Wyoming/Montana trip advice?

[v]

This is further to the thread the other day about Montana.

My husband and I are thinking of going to Wyoming and Montana in late September.  The thought would be to fly into Jackson, go to Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and then go up to Glacier National Park and fly home from there.  Or vice versa.  Maybe something like this itinerary? www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/expeditions/hiking-national-park-glacier-yellowstone-teton-adventure/detail (we wouldn't go on a group tour -- just stealing their itinerary)

My questions are:

1.  Right now I'm thinking we'd leave on Friday morning and come back the following Sunday.  That would give us 9 nights there.  Is that enough for this itinerary?

1a.  If so, how would you split your time?

1b.  If not, how would you do this instead?  (note: we are open to seeing anything cool and/or beautiful out there -- doesn't need to be just parks)

2.  Where would you stay?  (Meaning, what towns and what specific places, if you have suggestions?) Note: we are not camping people and I'd be excited if we could stay at hotels/resorts we were excited about (particularly because we may want to spend a lazy day at a resort).  In Jackson (assuming that's where we would stay -- maybe/maybe not?) this would be easy, but I've had trouble figuring out the stuff around Glacier National Park.  I would prefer hotel-like accommodations over a condo/house/etc.  Should we stay in Whitefish?  Whitefish looks like the kind of town I'm hoping to see.  But is that too far for several day trips to the park?

And if I'm doing this all wrong please feel free to tell me -- this is a different type of trip from what we've done in the past!

Thanks so much!

[mtngirl]

Nine days is good. That is a pretty awesome itinerary to base your trip off of. Be aware that it's a bit of a drive from yellowstone to glacier, doable in a day, but lots of driving. Also, bozeman may be easier to fly into rather than jackson. But, directionally speaking, jackson is easier to start in for the trip you're looking at.

Places to stay- you're right, jackson is easier, four seasons! I stayed at the Jackson lake lodge once which was beautiful and fairly nice. Not super resorty though-don't remember if it had a spa.

In YNP I would stay in the lake yellowstone hotel and/or the old faithful lodge. Both are park accomodations, but nice enough, not camping and not as rustic as some other choices (Roosevelt). Mammoth hotel is also a decent choice.

Nearby to park you could be fancier and stay at big sky resort, but it would be a bit of a drive to go explore the park. Also, if you're interested in hot springs, look into Chico hot springs, good spa and excellent restaurant.

There are a couple of $$$ "dude ranch" type accomodations that you could stay at on your way to GNP if you wanted- ranch at rock creek (check out GOOPs review) or paws up resort.

Accomodations in GNP- Many Glacier Hotel- I haven't stayed- It's probably a bit rustic, but amazing view, location, etc. I rec. at least one night here because it's probably the best place to stay on the east side of the park, and there is s great boat tour and hike to glacier that you can do from here.

Otherwise I would probably rec. The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. Or the Big Mountain Lodge in Whitefish
Normal hotels could be found near Whitefish as well.

Whitefish is not at all too far to make day trips to the park. But, like I said, I do recommend staying at least one night in the east side to explore the St. Mary/ Mamy Glacier areas. It would be quite a day (but doable) to go all the way across the park, explore, and then back to Whitefish.

Hope that helps! Hopefully others have some good ideas.

I just saw when you're coming. The parks slow down considerably in Sept, so thats good, but it's possibly the Many Glacier hotel would be shut down for the winter already-check into that.

[miesl]

Late September? Not a good time for a first time visitor to Glacier.

Most lodges (restaurants, boats, horse, etc) are closed, and half of the Sun road will be closed (open from the west side). You'd have to go all the way around the south of the Park on hwy 2 to get to the east side (which is lovely), long day doesn't cover it.

I should add... If you go... Stay at Belton Chalet.  They will still be open, the food is amazing, and it is a beautiful place.

[polarberry]

We went to glacier in september... the very last week/days that many glacier hotel was going to be open. A lot of local things were already closed (limited options of where to eat)... so we had to eat at the hotel basically (which was expensive and the food was just 'okay')... and they started running out of certain things (no more rolls at dinner... no orange juice at breakfast) since they were almost done for the season. It was a bit of a bummer. The hotel is in a prime location, but as above poster mentioned, a bit rustic. Still... I would recommend at least one night staying in park because it would be LONG days to have to go in and out from whitefish each and every day. It takes quite awhile to get all the way to other side of park each day.

Yes, be careful when you plan this... going to the sun road will close in september and that will severely limit you in glacier national park.

We stayed in whitefish our last two nights at the Lodge at whitefish lake. Very pretty and great hotel... definitely recommend it. also, downtown whitefish is really cool... lots of great places to eat and little shops to check out.

When we went to yellowstone, we stayed in a hotel west yellowstone majority of time and thought that worked out really well for us. Had no problems driving in and out each day to explore the park.

[wavepool]

We loved the city of Bozeman. Completely surprised us with great food and drinks!

[Deleted]

We flew into Jackson and flew out of Bozeman and did a similar itinerary and it worked out well.

I would caution traveling in late September though. We flew in on the 10th and a lot of restaurants and hotels were already closed in the parks, and a lot more were gearing up to close in the next few weeks.

[Deleted]

I think mtngirl nailed it. I think that's a good itinerary. You may also be able to fly in to Idaho Falls, if flights into Jackson are too spendy for your tastes.

Are you absolutely locked in to the last of September? This is the high mountains and in afraid you'll get a lot of snow. It's dicey. At the very least, be prepared for 20 degrees over night. You'll be fine in a hotel.

I think the big decision is which way you drive from Yellowstone to Glacier. You could take Interstate 90 from Bozeman to Missoula, then north through Polson to Kalispell and Glacier. Or, you could come in the back way and go from the Gardiner entrance to Yellowstone north through Livingston, up the Sheilds Valley to White Sulphur Springs (I've heard they re did the hot springs hotel and that its great), and then over to Great Falls and towards the park.

either route has phenomenal scenery. The second one is mostly off the interstate but would be my route of choice (I like exploring small towns).

[v]

We unfortunately *are* locked into late September, but we aren't locked into Glacier. It sounds like we should save that for another trip.

Is late September okay for Yellowstone/Grand Teton? If so, what else could we tie that into?

If late September isn't okay for Wyoming, maybe we'll go to the Grand Canyon or something instead

[mtngirl]

Late September is a beautiful time to go to YNP and Grand Teton and it will less crowded. The services slow down a little, not all of the campgrounds, convenience stores and restaurants within the parks will be open, but you should still be able to stay in the park hotels, and barring a huge snow storm, the roads will all be open.

Glacier is awesome though, so if cutting it out if this trip means you're likely not to come back do it, you should do Grand Canyon this time and this trip in the summer of another year.

[v]

Mar 7, 2015 12:29:10 GMT -5 @rennido said:

Also...@idaholakelady

I'm not trying to put a damper on thing...but we have no snow (I live up in the mountains) and if WE have no snow...you can bet that fire season is going to be a bitch this year.

I'm totally for a September visit, I love Montana in September. There is a ton that you can do, if you wanted to do something other than go to the parks as well.

We'd definitely be open for that.  Montana is somewhere I've always wanted to check out.  Where would you suggest that we go for a few days that isn't tremendously far from Yellowstone/Grand Teton?  (Several hours of driving is fine, but I know Montana is a very big state...)  Two places would be fine if you think we should go to two places.

I think we would be aiming generally to see pretty scenery and cool towns and to do some sort of outdoor activity (light hiking, kayaking, horseback riding, etc.).  That doesn't need to happen in a park!

[v]

Mar 7, 2015 14:39:23 GMT -5 @rennido said:

Mar 7, 2015 13:50:05 GMT -5 v said:

We'd definitely be open for that.  Montana is somewhere I've always wanted to check out.  Where would you suggest that we go for a few days that isn't tremendously far from Yellowstone/Grand Teton?  (Several hours of driving is fine, but I know Montana is a very big state...)  Two places would be fine if you think we should go to two places.

I think we would be aiming generally to see pretty scenery and cool towns and to do some sort of outdoor activity (light hiking, kayaking, horseback riding, etc.).  That doesn't need to happen in a park!

Do you know your exact days?

Let's say the trip would be from Friday, September 19-Sunday, September 27.  That's the most likely week.  And it would be something like half Wyoming/half Montana, maybe with Wyoming first so the parks won't be quite as closed up yet.  And the first and last day would be travel days only.

[MixedBerryJam]

Mar 7, 2015 10:47:57 GMT -5 v said:

We unfortunately *are* locked into late September, but we aren't locked into Glacier. It sounds like we should save that for another trip.

Is late September okay for Yellowstone/Grand Teton? If so, what else could we tie that into?

If late September isn't okay for Wyoming, maybe we'll go to the Grand Canyon or something instead

What about Grand Teton/Yellowstone/Mt. Rushmore/Badlands for that time of year? A couple of days in the Tetons, 4 or 5 days in YNP, and 2 or 3 days in the Rapid City area which is accessible to both Badlands and Rushmore.

It's a lot of driving, but I love driving trips.