels to see if the rapids are Class III and Class IV)
• Big Sky Mountain Biking: take the ski lift up the mountain and bike down the mountain.
• Lamar Valley for wildlife viewing
• There are numerous geysers near Old Faithful, but they are much less predictable than Old Faithful whose estimated eruption has juts a 10-minute plus/minus window
