Grand Tetons & Yellowstone

I'll let Pam, our Yellowstone expert, advise you on drive times & itinerary.

Get a cooler and stock up with breakfast, snack and picnic stuff in Jackson.

The Creekside Market, on the way out of Jackson, does made to order sandwiches. Also, in Moose, Dornan's has a deli. You'll pass it on your way to Jenny Lake.

On day 5, when you're at Mammoth Hot Springs, you're only about 20 minutes from Gardiner where you'll find a market, restaurants and gas stations.

Inside the park, be sure to try the Huckleberry ice cream. There are several general stores around the park that stock basics like bread, milk,... along with snack bars and restaurants.

Enjoy your trip!

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/yellowstone-grand-tetons
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/jackson-hole-yellowstone
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/yellowstone-traveling-from-bozeman-to-jackson

Some recent posts on the same topic; may find some useful info and not need to invent the wheel again.

It's a really great place to visit.

First, the week before Labor Day is usually a good time to go as for some reason visitation drops the last 2 weeks. Kids back in school and September travelers not yet in the area.

And yea to a cabin at Rosie coming available! My very favorite place to stay.

Here are my thoughts:

Day 1: Looks good. Pick up a cooler and some supplies in Jackson.
2: Looks good. Get to Jenny Lake trailhead early as the parking lot fills.
3: Looks good. West Thumb is a small geyser basin in a beautiful lakeside setting although not much geyser activity. There are some very pretty pools here. It will only be a 30-60 minute stop. DO stop at the Grant Village area for a comfort stop first as the only bathrooms at West Thumb are vault toilets in the parking lot and they are generally overused and a bit nasty. At Grant Village there are flush toilets and running water at both the General Store (good ice cream at the snack bar) and at the Visitor Center.
4: This looks good. Hayden is doable near sunrise from the Lake accommodations. In fact, you can take a drive up there early then come back for breakfast. The more times you can drive thru a wildlife rich are the more you increase your chances for seeing something. Do be cautious as Hayden Valley can fog in so use your head on driving conditions.
5: You have lots of choices today! I would certainly drive out into Lamar Valley today as well as doing the guided tour tomorrow. Yes to Mammoth and Tower Fall. Be sure to pop back in to the Petrified Tree area as there is often wildlife in the big meadow across from the tree (which is a sad disappointment on its own.). I've seen grizzly and black bear as well as moose back in there. IF you feel like a drive you can also drive out the NE entrance road to Cooke City/Silvergate, then drive across Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge to see spectacular Alpine scenery. You can also turn around partway across...I recommend going to the small ski area up there and turning around if you don't want to go down to Red Lodge. IF you do go to Red Lodge and it's lunch time, the Red BoxCar grill on the right before you get to town has really good burgers. The drive to Red Lodge over and back on Beartooth will take most of the day. The Google Drive time estimates for Beartooth are seriously underestimated. Count on 2.5-3 hours from Cooke City to Red Lodge.

6: This looks good. Go to OF first and check in before you do Midway. Crowds there are awful during the day but calm down around 5 or so when day visitors start to head to the gate for dinner. You can also do Roosevelt Arch before you leave the northern end of the park.
7: This looks good as well. Download the GeyserTimes app to track the eruption times for the predictable geysers in the Upper Basin.

8: You have choices today! You can go either out the West Entrance to West Yellowstone and up US191 to Bozeman or you can go to the North Entrance and go up US89. It is a shorter drive out to West Yellowstone and up US191. Both roads are very scenic although very different.

"Q -Do the daily distances seem reasonable for the above itinerary?"
Yes, they are fine.
"Q -Which day would you recommend visiting Mammoth Hot Springs and Roosevelt Arch? Day 5, Day 8, or another?"
Day 5 works as does Day 6. Day 8 also works depending on what you decide.

"Q - Any suggestions for affordable(and better yet, yummy) food inside Yellowstone Park? We will be in the park for days 4-8. Where can we purchase picnic foods and/or snacks inside the Park?"
All the General Stores inside the park have grocery items. I would probably head out to Gardiner on Day 5 or Day 6 to resupply at Gardiner Market OR if you do Beartooth and go to Red Lodge, go to the Red Lodge market (can't remember if it's got a different name than that, hahaha....I just know where either is!) Food is acceptable but not great. I mostly eat out of my cooler or the General stores grills.

I knew I was running out of room so saved this question, lol.

"Q- How much time realistically will it take to go from Old Faithful Inn to Bozeman on Day 8?"

It depends on which way you choose to go. Here is map of approximate drive times within Yellowstone. All of the regular visitors have done segments in less time so it's just a ball park. I've also had instances where it took more than the time listed.

https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/content/uploads/2025/05/Map_YNP-Xanterra-Detailed_CMYK-v2025-1-scaled.jpg

So....
Option 1: OF to West Yellowstone and up US191 to Bozeman
OF to West Entrance - 1h15m - 1h30m. (You would be going against the traffic but you would not want to pull off into any of the laybys on the left (south) side of the road because you will NEVER get back across incoming/eastbound traffic if you are before noon.)
West Yellowstone to Bozeman - 1h30m
Total: 2h45m minimum

Option 2: OF to Mammoth and up US89 to Bozeman
OF to the North entrance - 2h15m to 2h30m
North Entrance to Bozeman - 1h30m
Total: 3h 45m minimum

Of course this is just hands on the wheel drive times. You'd figure more time for stops for scenery, food, comfort, etc. Either of these routes is easily done in half a day.

Also, I recommend you screen shot or download a calendar of sunrise/sunset times from www.sunrisesunset.com Be sure to tick the box for Civil Twilight times. You'd not want to leave your lodging in the AM before you can see colors which is a bit after the actual Civil Twilight but before sunrise. I don't recommend driving in the dark in the whole area due to the many large animals on or near the road. The bison are impossible to see at night. Their fur sort of soaks up any available light and they don't show up. I will admit to driving in the dark if I don't have far to go but I am super cautious.

Let me know if you have questions!

Thanks everyone for all the useful information! You added more joy to the pre-trip excitement. This is our first really big National Park trip and we are learning the ins and outs of planning such a trip. It's a bit different than planning a trip to international towns and cities.

jeanm -It is good to know that there are options to purchase snacks and supplies in the park if we need them. Huckleberry ice cream sounds delicious. I've added it as a side note to try in our planner along with your deli suggestions in the Grand Teton area.

joe32F - Information on this forum has been very helpful.

Pam - Your love for Yellowstone shines! I get a sense of your enthusiasm and admiration for the park in your very detailed comments. All your safety comments and realistic drive times are appreciated and have been noted in our travel planner. The vital info about bathrooms in Grant Village made me smile as a teacher. So important! If there is not one, there needs to be an online source with the best bathrooms in the park and best ice cream. lol

We were very excited when a frontier cabin opened for Rosie. The wildlife is one of the many things that attracted us to Yellowstone and most reviews indicated that Roosevelt Lodge has a good location for spotting wildlife. Thanks again for all the reassurances we are on the right path with itinerary.

You are quite welcome. I will say that pre-Covid when there were many, many big tour buses filled with visitors from Asian countries the West Thumb vault toilets were really dreadful from overuse. They've increased to merely "nasty" because they just don't have the staff to keep up. There are still a few vault toilets that are set up for folks who are used to squatting instead of sitting or there are instructions on not to stand on the toilet seats.

One thing I forgot...IF it's hot in the afternoons when you are there, then on Day 5 I would take a run out thru Lamar Valley in the early AM like you will do in Hayden. Come back to the Lodge for breakfast or take something to eat in a pull out along the way. In the heat the big critters with heavy fur coats tend to hide out in the shade in the afternoons so wildlife spotting can be hit or miss. Your chances are better in the chill of the early AM.

Do bring jackets, maybe a warm beanie and glove liners for the early AM wildlife viewing. Along with sunhat with chin straps, sunscreen and sunglasses, hahaha!

Hello,
I am interested in this post because we will be visiting Yellowstone and Grand Tetons this July. Several people mentioned buying a cooler and stocking up with breakfast items, snacks, and made to order sandwiches. This might sound like a silly question, but what does a person do with the cooler at the end of the trip when they have a flight home? Is this a throw-a-way type cooler?
Thanks!

@kmkwoo - There are throwaway styrofoam coolers but I don't recommend them...they are generally squeaky and leaky, lol. Many leave coolers at their last hotel or if they have time run by a charity shop and drop them off. Sometimes people will meet folks coming in and just pass off the cooler to them.

Pam, thank you so much for your prompt response!

One thing not mentioned yet is Bear Spray. Maybe Pam can help with that. We met a couple on our first stop in Yellowstone that were leaving the park and sold us their unused can for $10. We then gave the unused can to a family when we were leaving the Tetons on our last day.

Fortunately, we had no close encounters with bears. Elk was another story.