Travel Tips and Directions for West Yellowstone

What travel tips or favorite directions do you have for West Yellowstone? Title your reply "Travel Tips - West Yellowstone", or "Directions - West Yellowstone" and they will be easy to separate and find.

Hello, we are planning to go to West Yellowstone from Burley, ID. This June.

From West Yellowstone, we are going to Grand Teton then to Bear Lake.

How are the roads to these areas? Winding, narrow?

Any travel tips.

Thanks guys!

We're planning a 8-11 days vacation at WM west yellowstone for Sepetember 2012.

We read that Grand Teton National Park is about 30 miles from the resort. Would it be a good idea to go hiking to Grand Teton & return back to WM resort for the night (for 3-4 days) ? Are there other places close by that we can visit ?

We will be coming from San Francisco. What is the best airport to travel to ?

Appreciate any tips

Thanks !!

Grand Teton National Park is a lot further than 30 miles by road. My mapping program says about 100 or more miles, depending on how you go and where you go to. I think you could do a relatively short hike in Grand Teton (a half-day hike) easily enough if you are early risers.

I've only driven the route from Jackson through the Grand Teton and then through part of Yellowstone to West Yellowstone - it's a slow drive and very pretty. We drove from about 45 minutes southeast of Jackson, up to Teton Village, rode the gondola up to one of the mountains, admired the view and spent some time wandering around and taking pictures, then drove through Grand Teton on our way up to the resort. We stopped occasionally along the way and got in before 4, I think. That's why I think a half-day hike would be fine, but if you are thinking of an all day hike, then I think spending a night in Jackson might be a good idea.

Our drive from Spokane, WA down I-90 was about 475 miles to the WorldMark Yellowstone resort. We stopped in Haugan, Montana to see the $50,000 Silver dollar bar and what is claimed as Montana’s largest gift shop. The Old Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, Montana is worth a stop. There is a car museum accessed through the gift shop and two other tours across the street. There are picnic tables outside as well as an ice cream booth near the parking area. We turned south on highway 2 and went through Norris and Ennis, Montana. There is a park in Ennis on the way out of town where the kids can unwind. We wanted to see the Lewis and Clark Caverns but didn’t have time to stop. The tour takes about three hours. We also didn’t have time to see Virginia and Nevada cities. Driving home we went north from West Yellowstone up 191 and 85. While driving north watch for animals until you reach Gallatin Gateway. We saw elk and a wolf outside the park. Along this route are many water rafting companies. The river looked like a great one to raft down. After getting back on I-90 towards Spokane we stopped at Three Forks and had lunch. From here we turned off I-90 toward Anaconda because we wanted to go to Phillisburg. The Sweet Palace in this town sells candy and chocolates made on site. To see all there is to see on this drive we suggest staying overnight somewhere in between West Yellowstone and Spokane.
The elevation on this drive changes often. We left a Spokane elevation of 2450 feet and the resort is at 6600 feet. On our drive around the north loop we were as high as 8923 feet. We didn’t notice too much adjustment to the elevation change except on the north loop drive and as we came home coming out of the high elevation. We were affected by dehydration during the week from being in higher elevation. Some in our group came down ill from not consuming enough liquids during the hotter days. We had a fantastic week in the area.

I am wondering if anyone is still posting on this site I see a lot of old posts. has anyone been to the Yellowstone resort lately and what is there to do after the actual Yellowstone Nation Park. Help we'll be there a week this May. I think we've overbooks as we find we have reservations for a 2 bdrm but our kids can't go

Although I was not able to get into this resort for Yellowstone, even on a waitlist I was a little disappointed. But we still had a great time in Yellowstone. If your going to the park I would highly recommend this app on your phone. Gypsy Yellowstone for under $5.00. It works on GPS not your data. The kids even enjoyed it. It narrates you through the park and tells you great places to stop to take a picture or hike or wait for the next turn out which has a better spot. Gives you high lights and information of all the points of interest. And even information about the animals that are in the park and good spots to look for them. Well worth it. I also downloaded the one for the Grand Tetons since it was cheap. West entrance was much busier to get in than the South entrance. Also if you buy something at one of the stores in Yellowstone you can return it to any store in Yellowstone, which was helpful. They also had a rodeo going on just outside of West Yellowstone which we were hoping to make but ran out of time. Just a suggestion if your looking for something else to do.

We live in the Seattle area and on the way back from Yellowstone, we came upon Virginia City. I hadn't planned on finding a gem in the middle of Montana, but there it was. I wish I'd have known about it earlier as I would have spent more time there. But it's like a time capsule to the Old West and well worth a trip out there if you happen to be traveling to or from Yellowstone. Very kid friendly.