Quickest route to Yellowstone

I went via I-80 to Rock Springs, then north on Hwy191. I-80 is nearly flat and I think 191 is also for much of the route. Either way is 4 to 5 hours after you leave the interstate.

Where you are staying should influence your choice, or you may arrive on the opposite side of a very big park.

Hi, Beth

Thanks for your reply. We want to get to the East Entrance because we are joining a tour group in Mammoth. The tour does not include the eastern part of the park, so we want to see that part on our own before joining the tour.

Route 191 gets me to the South Entrance. But it's helpful to know that it takes 4-5 hours.

I drove up there twice from Denver, the same route as Beth to the south entrance. The only time I drove from Minnesota I went I 90 to Cody and then to the east entrance to the park. Coming from the south it just seemed better to go in the park by the south entrance, you get to the same main point in the park (the geyser basin) from either of these entrances. The nicest thing about coming up to the south entrance is driving along the Tetons on your way there. So beautiful.

You are invited to post on the Wyoming Trip Advisor forum as well. Someone has actually posted a similar question in the last day or so.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g28973-i480-Wyoming.html

I go to Yellowstone frequently, but I approach from the West so head either for the West gate or the North gate.

If you have enough time, Cody had got a great 5-museum complex, but you would need 1/2 a day to see it.

How many days is your tour from Mammoth? There is not a whole lot to see out the East entrance road, altho it is nicely wooded and pretty. If you are doing a multi day tour from Mammoth then you will undoubtedly do the Canyon/Fishing Bridge area on the east side of the Lower Loop as well as a swing by the Yellowstone Lake.

If you are interested in that sort of thing, Cody, WY, has a Buffalo Bill center and a firearms museum. Might be worth your time to catch these before heading to the east entrance. Have a great trip.

Thank you all for your replies. Your inputs have been very helpful.
I'm going to take your suggestions to take I-80, see the Tetons, stay overnight in Jackson. Then enter thru the South Entrance the next morning to get to Mammoth which I see on the map is still 100 miles away.
I want to see the petrified trees because we missed them on our Utah trip as it was getting dark and we had to get to Bryce.
On review of the Yellowstone map, I don't need to enter via the East Entrance to get to Tower-Roosevelt area.
Our tour is for 6 nights. And yes, the tour includes West Thumb and Yellowstone Lake.

There is only one petrified tree that you can easily see. It is in the Tower Roosevelt area on the side road marked, Petrified Tree, lol. It is kind of lame as it has a fence around it to protect it from vandals. There used to be another one but it was cleared away by vandals. This is an extremely good area to see black bear, so it is always worth a drive back in there. The petrified tree is a standing tree which is somewhat unusual.

If you want to see a chunk of petrified tree, drive in to the Roosevelt Lodge area. Walk up to the Lodge building and then walk around to the right end of the building. If you look at some of the stone pillars for the building base, you will see a big chunk of petrified wood used for the original construction.

There are some other Petrified Trees you can hike off trail to, but you need the skills to hike with a compass and it is a several mile hike to the trees. You can get a hand drawn map at the Tower Ranger station where they can advise you as to the conditions in the area both trail conditions and wildlife. Bear spray is a must if you decide to undertake this hike.

It will be about an hour + drive from Jackson to the South entrance gate. Then from there it is 78 miles/156 minutes/2.6 hours drive to the Tower Junction not counting time for stops for wildlife/scenery/food/personal comfort. Just a few minutes from there to Petrified Tree, then 18 miles/36 minutes to Mammoth. If you look on the www.nps.gov/yell website, there is a link to the map you will get at the entrance gate. I recommend you double your miles to figure time it will take to travel without stops.

Please feel free to message me if you have any Yellowstone questions.

Thanks, Pam

OK, petrified tree(s) is/are out. Will have to find them at anytime and another place.

Well, drive back in to see the one, but do it because you might see bear back in there and see the Petrified Tree just because you have driven the 1/2 mile back to the parking lot to turn around. I don't want you to get your hopes up and then be disappointed. I think the chunk of petrified tree in the Roosevelt Lodge foundation is more interesting!

If you want to see petrified trees and you're driving up I-25, you will be a very short detour from Petrified Forest NP just west on I-40 from Albuquerque. Went there on a road trip in 2012 and it was way cool. Several short walks where you can see lots of trees right where they fell. Half a day is plenty of time to see it.

Hi, Folks

This is a trip report. We just got back from our Yellowstone trip.

I took people's advice and drove I-80 to Rock Springs up 191 to Jackson. It took 12 hours from Denver to Jackson with stops for lunch, dinner, coffee and bathroom breaks. I-80 had a lot of traffic: big trucks, campers, road construction. It finally started to get pretty after Pinedale.

I booked a room at the Motel 6 in Jackson back in May when I started this thread. I got an AAA discount. The room still cost $160+. It was the best value I could find. When we checked in, there was a guy paying close to $200 for a room. All the hotels were full. The Motel 6 had a sign that there were no vacancies except for reservations. Bottom line, book early for Jackson during peak tourist season.

The next day after an expensive breakfast, we continued on. We visited one of the visitor centers in the Grand Teton NP. We got to Yellowstone NP and had a picnic lunch at Grant Village with food we bought in Jackson. Then, we joined our tour at Mammoth.

We loved our tour. We went to all the highlights of the park: Mammoth, Norris, Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake, Canyon, Lamar Valley. We learned so much from our Ph.D. lecturer. There is no age limit on becoming a Junior Ranger. I completed the booklet (cost $3) and got a Yellowstone Junior Ranger badge.

I asked our tour bus driver for the quickest route home. He said to go on the interstate. We went out the North Entrance to Gardiner to Livingston to east on I-90 to south I-25. It was pretty much 75 mph all the way with some slow down because of pouring rain or road construction. It took us 13 hours to get to Cheyenne. But we stopped for lunch, coffee/bathroom breaks and a short visit to Little Big Horn Battlefield. Driving on the interstate was less fatiguing that the winding mountain roads on the way in.

Overall, we had a great vacation. Thank you everyone for your responses in helping me plan this trip.

Chun, so glad you had a good trip and a good tour! Isn't it amazing how much you can learn in Yellowstone? Such fun....my favorite place in the US.