Tips for visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton with kids

Have you ever wondered if the hype of Yellowstone is worth the travel? The answer is YES! These two incredible parks will blow you away with their incredible landscapes, amazing hikes and awesome wildlife. Our first big trip after we moved to Wyoming was to take our kids, under 1 and 5 at the time, to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. We had heard so much about it since the time we moved to Wyoming. This trip taught me so much about travel planning. When planning a trip with children remember less is more. Take more time to do one hike or spend at one area rather than rushing through a bunch of sights. It will cause a lot less stress for everyone involved. Also remember more is more when it comes to packing snacks and layers of clothing. You can never have enough of either when you are planning on exploring all day. We had many ups and downs on the trip, but overall it turned out great. In this post I will highlight tips for traveling to the Parks with kids and how to plan a great itinerary. I will also provide our personal itinerary through the two parks.

Tips for planning your trip

• Always book ahead. Whether you are staying in the park or in the surrounding area, always books your lodging ahead of time. Yellowstone is one of the most visited parks in the United States and often hotels, cabins and campsites are booked months in advance. This is also true of hotels and bnbs.

• Pack for the season you are visiting plus some. The weather can change very quickly in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Both times we have visited there has been a warm mid 60's day and the next day is a snow storm.

• Use the NPS app to find the attractions you want to see and make a route through the park. The NPS app allows you to download a map of Yellowstone and pick your favorite places, making it easy to navigate the park.

• Have a travel plan of "must do's" at the park before you come.

• The parks offer cafeteria style restaurants, so if this isn't your thing you might want to pack a cooler full of snacks and drinks.

• Pack bear spray and know how to use it. The wildlife in the park is amazing, but it is important to know animal safety before you travel. Stay at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves and 25 yards away from all other animals. Every year tourists get injured from getting too close to the wildlife.

Tips for while you are there

• Always be aware of how much gas you have. Yellowstone is huge and you can easily go through a tank of gas while out exploring. There are a limited number of stations in the park.

• Check the Yellowstone app before leaving for the day. There you can find information on road and trail closures of the day. You can also ask a ranger in the park.

• Participate in the Junior Ranger program. This is a great way to get your kids excited about nature and wildlife on your trip. You can pick up a booklet at a visitors center and help them fill it out while exploring for the day. At the end they take an oath to protect the park and receive a park badge. It is very exciting for them.

• Pack snacks! Even if you plan on eating in the park you will want snack throughout the day after the many walks and hikes you are doing.

• Rent a telephoto lens in Jackson or West Yellowstone. They have daily and weekly rentals for many brands and types of cameras if you are wanting to capture wildlife in a safe way. I rented a lens for 2 days from West Yellowstone for under $100.

• See a long line of cars pulled over? Stop and ask what they see. A line of cars usually means wildlife is just in sight of the car. Get out your binoculars and enjoy.

• If you are traveling with young kids, pack a travel urinal. I cannot tell you how many times this little device has saved us from meltdowns and accidents.

Itinerary

Day 1- Since we live in Wyoming, our first day was mostly driving. It took us about 7 hours to drive to Grand Teton National Park from Laramie Wyoming. Directions might say 5 1/2 - 6 hours, but with children there will be a couple of stretching and potty breaks needed. We checked into our hotel and had a great dinner from Thai Plate in downtown Jackson. After dinner we drove to the park for evening wildlife viewing.

Day 2- We woke up early to catch the first boat from Jenny Lake to the Hidden Falls hiking trail. We went in the end of May and this trail was still covered in a foot of snow. This trail is very busy and very messy before the snow melts.

The Crowd at Inspiration Point

We continued the hike on to Inspiration Point where we rested and ate a packed lunch. We tried to make it further up into Cascade Canyon, but at a certain point we just had to turn around because the snow was too high for the kids to continue on. This was our first clue that you cannot over plan adventures when you have kids. When we got back to the car we drove the entire Teton loop stopping to take photos of wildlife and amazing views. We went back to Jackson and had the best pizza of my life from Hand Fire Pizza. I still think about it sometimes.

Day 3- We drove through Grand Teton National Park to Yellowstone. Our first scenic stop in Yellowstone was at Moose Falls. The falls are right by the road and have a short steep hike down for a closer look. The hike is manageable for a 5 year old with help.

We also stopped to see Lewis Falls before heading to Old Faithful. Unfortunately for us we had just missed the eruption and waited for 40 minutes in the rain to see her blow.

After Old Faithful, we headed to Biscuit Basin to walk to the boardwalks and see the thermal pools and geysers. This is when the weather turned on us. Yikes! Our plan was to stay in an Air BNB in nearby Idaho, but the roads were shut down for hours so we had to turn around and find one of the last remaining rooms in West Yellowstone.

Day 4- Bison Jam! We were lucky enough to get caught and a huge bison jam. There were hundreds of bison on or surrounding the road.

We then headed to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. Not only was it beautiful and easy to walk around, there were a ton of elk right beside the boardwalk grazing and napping. We then took our time driving through the Hayden Valley where we saw a pack of wolves very far off in the distance.

The last stop of day 4 was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. What a sight! The waterfalls are stunning and the distance from car to overlooks is very close. On our way out of the park we saw a momma grizzly with two cubs right beside the road.

Day 5- By day 5 we were starting to feel run down from all the time in the car with the kids and the unexpected snowstorm so we took it a lot easier this day. We started at the Norris Geyser Basin and did a nice long hike to see all springs and geysers. We then headed to Grand Prismatic Spring, but the weather was so bad all we saw was steam. Sometimes you just have to laugh when these small disasters occur. So we headed back to our Air BNB with some food from town and relaxed before our big drive home the next day.

Must See

• Jenny Lake

• Hidden Falls

• Mormon Row

• Old Faithful and Visitors Center

• The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

• The Junior Ranger Program

In Grand Tetons the highlight of the trip were the amazing overlooks by the lakes and Hidden Falls. My son really enjoyed the boat ride across Jenny Lake and participating in the Junior Ranger Program. In Yellowstone you can't miss the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Old Faithful. I would say everyone enjoyed the wildlife spotting. Most of the time it is easy to to spot wildlife because a line of cars will be pulled over on the side of the road. My husband happens to have a great eye for spotting animals so we ended up starting a few of these back-ups ourselves.

Best time and Where to go

Both of the parks have so much to offer in any season. We went in the end of May and it was great because there were less people than summer, but there was inclement weather that shut down roads in Yellowstone making it impossible to see all the areas. Summer has beautiful weather and a lot of tourists. The parking lots around the park are small and can become full very early in the day.

Grand Teton in the Fall

We have also visited Grand Teton in the fall and it was a great time to see the mountains with a lot less visitors. The weather was still very nice and the colors were incredible with all the aspens glowing yellow. I would say evening is the best time of day to be in the park. A lot of people are leaving the park at that point and the wildlife is coming out.

Where to stay

Both parks offer camping and cabins in the park which you can reserve through the Recreation.gov app. I recommend looking quite early in the season if you want either of these options. Yellowstone also offers hotels within the park. There are different locations throughout the park and they also need to be reserved in advance. The closest town to the park is West Yellowstone. There are many accomodations to be found in this small town. Our family rented a very nice A-frame cabin for our stay close by in Idaho. It was a nice option to get away from town and have our own space. Our daughter was under 1 at the time of the trip and still not sleeping soundly through the night. The cabin gave us peace of mind that she was not keeping other guests up at night.

Wildlife Photography

Do you want to photograph wildlife but don't have the means to buy a huge telephoto lens before you go on vacation? Do not worry because there are two locations outside the parks to rent lenses that will attach to your camera body to allow for the perfect nature photography experience. I was able to rent a lens for 2 days from The Yellowstone Photography store. They do have seasonal hours and closures so look them up before you visit.