It is super easy to get from Jackson to GT! You will have a much better choice of restaurants, too. GT has very limited food option. When we went in 2021, Jenny Lake restaurant was not available to guests not staying there. We forgot our cooler of sandwiches at the hotel in Jackson one day. We had to buy premade sandwiches from the gift shop!
2 Likes
Yah! Eat a few pints for me! 
1 Like
National Parks food is really hit or miss. We had some hilariously bad – yet expensive! – meals in both parks.
2 Likes
I totally agree!
1 Like
We did the float trip with this company. They are 4 & up.
Here’s the gondola ride we did out of Teton Village-
https://www.jacksonhole.com/summer-activities/gondola
ETA- if you just want to rent bear spray vs buy it, there is a company that has locations in both Jackson (on the way north to GTNP) as well as a kiosk in the Canyon Village area of YNP. You can rent from one and return to the other.
3 Likes
Here’s my mini-report for our trip last summer. It might give you an idea of how to split up the various areas of the park (keeping in mind we couldn’t go on the northern loop yet while we were there due to last year’s flooding)-
2 Likes
Thank you for sharing! It popped up when I searched Yellowstone but I didn’t know it was a trip report!
I love the way you drove the trip! DH visited the badlands when he spent some time in ND, and he wants to get us back there someday.
I appreciate seeing how you broke down the trip - I’m sorry the flooding impacted your plans! 
If you ever decide on Acadia, we spent 4 days there in 2022, and it was stunning. We want to go back, but DS4 (was 3) will currently revolt if we make him hike there again - we might have scarred him 
3 Likes
I do have the northeast/Acadia on my list, as well as doing a southwestern national park loop too, but they will have to wait at least until next year for us. We’re really limited on when we can take a family vacation this year due to other summer activities so we’re “just” doing a week at WDW this year!
1 Like
I understand
1 Like
Could you please PM me your itinerary? Acadia is on our horizon. I like working off others’ itineraries.
1 Like
Just sent! 
1 Like
Thank you!
We flew into SLC and spent a night glamping in a Conestoga Wagon in Bear Lake at https://conestogaranch.com/. We added that just to break up the drive but it ended up being awesome.
We spent 2 nights in Jackson at the Ranch Inn. It was fine for us staying out of the park for the Tetons and we appreciated the food options. It was also close to our Snake River Float Trip with Lewis & Clark mentioned above…there weren’t as many options with a younger child but we were happy with them. We did one that included a stop along the river where we ate an included lunch they packed. I figured some food and a break to run around would be helpful for my son!
Then we spent 2 nights in the Roosevelt Cabins in Yellowstone and 2 nights in the Old Faithful Snow Lodge Cabins. We really loved the proximity to Lamar Valley from Roosevelt Cabins (we drove it for sunrise and sunset each day), and we did the Cowboy Cookout which leaves from Roosevelt. The Snow Lodge cabins were the most modern place we stayed on this trip, LOL!
Since we were flying out of SLC we drove back and spent our last night there and went to the Natural History Museum the next day before flying out.
We went to Acadia summer 2021 and it was so rainy and foggy the whole time we saw absolutely no views. It was such a bummer, it looks so beautiful but I have no idea what it actually looks like! It’s about a 6 hour drive for me so maybe someday I’ll go back. It’s so challenging to prioritize limited vacation time and money!
5 Likes
Pictured Rocks has boat rides you can take (my sister took my nieces when they were 1 and 7), as well as a ton of hiking (short and long hikes) with a number of waterfalls (a couple of which are even wheelchair accessible). If you’re there in midsummer then the beaches are a draw as well. Tahquamenon Falls is ~75-90 minutes to the east and that’s also fairly easy to manage, and once you’re there you might as well pop over to Sault St. Marie to see the Soo Locks.
In the other direction from Pictured Rocks about 4 hours drive, are the Porcupine Mountains, where there are more waterfalls and a state park that’s also a cooperating unit with the national park service due to the copper mining history there. Once you get into the Keweenaw peninsula there are historical mine sites to visit as well.
As far as dunes go, I actually like Nordhouse Dunes better than Sleeping Bear. It’s a federally designated wilderness in the Huron-Manistee National Forest about 90 minutes south of Sleeping Bear, far less busy, and more nature-y. I also like the nearby town of Ludington.
3 Likes
My top strong and ranked recommendations for USA National Parks to visit:
- Grand Canyon
- Denali National Park, Alaska
- Zion
- Yosemite
- Yellowstone
- Arches
- Canyonlands
Grand Canyon is my favorite scenic view in the entire world. (I’ll tell you runners up around the world if you wanna know) The ultimate NP trip I think would be the Grand Canyon and Utah “Mighty 5”, combined with others enroute. Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, Capitol Reef, which you could do between 4 and 14 days. It’s unparalleled.
When doing Denali, you’d do other places in Alaska too, and it’s just too big and majestic to accurately describe. (I live here)
Yosemite and Yellowstone earned their reputations with grand majesty. Unfortunately, many parks like these are now OVERFLOWING with tourists. If doing Yellowstone, combine with Grand Tetons
I have quite a bit of travel experience worldwide, happy to dive into any details you like
5 Likes
I don’t know if posting this is allowed. But last fall I did a mega road trip across North America, from Florida to Alaska, hitting lots of these National Parks we’re talking about. A bazillion pictures, loads of info about what to see and do and where I stayed and ate. Includes WDW and Galactic Starcruiser. Journaled every day for 2 months and 12,000 miles of road trip.
Combined other road trips I’ve done the last couple years, linked in my signature in that thread, you can see parks and stuff all over USA, Canada, and Alaska
5 Likes
I would love to see the Grand Canyon! I would HATE to take small kids there
1 Like
Actually, it’s quite do-able. Due to the canyon size and popularity, you can do everything from a drive-up and look out the window, never leaving the car (not recommended), to weeks of off-grid 4-wheeling, hiking, and/or camping. I’m disabled, and if you look at my pics and stuff in that thread, you’ll see I was able to experience SO much. It’d be very manageable with small kids, and the only issue is the drive time to get there, which you’d have with any of these parks, really.
It has been quite a few years ago but I flew into Vegas. We rented a car and drove to the grand canyon. We then went to Flagstaff, Mesa Verde, Arches, Capitol Reef then down to Zion. We stopped for a tour of the Hoover Dam on our way back to the airport
4 Likes
Thanks everyone again! I booked lodging this morning - 2 nights at Old Faithful Inn and 4 nights at Mammoth Hot Springs.
We opted out of Canyon Lodge in case it is snowing when we go in May - so we wouldn’t have as much trouble driving. Although, since Mammoth is still closed from the floods, I have it booked as a backup JIC!
May 2024, here we come!
6 Likes