Round Trip From Jackson Hole.

[Maydog]

We have a tripped planned to Jackson Hole next month. I need help planning a route on places to visit.
I would like to of course see Yellowstone and Grand Teton but I would also like to be able to travel by car 3 to 4 hundred miles and stay at other locations for a couple of days and end up back in Jackson hole..
We arrive in Jackson Hole on 06/12 and depart on 06/17.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to RTA !

If you exclude your arrival and departure days you already only have 4 days to visit the Tetons and Yellowstone which is about the minimum you need to visit these parks. Heading to spots like the Lamar valley in Yellowstone is close to a 300 mile round drive and you might want to continue to Silver Gate/Cooke City and beyond to enjoy the scenic Bear tooth Highway. So I guess what I am saying is perhaps you should look at other areas in, or near to Yellowstone like Red Lodge to enjoy the Beartooth and/or the popular town of Cody and then back to Jackson hole. That is a 460 mile round trip where you can explore areas of Yellowstone as well. There are options like Craters of the Moon and Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls among many others, but I think you should consider using locations that involve getting around Yellowstone. Don't forget to visit Mormon Row near the Tetons.

[Midwest Michael]

I have to agree, with the time you've got available, you would really be doing yourself a disservice to try to do much more than just the Tetons/Yellowstone area. Your idea of going elsewhere for a couple of days would mean you wouldn't really even have time to scratch the surface of those two big parks. I might consider spending a day heading over to Cody and driving the Beartooth Highway, but I would make those more like daytrips than places you spend a few days.

Having said that, because Yellowstone is so huge, Jackson is not a good base to explore that park, so I would recommend looking for a place to stay either within Yellowstone, or just outside the park in places like West Yellowstone, Gardiner, or Cooke City to actually spend a couple of your nights.

[Maydog]

I appreciate the reply. As you can tell I know nothing about the area and am wanting to see as much of it as possible.

[Lifemagician]

Once you get to Yellowstone, you will realise just how valid the above suggestions are. Spending time commuting back and forth to Jackson Hole is going to take valuable time away from your time to explore Yellowstone. Don't overlook that travelling within Yellowstone NP is slow.... sometimes very slow, or stationary. Events which disrupt traffic are of most interest to the majority of visitors - wildlife on the road. Wildlife gets right of way. When there is wildlife or some other attraction by the side of the road, most cars stop to take photos, holding up all the traffic behind. The roads are narrow and getting past stopped vehicles is not always possible.

Then again, you will probably want to stop as well.

Lifey