ramangouda

Hi,
I am travelling with my elderly parent arriving Aug 29th evening and leaving Sept 7 morning in and out of Bozeman, MT. Strenuous hiking is out of scope but I would like to cover as much ground as drive-able. I plan to go :
Place Date
Glacier NP Aug 30th and Aug 31st.
Yellowstone NP Sept 1st, 2nd,3rd

Lodgings are completed for the above 5 nights at the NP. My question was- I have Sept 4th,5th,6th available. Should I be visiting Grand Teton, Jenny Lake on the remaining days or spend more time in YNP or GLNP ? Also is Craters of the Moon NP a good place or is it passable ?
Are there any other places that I should not be missing along the way ? I would be more interested in enjoying landscapes than doing a lot of hiking. We can walk around for an hour or two at max. Appreciate any input/ help.

thanks

Myer

Exactly where do you have lodging and which nights?

How mobile is the parent? I'm not sure what elderly is.

tomfuller

Since you are already there in Yellowstone, add 2 more nights in another lodging in the park. One of your other days could be to drive south to see part of the Grand Teton NP but go back to Yellowstone for the night. You can easily spend a week in Yellowstone without seeing everything IMO.
I would not go to Craters of the Moon in exchange for another night in Yellowstone.

ramangouda

I have lodgings on 30th and 31st Aug inside glacier national park in one of the cabins and 1,2,3 Sept inside YNP at various different cabins/inns.. My parent,61 years of age, can easily walk easy trails, but cannot hike a medium or harder trail.
As we would not be doing any/much hiking, I wanted to check if any nearby options to Yellowstone national park that I can visit as well.

Thanks

sludick

I'd add in the Tetons (Jenny Lake is there too). You'll have several lodging options - Signal Mountain is popular, and Jenny Lake Lodge would be very nice although pricey. You can take some time to visit the town of Jackson, too, but I wouldn't stay in town and drive back to GT.

Myer

You are being very vague. In Glacier, which cabins? The west side, Rising Sun, Swiftcurrent in Many Glacier?

I would make suggestions if I knew where you're going.

ramangouda

Apologies. I have 2 nights stay at rising sun in glacier. At YNP I have 1&2 at canyon lodge and 3 at old faithful inn.

Myer

Ok. You have good locations.

In YNP you could take a nice walk thru much of the Geyser Basin. Old Faithful is right near the lodging. You could also go to Grand Prismatic Spring.

In Canyon you'll have a bit of an issue. You'll be able to park at most of the viewpoints and walk from the car. However, some of the hikes are probably a bit much.

In Glacier, drive over to Logan Pass (depending upon the number of people you may want to get there reasonably early as the parking lot fills) and start walking the Hidden Lake Overlook hike. You don't have to do the whole thing or even more than 15-20 minutes as the scenery starts immediately upon leaving the back of the visitors center.

You can also stop at some of the viewpoints along GTTS Road.

What I would also do one evening is drive to Many Glacier. Get there about 1.5 - 2 hours before sunset. Drive to the end of the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn parking lot. Then start the Swiftcurrent Pass hike.

The part you'll be doing is a level walk in the woods.

After about 10-15 minutes you'll see a fairly small sign on the left side of the trail pointing left that says "Fishercap Lake". Walk over to the lake.

This is wildlife central. Invariably you'll see moose and or deer in and around the lake eating.

Take a look at a map of Many Glacier. You'll get an idea where Swiftcurrent Motor Inn is in relation to Many Glacier Hotel.

Stop by the hotel and sit on the back deck. Excellent scenery views. You can also have a drink while watching.

tomfuller

See if you can get reservation at Mammoth for the 5th and or the 6th. If you can't, try for something in Gardiner.
In the early evening there are a lot of elk wandering around Mammoth. I even met one coming across the bridge in Gardiner last August.

monpetit

In Glacier, from Rising Sun :
- drive early to Logan pass and hike hidden lake overlook(on a wood path but nice overlook, lot of mountain goats), and/or the beginning of highline trails if you are not affraid by the high...(ask to Myer..), then another "fly" and drive to Avalanche lake and it's an easy hike to the lake.So you have a whole day with a lot to see and some easy hikes.
- the 2nd day, two medecine section with hike to twin falls or upper two medicine lake, or Rockfalls. Chance to see some mooses. the two medecien have also an option of boat cruise and the site is stupendous.
- finally if a 3rd day is possible, Many Glacier area as written by Myer and/or Iceberg lk trail easy but heavy traffic or the beginning of swiftcurrent pass trail, till bullhead lake : fishercap man lk, red rock lake and falls, bull head laek.
For the youngest the short but steep hike to Apikunni falls worth the effort.
If yoy have only 2 days I would do day 1 on GTTSR and 2nd at Many glacier.

This is at minimum a half day between GNP and Yellowstone.
The hikes in Yellowstione are easier but T° is warmer...
Lone Star is flat and you have chance to see the eruption...
Shoshone lake is also a nice hike
But our favorites are Slough creek in the NE part(chance to see bears++,relatively flat)and Pelican valley(buffalos+++, bears, elks)...
Evidently all the geysers hikes worth to be hiked.

I will try to have a night more in Yellowstone and after 2 in Grand teton(the signal moutioan lodfge is an excellent option...).
There are some easy hikes here-I've made a respons to Myer in a recent post.
Erik

spirobulldog

Might consider a boat ride or two(since you don't want to hike that much). Also might consider Red Bus Tour and even taking a Red Bus Tour to Canada and doing the Afternoon Tea at the lodge there.

ramangouda

Thank you for the responses. Have a dilemma about lodging.
1. I have managed to get lodgings at all three of Rising Sun and Swift Current Motor INN and Lake McDonald for 30th and 31st August. Which would be better options to finalize ? I have heard the Many glacier(SwiftCurrent is closer) is more beautiful than the west side of the park. Also would 3 days 2 nights be a good enough time at Glacier or should I spend an additional day at Glacier ?

2. I have a choice of Lodging in YNP at Lake Lodge and Old Faithful INN/Lodge from September 2 through 5th. Which of these would be a better option to choose? Also can I cover Grand Teton, Jenny Lake in one day if I start from Old Faithful INN(early morning till sun down)

Myer

My opinion.
In Glacier I'm not a fan of the west side. I was very disappointed.

In Many Glacier you can take the scenic walk around the lake, relax on the back deck of the Many Glacier Hotel that's only a couple of minutes drive from Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and then bring a folding chair with and go to Fishercap Lake as I mentioned above for the evening wildlife "show".

For your time a lot depends upon how mobile your "elderly" parent is.

In YNP I would go for Old Faithful area. Except for the 5 predicted geysers just wandering around the Upper Geyser Basin at different times of the day have a different look. Again, I don't know the energy level not the level of mobility of your elderly parent.

I'm 70. Am I elderly? I can hike all day.

monpetit

Swiftcurrent is really magic, at the end of the road.
Option for dining : the italian restaurant with an enhanced menu this year and service more than sympathic.
Or the Ptarmigan room at Many Glacier hotel , very fine diner, sometime 30-40 mn to wait but drinks possible with view...
The advantage of Rising Sun is to be more central but Many Glacier to St Mary is only 25-30 mn drive with chance to see wildlife(we saw 2 grizzlies this year).
At St Mary, the Park grill is to test for their pies(razleberries or huckleberries...).
In MGlacier for the one who are in good condition,, Cracker Lake is a must and this year there are 3 bullmooses which are "resident" and so it´s an attraction...
From Many Glacier you can keep my suggestion to an escapade to West part for awhole day but with an early departure : Hidden laake overlook or beginning of Highline, then GTTS road and hike Avalanche lake and back.
The 2 others days in Many Glacier.
In Yellowstone at the Lake if Lake Yellowstone hotel, i preferred to stay at Old Faithfull area..
If Lake Yellowstone cabin, the motel units it will be my choice : spacious, clean and quiet...no surrounding guests...no rooms upper or under!!!
Don't forget that the road system is a loop and so wherever you sleep you will have some nearby attractions and other with more miles...
I will not do the drive to Grand Teton : traffic is usually heavy ...
Erik

ramangouda

Hello,
Just a summary report on how the trip went.
Aug 30,31 Sept 1,2 at Glacier. Covered Many Glacier, Two Medicine, Swift Current, Lake McDonald. We did a few good hikes as well - Grinnell Lake (with Boat ride),Virginia Falls, Red Rock, Hidden Lake Overlook, Avalanche Lake..
Logan Pass and GTTSR was just so amazing.. We also did get to see a lot of wildlife : bear(5 times), big horn sheep, dozens of mountain goats, couple of marmot. Glacier was really amazing!
Drove back to Helena on the evening of Sept 2nd.. On the way we say hoards of moose midway on US-200.
Drove to East side Yellowstone on the 3rd morning. 3rd night at old faithful, 4th and 5th at lake lodge. We drove to Jenny Lake and did the hidden falls trail on the 5th morning. Covered most of the geysers, falls and got great wildlife views : a dozen pronghorns, bighorn sheep, lots of deer including a few new born calves, and 2 wolves!!!
We drove to Bozeman on the 6th night and were lucky enough to witness the ascent of 4 sheep up a steep cliff face.

Overall it was such a fulfilling experience. Many thanks to all the suggestions provided on this forum!

Regards,
Raman

Myer

Good job!!!!

I guess "elderly" doesn't mean "can't do anything".

I wonder if you could list where you saw the wildlife and what you saw in each place.

Glad to see you did well.

tomfuller

Be glad that you drove GTTS when you did. It snowed there earlier this week.
I also saw that it snowed at Mt. Rushmore in the same early storm.

spirobulldog

Sounds like you saw a lot and got lucky with a lot of wildlife.

rjasnumberonefan

You saw bear 5 times and still went on hikes?! Yikes! I think after the first one I'd chicken out. We saw grizzlies in both Teton and Yellowstone this Spring. By the time we got to Glacier there was no way I could talk my daughter into hiking anywhere. I wanted to do the trail behind Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge

ramangouda

Yeah we managed to do a lot of hiking..
At GNP, we saw 2 bears at foothills of Mt Grinnell, one a little higher up, saw another black one at Avalanche lake at the end of hike.. and another bear and bighorn sheep while going eastwards on GTTSR just before Weeping Wall(dusk time)..
Most of the mountain goats and marmot were nearabout Logan pass and Hidden Lake Overlook trail..
At YNP, the wolves were sighted in Lamar Valley just before Pebble Creek campground (I heard there is a pack there which comes out regularly), pronghorn in Lamar too..
GTTSR was exceptionally beautiful, I missed Trail Ridge Road last fall due to the government shutdown of national parks. It would have been terrible to miss GTTSR Wanna go back again to do some of the longer hikes the next time

cheers!