Yellowstone, take 2! We had a lovely vacay planned for last year but that didn't work out. We're going to try again in a few weeks!
Would love to have any Yellowstone experts give their advice about our itinerary? We already have our lodging planned out. We have one day where we start in Idaho Falls, then we have two nights in Gardiner, MT. Finally we have two night sin Jackson, WY to explore the Grand Tetons.
My thoughts were:
Day 1: Leave Idaho Falls, travel through West Entrance, visit Old Faithful and the Geyser basins. We might have time for more? We stay in Gardiner MT that night. Not sure what else we could or should fit in there? We plan to leave fairly early in the morning from Idaho Falls so we have a "full day" except we must check in before 8pm at our location in Gardiner.
Day 2: Leave Gardiner and travel to the Lamar Valley. This is a major destination as several of my kids' top priority is seeing wildlife. I'm not sure which way to drive or what else to add there. For example, I need to research because apparently there is a scenic side drive along the north road but I can't seem to find which way it runs? The map seems to look like we could possibly visit Yellowstone Canyon and waterfalls that day? We'd like to do that at some point. We stay again in Gardiner, MT.
Day 3: Leave Gardiner and travel down to Hayden Valley and to Yellowstone Lake and out the park via the South Entrance on the way to Jackson, WY. We stay that night in Jackson.
I think my kids would like all kinds of geological features--mud volcanoes, hot springs, etc. Like I'd love to visit Mammoth Hot Springs and we're staying near them but I'm not sure which day to add that to? (We'll be passing by like 5 times.)
I think our greatest priorities are major geological features (geyser basins), wildlife (Lamar and Hayden valleys), and I'd really like to see Yellowstone Canyon and the falls as those have been highly recommended!
Any advice would be much appreciated? Also, do you guys have recommendations for food in Gardiner or Jackson? And what is your strategy inside the park? I'm imagining that we'd bring lunch and snacks with us. Wondering if you had any nice hacks for that?
Finally, what do you wear in the park? Are there lots of bugs? Is it super hot? Do you need to wear clothes that can get muddy/dirty or are sundresses ok? Are hiking boots a must?
TIA!