Originally Posted by
StantonHyde
Early June is a crap shoot--could snow. The end of August can get rainy--or it can be really smoky due to wildfires. I would advise going in June and staying in the cabins. At this point, you will have to take any lodging you can get--but book it whatever it is that will hold 6 people!!. Then, start calling back every few days starting in March to see if there are cancellations. Happens all the time that there are and people are able to rearrange things for the better. This will be a big chunk of money, but totally worth it!!! Once you have lodging, then you can plan what you will see when. So get that and then come back to tell us what you have reserved.
Because everything else to do in that park is free. So that just leaves food. You could easily bring a cooler with you. Stop off in Rexburg or West Yellowstone to get groceries for breakfast and lunches and snacks. You can top off at the Hamilton stores inside of Yellowstone but this way you have the bulk of your stuff purchased. Cheap eats for dinner--the cafeteria service in the lodges or the Hamilton Store grill food is cheap.
8 days is a long time for the park. You really don't need that long. You could see a LOT in 5 days. And then take the 3 extra days to explore the Tetons. Maybe see the Tetons for 2 days and then splurge on a whitewater rafting trip on the Snake River?? You could stay in the cabins at Dornans lodge--they are reasonable and right at the south entrance to GTNP.
Things to do--review the trip link I sent you. We didn't do long hikes. Just some short ones. There is so much to see walking around the geyser basins or in the Hayden Valley or looking for wolves. All of the main places have spectacular visitor centers where you learn so much and they are really cool. Just lots to see--geysers, waterfalls, ranger talks, star gazing, look for wolves in the Lamar Valley, etc etc. Check out the nps.gov website for Yellowstone. See if you can find the park newspaper for summer 2021--maybe not. But it will tell you everything you need to know. You can also check out the Plan your visit tab on that website. And it will tell you all about every place to eat, things to see, hikes ranked by difficulty and length, etc. etc.