Taking our Savannah born-and-bred kids (ages 10 & 8) to Yellowstone National Park for about a week during May 2017 was one of our best family trips yet.
Not only did these Southern flatlanders experience snow in May and conquer mountains, they also packed their wildlife log with wildlife sightings including a grizzly bear and her cub, wolves, bighorn sheep, bison, proghorn, white pelicans, sandhill crane, a trumpeter swan, mule deer, moose and more.
Here’s this mom’s list of things to do when visiting the world’s oldest national park (established in 1872) with kids.
Free national park pass. If you’re traveling with a fourth grader, be sure to obtain your free national park pass before your trip through The Every Kid in a Park program. The program gives every U.S. 4th grader and his or her family free access to 2000+ federally managed parks, lands and waters. This program begins Sept. 1 of your fourth grade year and runs until Aug. 31 of that year. Learn more here.
Grand Teton National Park. Do not miss this smaller, but equally as stunning national park just south of Yellowstone and just north of Jackson, Wyoming. We stayed inside the park at Signal Mountain Lodge and loved it for its view of Jackson Lake and the Tetons; the close proximity of the lodge’s restaurant for a breakfast overlooking Jackson Lake before taking off to a hike (we suggest Taggart Lake loop hike); but especially for the scenic float trip along a 10-mile stretch of the Snake River. Book your float trip when making your Signal Mountain Lodge reservation, as these trips fill up quickly. Age minimum is 6 years old. Float trip details here.
Old Faithful Inn. Staying at accommodations inside Yellowstone is pricey. Which is why we we only spent one night actually inside the park. I am so jazzed that one night was spent at Old Faithful Inn. The towering lobby of this national historic landmark is pure entertainment. We spent an evening in the lobby listening to live music and slipping out onto the balcony to catch the regular Old Faithful eruptions. The beauty of this inn makes you feel quite guilty bemoaning the inn’s very purposeful, get-off-your-screens lack of Internet. When walking the Upper Geyser area near the Inn, be sure to take the Observation Point Trail option to Solitary Geyser for dreamy views.
White-Water Rafting. My kids took their first whirl at white-water rafting on the Yellowstone River and fell in love with it thanks to Flying Pig Adventure Company in Gardiner, Montana. This rafting outfit is near the north gate to Yellowstone, which you need to visit anyway if you want to see the Roosevelt Arch. The hip young, energetic crew at Flying Pig put young first-time rafters at ease and make parents wish they, too, had been river guides in our early 20s. Maybe, just maybe, if the water is cold enough, you’ll forget all about the fact that you’re wearing an incredibly unflattering wet suit. In public. During daylight. While sober. (But maybe if your trip is during warmer weather, you don’t need to wear a wet suit. I was too worried about falling overboard to ask.) During our eight-mile trip on class II and III rapids, there was just enough splashing and paddling to make it suitable for even young, novice rafters but still exciting. Our guide shared details about landmarks we passed including Electric Peak and even offered the opportunity to jump in and swim at the end.
Lamar Valley. It is easy to skip this remote, wildlife-packed northeast corner of Yellowstone for the more convenient, well-traveled areas touted in your tour books. But if your kids want to see wildlife, Lamar Valley is a must. Bring boxed lunches from Old Faithful Inn or, if you are coming from West Yellowstone, boxed lunches from Ernie’s Bakery & Deli then take a picnic hike in Lamar Valley. (Don’t forget your bear spray!) We loved Trout Lake hike and Specimen Ridge/Yellowstone River Picnic Area hike along the Narrows of the Yellowstone River. For wolf watching, head to Slough Creek Road, where avid wolf-watchers set up scopes on known wolf dens and are happy to let you take a peek. If you want to stay near Lamar Valley, we liked Silver Gate Cabins – just outside the northeast gate before Cooke City, Montana – and The Log Cabin Cafe for breakfast, unforgettable pumpkin bread and boxed lunches. (The cafe also has cabins where you can stay.)
Junior Ranger: Stop by visitors’ centers in both Grand Teton and Yellowstone to pick up Junior Ranger packets for your kids to complete so they can be sworn in at the visitors’ centers to become Junior Rangers in each park and collect their Junior Ranger badges/keepsakes from each park. Grand Teton’s badge actually smells like campfire – a first in our junior ranger collection.
Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. If you stay in West Yellowstone, Montana (we liked the convenience of The Three Bear Lodge although the new Explorer Cabins also looked enticing) and have time, be sure to check out the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. The small, not-for-profit center gives you a chance to watch grizzly bears and gray wolves that are at the center because they are unable to survive in the wild, usually due to human involvement. Sign up your kids early for the popular Keeper Kids program (designed for ages 5-12). During the program – which teaches kids about grizzly bear eating habits – kids will accompany the naturalist into the bear habitat to hide food for the bears. After the food is hidden, they can see first-hand how bears use their sense of smell to search out the food they had hidden. Learn more about the center here. We broke up our visit with a refreshing, short lunchtime bike ride from West Yellowstone along Riverside Trail nordic ski trails into Yellowstone National Park. We rented mountain bikes and got trail maps and tips from the incredibly welcoming folks at Freeheel and Wheel in West Yellowstone, who also recommended box lunches from Ernie’s Bakery & Deli. This made for a picturesque picnic along the Madison River with views of the Gallatin Range before returning to the Grizzly Center to say goodnight to the bears on our last day of this treasured Yellowstone trip.
(We flew from Savannah into Salt Lake City and drove via Jackson, Wyoming to Grand Teton National Park, then Yellowstone. Returning, we left from West Yellowstone, via Idaho Falls, back to Salt Lake City.)
