Two-week Road Trip From Seattle

Speaking about accommodation in Yellowstone, is it better to stay in different places across the three or four nights or, just in one place, say near the West Entrance?

I just stayed at the Lodge at Yellowstone Lake -- all of the housing at the lodge is in cabins. I recommend staying at one place -- that way you know where you will be at night and can set up your remaining exploration time.

West Yellowstone wouldn't be my first choice -- it's not actually in the park, but it's fine if that's what is available to you.

If you have sufficient $$$ Yellowstone Lake Hotel is elegant and a nice place to stay.

The other thing -- is always, always ask if lodging is available when you are there. On paper everything is fully every single night of the summer period. But there are always cancellations and one can find accommodations if you are lucky and persistent!

Mark

We took the opposite approach and stayed in different locations to cut down on the 'out and back' miles to different areas of the park. First night was West Yellowstone on arrival day and then Canyon lodge and cabins and Grant village inside the park to visit north and south areas respectively. It worked for us, but this originally came down to booking what was available, now we would do it again given the choice.

No luck. All in-park lodges are sold out. So I guess I could stay at West, North, East, and South Entrance -- each for one night -- no joking...?

--- edit ---

My bookings are:

10/3 - Gray Wolf Inn & Suite -- Yellowstone West Entrance
10/4 - Pahaska Tepee Resort -- Yellowstone East Entrance
10/5-10/7 - Absaroka Lodge -- Yellowstone North Entrance

So basically, I'll spend the first two days around the bottom part, and the last two around the upper part. Does this look good to you guys?

Yes, as mentioned above -- by the time of the year -- all park lodges are ALWAYS SOLD OUT ON PAPER. But there are cancellations every night. A month ago, I checked with a lodge at about 4:00 pm -- No vacancies anywhere in the park... After driving an hour further south, I checked again at about 5:45 pm and a vacancy had opened up at the Lake Yellowstone Lodge (where I had checked earlier) -- so I turned around and went back to the lodge. I don't mind the risk of not having confirmed reservations when I travel -- in most places -- but if that would drive you crazy then you should get reservations. (And it sounds like you have already done that).

Mark

Since you are going to be staying out of the park each night -- one thing to keep in mind... There is a definite ebb and flow to the vehicular traffic every day. I think this effect will be greatly minimized when you are visiting -- because you will be there in October, so my comment is really more of a heads-up to anyone reading this thread and thinking about visiting in the peak summer months of July or August. My observational data is limited, because I only saw a couple days of this in July -- but waits at the entrance stations can be up to an hour if you are attempting to enter the park between 10:30 and 12:30 in the morning. Likewise, just about all of the attraction parking lots are jammed to over-capacity between 1:00 pm and 3:30 pm. Around 4:00 pm every day, most visitors begin to mosey back to their campgrounds, lodges, cabins or out of the park lodging and parking lots are generally open and the roads are less busy.

So, for your visit, driving in the early morning or late afternoon is the best time to avoid highway congestion and -- it is also the best time to see animals.

Again, I am sure that there will be much less congestion on the roads when you visit -- but you should be prepared to be stuck in a line of traffic from time to time. It's part of the deal. Especially if bison are involved -- they "love" to mosey downs the center line of the highways -- don't ever honk at them -- they take offense.

Have a fantastic trip.

Mark

Our experience was similar to Mark's. Get into the park at first daylight. You have a better chance of sighting wildlife (without the resulting "animal/bear jam" in traffic), there will be less people at the most popular attractions and therefore better parking. We were at Old Faithful before 7 in the morning, got a front row parking place, and about the only other people standing around waiting for OF to erupt were some who had stayed at one of the inns/lodges in the area.

We had no problem with staying outside of the park in West Yellowstone, but we were on a budget. There weren't a whole lot of lodge rooms available on our budget, so we were willing to drive in/out of the park each day. West Yellowstone is located RIGHT on the outside of the western boundary to the park, and there were plenty of eateries and other amenities available.


Donna

Thanks to Mark and Donna.

We'll be early birds, then. :P

So the basic formula inside the park is "Park & Hike" from one spot to another?

Think of the most popular spots, Old Faithful, Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Geyser basin etc and try to build them into early and late in the day visits and during the day visit the areas not so popular with day tourists like the Artists Paint pots and the mud pots and the open spaces of Lamar valley etc. It will be slow going, but very enjoyable. If you could find available lodgings in Canyon village you could spend a good part of the day hiking along the rim of the Grand canyon of the Yellowstone without driving, there is a path that leads to the rim from the cabins, but yes, in general it is a case of driving from one place to another and then walking.

Thanks Dave, great tips indeed!

I'm also thinking about the places to stay on the way from Portland to the Park, and from the Park back to Seattle.

Some easy search from Google suggests Troutdale, Hood River, Cascades Lock, or the Dalles for the former, and C'ouer d'Alene for the latter.