There is nothing so American as our national parks…..The fundamental idea behind the park is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of lives of all of us.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Yellowstone is the first national park in US and is 2.2 million acres spread across 3 states of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana and has lakes, canyons, rivers, mountains. Apart from being the first national park in US, Yellow stone:

• Contains half the world’s active geysers and active hydrothermal features
• Yellowstone is one of largest high-elevation lakes in North America
• Yellowstone Caldera is the largest super volcano on the continent .

Grand Teton National Park often shadowed by Yellowstone, is only 10 miles (16 km) south of Yellowstone National Park and is connected by John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Much quieter than Yellowstone, we found Grand Tetons to be peaceful and hiker’s paradise with lots of easy, difficult, and moderate hikes with breath-taking views.

Table of content

1. Practical tips
2. Our Itinerary
   1. Day 1, Arrival Jackson Hole, July 3rd, 2022
   2. Day 2, Yellowstone full day- Midway Geyser basin and Upper geyser basin
   3. Day 3, Exploring Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Mammoth hot springs.
   4. Day 4, Check out of the hotel, Norris basin, Artists paint pots, Midway geyser basin and Grand Tetons- Stay at Jackson Lake Lodge
   5. Day 5, Sunrise at Oxbow Bend, Jenny Lake boat ride, Hike to Inspiration Point and Snake River float
   6.  Day 6, Delta Lake Hike and Mormon row with stop at Schwabacher landing
   7. Day 7, Fly back to ATL- Early morning flight from Jackson Hole to Atlanta
3. Where to stay
4. Final thoughts

Practical tips

• Get America the beautiful pass. Check if you are eligible for senior and or veteran discount.
• Download Guide-along app and get Yellowstone and Grand Teton bundle (App is free but you have to pay for the specific park). We used this app for our trip to Banff and it is like having a live guide in your car and will explain lots of things you would otherwise miss
• The wifi or cell service is very spotty and unreliable. Download area map in google maps before hand
• Staying inside the park saves you lots of travel time but can be expensive. We stayed at Canyon Lodge in Yellow stone (Chose it because of its central location) and Jackson Lake Lodge in Tetons.
• Best time to visit is July-August but also busiest. Should months such as June and September are less crowded but check the weather and make sure everything is still open.
• The absolute minimum amount of time to see both Yellowstone and Grand Teton is 3 days: 2 in Yellowstone and Grand Teton can be seen in one day. We did 2.5 days in Yellowstone and 2.5 days in Tetons and found it to be perfect amount of time to cover all the highlights.

Our Itinerary

We had booked our trip for the busiest weekend of the year -around the July 4th holiday. As the fate would have it, in 2022, Yellowstone got historical rain and floods that closed park for almost 3 weeks. We weren’t sure that the park will be open by July 4th but it finally opened the last week of June. Because of the floods, even though we were there during the busiest time of the year, we were lucky to have most of the park not so crowded as most people had cancelled their reservations.

Day 1, Arrival Jackson Hole, July 3rd, 2022

 Drive to Yellowstone – Stay at the Canyon Lodge (Rental car from Jackson hole airport) Driving time -3-5 hours

Jackson Hole airport is the only airport that is within a national park and you get breathtaking views of Tetons as you land in the airport.

Day 2, Yellowstone full day- Midway Geyser basin and Upper geyser basin

 Morning (Start time 8AM)- Drive to Midway Geyser -30-45 min

*Must do-Grand Prismatic Spring-Parking lot is small and gets busy. Early start helps with parking situation.

 Drive to Upper geyser basin- Must do-old faithful and Morning glory pool

• We stopped by Beryl geyser (side of the road) driving from Canyon lodge to midway geyser basin.
• On our return trip, we stopped at the terrace springs. Both these are on the side of the road and turned out to be some of my favorite spots. More about this here

We took afternoon break and had lunch and nap before venturing out towards Yellowstone Lake for dinner and animal viewing. We saw elks, bears, and lots of bison.

Day 3, Exploring Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Mammoth hot springs.

Another early start but the parking lot at the Artist point for Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was empty when we arrived around 7.30 AM. This spot gets very busy as it is iconic point where lots of people gather to take photos and hence, we started from Artist point and drove back towards the north rim drive and finished off north rim drive (one way road) which conveniently ends at Canyon lodge where we were staying. There is a trail that starts at Canyon Lodge and connects to North rim drive.

These are some of the interesting points of North and South Rims of Grand Canyon and it takes about 3-5 hours if you don’t do any hikes and just drive from point to point off the grand loop road. It is an easy-to-follow road with South rim drive and north rim drive that take you all the interesting points.

North Rim:

1. Brink of the Lower Falls: Get up close to the Lower Falls
2. Lookout Point: Another spot to admire the Lower Falls from a different angle.
3. Red Rock Point: Enjoy panoramic views of the canyon and river.
4. Grand View: As the name suggests, this viewpoint offers grand vistas of the canyon.
5. Inspiration Point: Capture stunning photos of the canyon’s rugged beauty.nery.
6. Brink of the Upper Falls: Witness the Upper Falls, a 109-foot waterfall, from this viewpoint.

South Rim:

1. Canyon Overlook (Upper Falls View): Marvel at the Upper Falls from the south rim.
2. Sunset Point: A great spot to enjoy the changing colors during sunset.
3. Artist Point: Perhaps the most famous viewpoint, offering iconic views of the Lower Falls.
4. Point Sublime: A less crowded spot with equally impressive vistas.

Like day 2, we were done by 12 PM and decided to go for lunch and break at the canyon lodge before venturing out to Mammoth Hot springs and Lamar valley for the late afternoon/early evening.

Day 3 Afternoon- Mammoth hot springs and Lamar valley

We started driving towards Mammoth spring around 3 and stopped to watch a bear eating berries not too far away from Canyon lodge. After spending couple of hours at the Mammoth hot springs, we decided to drive through Lamar valley and stopped over at Tower falls.

Day 4, Check out of the hotel, Norris basin, Artists paint pots, Midway geyser basin and Grand Tetons- Stay at Jackson Lake Lodge

Later start compared to day 2 and 3. We started at Artist Paint pots and stopped at Noris Basin and Biscuit basin before heading out to Midway geyser basin to see Grand Prismatic spring from the observation point on Mystic falls trial. This is a half mile hike that is better done around noon time as the colors of Grand Prismatic spring will be much vibrant without the fog.

Pro tip- Biscuit basin is often overlooked and less visited but it has some of the best thermal pools with various colors.

Day 4 Afternoon – We drove to Grand Tetons and checked into Jackson Lake Lodge which has the best views of the Tetons and close to everything. Evening we drove to Signal Mountain to take in the views.

Pro-tip- Take bug and mosquito spray.

Day 5, Sunrise at Oxbow Bend, Jenny Lake boat ride, Hike to Inspiration Point and Snake River float

Sunrise in Grand Tetons is a specular event and there are several spots to see it. Most famous spot includes Schwabacher’s Landing and Oxbow bend. At Schabacker’s Landing, reflection of the Teton Mountains in the still, flat water of the Snake River is majestic, and we were planning to watch sunrise from here. But as we drove towards the place, we crossed Oxbow bend (It’s about 2 miles from Jackson Lake lodge) and decided to watch the sunrise from here instead. No words can describe what we saw, and we watched one of the most spectacular sunrises.

Jenny Lake Boat ride and hike to Inspiration point– good family hike with a boat ride, waterfall, and some spectacular views. Our one and only Moose spotting was on this trail. Takes about 2-4 hours and very popular hike and parking lot gets full by 8AM. The boat ride is first come first serve and during peak summer runs every 10-15 minutes starting at 7AM. Check out timings and other details at Jenny Lake Shuttle boat service webpage . If you want to extend your hike, you can hike around the lake and then go on the trail to Inspiration point and Hidden falls.

Scenic Raft ride on Snake river : We booked this trip through Jackson Lake lodge It is a 10 mile float on the snake river with some animal and bird spotting but overall we found it bit boring but it is a good family activity.

 Day 6, Delta Lake Hike and Mormon row with stop at Schwabacher landing

An early start to ensure parking at the trail head for the delta lake hike at the Lupine Meadow trailhead. Delta Lake is one of the hidden gems of the Grand Tetons, but it is not on the official trail and hence unmarked and unmaintained. This hike is strenuous hike with 8.75 miles of out and back trial which will take about 3-5 hours but really worth it.

Day 6 : Evening- We decided to drive the 42-mile scenic loop and stop at the Schwabacher landing and Mormon row which is another iconic spot for photos

Day 7, Fly back to ATL– Early morning flight from Jackson Hole to Atlanta

Where to stay

There are several options both in Jackson Hole as well as other areas near to each of the entrances. This blog has the best information for best places stay in and around Yellowstone. We decided to stay in Canyon Lodge and Jackson Lake Lodge as both were inside the National Parks and we were fortunate to find spaces in both hotels even though we booked only 3-4 months before our trip. We booked through the official national park lodging site and found that staying inside the park gave us the flexibility and early start times before the park got crowded.

Final thoughts

Yellowstone:

Yellowstone is absolutely must visit for everyone and has something for everyone.

• We found that 2 and 1/2 days was perfect amount of time to spend without feeling hurried
• You can easily spend a week or two in Yellowstone
• If you have only limited amount of time, I recommend spending at least a day and see Upper Geyser basin (Old Faithful), Midway Geyser basin (Grand Prismatic), Grand Canyon, and Artist Paint pots to see the variety of thermal features Yellowstone has to offer.

Grand Tetons:

Often overlooked compared its most famous neighbor Yellowstone, this park was my favorite and is hiker’s paradise. After the crowds of Yellowstone, we liked the slower pace of Grand Tetons and beautiful views. If possible, at least spend couple of days in this park.