One of my favorite ways to see the national parks is with GyPSy Guide. Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming: Road Trip Stops on the Yellowstone Loop Check Grand Teton sunrise times the night before and plan to arrive at Mormon Row at the start of civil twilight with camera in hand. Is the drive from Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole pretty? Road Trips to Yellowstone and the Best Stops On the Way flying into West Yellowstone or Jackson Hole Airport. A road trip to Yellowstone isn't just about the destination. Day 7 Explore Mammoth Hot Springs. Head back to the car and drive to Grand Prismatic Spring parking lot to explore Midway Geyser Basin. Take things easy in town or head out for a hike. Across the border in Idaho, Fort Hall offers a glimpse into the culture of the Shoshone-Bannock tribes. Need help! The third day is when your Salt Lake City to Yellowstone road trip bursts into life. The distance from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone National Park is 320 miles via I-15 N. The drive takes roughly 5 hours to reach Yellowstone from Salt Lake City International Airport. Our top recommendation is to search for vehicle prices with Rental Cars and compare prices with Discover Cars. Day 8 Spend the day revisiting any of your favorite spots in Yellowstone. Stay at one of the convenient airport hotels such as Tru by Hiltonor Spring Hill Suites. How Long Do I Need Driving from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone? Heres how we might plan a 5 day road trip: Day 1 Drive straight from SLC airport to Jackson. Who knows, this may become one of your all time favorite road trips too! Route Suggestions: Salt Lake City to West Yellowstone, or Salt Lake Salt Lake City to Yellowstone Guide. 6 Amazing Places on the Other Side of the Tetons Hi Joan, it isn't as bad as it sounds, you can still easily see the best of both Grand Teton and Yellowstone in this time frame. We're Mark and Kristen Morgan, former career scientists turned travel, hiking and photography experts after an 18 month honeymoon around the world forever changed our lives. 2 years ago. Next, drive through the center of Yellowstone Loop road to Canyon. 2 Days in Yellowstone A 10 Day Salt Lake to Yellowstone Itinerary - Quiltripping We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. 3-Day Road Trip with Kids from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone Summer Fun Starts at Snow King Mountain Resort to browse flights and find the best price. Lastly, Salt Lake City itself is well worth a visit if you have the time. Sleep in Jackson or Moran. Its a self-guided audio tour that shares stories, local tips & directions. Read our popular guide listing the best places to stay in Yellowstone both inside and outside the park to help you figure out the most challenging part of planning this road trip. Input Salt Lake City and your travel dates to see your options. You also have a better range of hotel prices in West Yellowstone. If you click on one, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The speed, the sun, the wind, the fantasy of never looking back, and the sheer diversity of . This route is 321 miles and 4 hours 45 minutes, one way. Its truly a sight to see! But if you have an afternoon flight we recommend you drive south past Norris Geyser Basin before leaving the park via West Yellowstone. Or you can fly into the much more expensive, yet scenic Jackson Hole airport. Hi Roopa, right now we don't have a pdf version but we are currently working on creating pdf guidebook itineraries for all our popular road trip guides. Also, keep an eye out for ultra-photogenic Star Valley Mormon Temple as you drive through Afton. It would. If you're flying, you can fly into Salt Lake City and enjoy a 5-hour drive to Grand Teton National Park. There are plenty of interesting and smelly geysers here but it is only a quick stop. With 6 days you wont have to compromise as much and you will still have enough time for both parks. If Idaho makes you think potatoes, stop in Blackfoot to learn everything there is to know about this humble tuber. Spend an hour walking around Abyss Pool, Black Pool, Big Cone Geyser, Fishing Cone and various other colorful hot springs located in West Thumb. If you get a good sunrise the waterfall, canyon and sky will light up with stunning browns, blues, greens, pinks and purples. Bison on Antelope Island in Great Salt Lake. Dont Forget to Save This Post on Pinterest, 7 Day Grand Teton and Yellowstone Itinerary, Yellowstone Itinerary: How to Spend 1 to 5 Days, When is the Best Time to Visit Yellowstone. Instead of driving all the way from Jackson through Grand Teton to reach Yellowstone south entrance, you could instead leave from a hotel near Moran (the area north of Grand Teton) and drive straight to south entrance. Native Americans hunted, fished and gathered plants in the park. Day 1 - Minot, ND to Grand Junction, CO. Day 2 - Grand Junction, CO to Monument Valley/Grand Canyon area. Jackson Hole is a world-famous ski town and the gateway to Grand Teton National Park. We have visited Yellowstone on separate occasions and we have helped thousands of first time visitors plan trips to this region through our various Wyoming travel guides. If you choose to spend a day in downtown SLC there are plenty of hotel options available. 7 Sights at West Yellowstone The only road currently closed that will impact a typical Yellowstone visit is the road between Tower-Roosevelt and Cooke City, that means you won't be able to go out into Lamar Valley which is one of the best places for spotting wildlife in the park. Day 6 Spend the morning revisiting any of your favorite Yellowstone spots before driving back to SLC airport. US-89 transitions into US-191 N and not long after you will arrive into Jackson, Wyoming. Youll end your driving day in Jackson, Wyoming. Spend the afternoon and evening exploring downtown Jackson, drop into a saloon-style bar for a beer and grab an awesome pizza at Hand Fire Pizzainside a converted theater. Is a Day Trip to Yellowstone from Salt Lake City Possible? You can read our guides to visiting Yellowstone in April and visiting Yellowstone in October if planning your trip for early spring or late falls. Head back to US-191, turn right and not long after take a left on Schwabachers Landing road. Like Afton, Jackson has its elk antler arches surrounding the town square. Follow Teton park road as far as Chapel of the Transfiguration. This side of the Tetons is home to uncrowded trails, hot springs soaks and more. Day 3 - Morning in Grand Teton, then drive to Old Faithful via West Thumb, exploring all of Upper Geyser Basin once arriving at Old Faithful. Is Salt Lake City near Yellowstone National Park? 9 Uncrowded Gems in Southern Idaho The 830-mile road trip from Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon will take 14 hours to drive. Get a Potato Selfie at the Idaho Potato Museum Sign up below to get a free copy of my 28-page national park ebook to help you plan your upcoming national park trip! Read More: 15 Best Hikes in Yellowstone National Park, If you want to learn more about Yellowstone National Park, check out these posts! However, we will also explain how to drive this road trip route in less and more time later in the guide. We are planning on doing this in September. Heres how we might plan a 9 day itinerary: Day 1 Spend the day in Salt Lake City. Sugar City to Jackson 1.5 hours. You can either stay at hotels, lodges and cabins inside the park boundaries or you can stay in resort villages right outside the park boundaries. Hi Matt, thanks for getting in touch and we're happy to hear you are following our itinerary. February 17, 2022. The smaller size of Teton allows you to really see and do everything in a day or two, depending on how long you spend taking photographs of the sheer beauty inside the park. The town of West Yellowstone, located just outside the West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, is a year-round, family-friendly destination. We have spent a night at both a Mammoth Hot Springs cabin and a Canyon Village hotel room. But heres why SLC is a great place to begin your road trip to Yellowstone: Lets take a closer look at each of these points. Stop at Lookout Point for amazing views into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Lower Falls crashing into the Yellowstone River. If possible, we would suggest you try to book your third night at any of the Old Faithful Lodges. The shore of this brilliant blue lake is an excellent spot for a picnic lunch. Feels like 33.51 Wind speed 8.6 mph Pressure 1025 hPa. We saw a moose and an otter playing on ice here. In this guide, Im sharing the best road trip from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone and Grand Teton, including: Are you looking for more ideas for your trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton? The City Lastly, Salt Lake City itself is well worth a visit if you have the time. 9 days: fly into Cody. Drive further south into Hayden Valley for the first of your major Yellowstone wildlife spotting experiences. Day 6 Explore Norris Geyser Basin, then visit Lower Falls and Hayden Valley. If you're planning a road trip to Salt Lake City, you can research locations to stop along the way. Before planning your trip to Salt Lake City road trip, there are a few things you should know. Best car for this trip: SUV. Salt Lake City is the largest city and capital of Utah. As a side note, this is one of the most popular sunset locations in Yellowstone. Use the morning to revisit any of the areas in Grand Teton you liked the most, such as Jenny Lake or Oxbow Bend. With mountain biking, hiking, climbing, OHV opportunities, climbing, and rafting, there's no shortage of things to do. There are several benefits of starting your Yellowstone and Grand Teton road trip in Salt Lake City, including: All that said, if youre looking to minimize your driving time, flying into Salt Lake City isnt the best option for you. We try to incorporate each place with what we think is the right amount of time, but you may have entirely different goals. Known for: Gateway to Yellowstone National Park. Then, on the return trip to Salt Lake City, take the fastest way back through Idaho Falls. These towns provide hotel options along the route from Salt Lake City to Grand Teton National Park. Yellowstone is a different beast altogether when it comes to booking your accommodation. www.outdoorsy.com. Scroll around, zoom in and out, look for clustering of colored icons representing each day on the road trip and see the corresponding day in the left column. The Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel offers a spa, a gift shop selling Shoshone-Bannock crafts and a place to watch your favorite sports team. Assuming you stayed in Jackson on night 3, begin your fourth day with another sunrise but this time head straight to Schwabacher Landing to get there before the sun rises. With just 3 days you will be rushing to tick off attractions and we think 5 days is only necessary for visitors who wish to move slowly through the park. If not adapt the itinerary below to fit your plans. Photo: Tom Gainor / Unsplash. The next closest is Yellowstone south entrance, which is 340 miles and would take around 6 hours and 10 minutes to drive. A longer but more scenic drive from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone is about 400 miles along Highway 89 / Highway 26, taking in more of the highlights of Wyoming and Idaho. What other options can you recommend to replace the Mammoth Lodge? Day 12 - Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. Solitude Float Trips Basecamp in Idaho Falls, two hours from Yellowstone and Grand Teton, with direct flights from across the country. Many visitors to Yellowstone choose to stay for 2, 3 or 4 nights exclusively in West Yellowstone which does work well enough but it also means a lot of driving. The night of Day 5 is the one night we recommend you book into a hotel, lodge, cabin or even campground at Canyon Village. While it is less scenic than the route from Jackson Hole to Salt Lake City, the faster, direct route saves time and allows you to see new places. Here are the top seven ways to avoid the parks crowds and see the best of the area. Surrounded by the Wasatch Mountains at over 4,000 ft high with incredible skiing opportunities and an array of national parks within a stones throw, Salt Lake City is an outdoor enthusiasts dream come true. The easiest option would simply be to cut out the day in Salt Lake City and pick up the full itinerary above on Day 2. The scenic drive cuts through jagged limestone rock formations along the Logan River as you pass through the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Yellowstone National Park is Americas oldest national park and the 2nd largest park in the Lower 48. GyPSy Guide Yellowstone and Grand Teton Tour App Driving through Yellowstone and Grand Teton is easily one of the best USA road trips, but first you have to get to northwest Wyoming. This makes Grand Teton and Yellowstone accessible to millions of potential tourists. These two places have the better locations for accessing other parts of the park, and they have plenty of places to eat. Get an early start in SLC, set your Google Maps for Idaho State Park North Beach and hit I-15 N. Turn onto US-89 N and enjoy the winding scenic drive through Logan Canyon to the town of Garden City on Bear Lake. Catch a glimpse into pioneer living, enjoy live theater performances and stroll a charming downtown with a stop in Logan. On the way back, stop at Upper Falls View and Uncle Toms Trail if it is open. The 320-mile road trip from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone National Park takes 4 hours and 30 minutes to drive. Floating the Portneuf River through the city of Lava Hot Springs. Hi! Head into Wyoming where youll find summer fun at Snow King Resort before exploring Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. It's a 5.5 to 6 hour drive depending on stops and how heavy your foot is on the gas pedal.