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
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!
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!
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.
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
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
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
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!
The views here!
Get up to watch the sun rise behind you and see how it lights up the Tetons.
We stayed at the Rustic Inn for a couple of nights. Easy to walk into town, but also easy to spend time at the resort.
DH has a coworker that lives in MT who regularly goes to Jackson and this is he hotel choice.
We also stayed at Ranch Inn. It was one of two places our tour picked up from. It was less $ and a better location for exploring the square than the other option (which I don’t remember). Rooms were big. (We did a tour through Austin Adventures. They are now picking up Lexington Inn or 49er Inn & Suites, if that helps narrow down choices.)
Most people will watch Old Faithful from the viewing stands. You can get a great unobstructed view just by walking the path a bit to the other side.
In general… take a hike! The Park Service estimates that 98% of Yellowstone tourists never get more than a half mile from their car.
We stayed at Canyon Lodge and Cabins. If you stay here, ask how to find the path to the North Canyon overlook. Go at night. (make noise to scare off bears). Our small group of 7 people were the only people there under a full blanket of stars. It was amazing!
We went a foggy week in 2018. We were able to get some good viewing in overall, but Cadillac Mountain was a bust. Had 2 tours cancelled because of fog. Spent some time with a local family (who we met on our Yellowstone trip). As they were taking us home, the sun was shining so they offered to drive us up. As we started up, the fog started building. By the time we got to the top, you could barely see in front of the car. We laughed so hard.
Beautiful photos! I’m going to have to make it back there to see those views. We walked partway around Jordan Lake and then had lunch at the restaurant and laughed at the photos inside showing us what we were supposed to be seeing!
My current Facebook cover photo was my shot of a similar view in Acadia….some of our best visibility!
