I have lurked on this board for many years and I just thought I'd get some of y'all's opinion about our upcoming trip to Yellowstone. Flying into SLC for 8 days of Mormon country. Driving up through the Tetons to the big park, hopefully all the way to Bozeman for a Museum of the Rockies visit (we luvs us some good dinosaur bones!! Cody, Wyoming? What say ye? Anywhere that's seriously overrated but well-marketed we would do best to avoid? Should we buy our week's beer and liquor in SLC and tote it along, secure in our further lack of need of finding a boozehound's storehouse while on the road? We have made no hotal reservation. We are winging it with great hopes of no Thunderbird Inn at Kanab, UT repeat ( that place was gross!). Great restaurants in tucked away road trip routes? No hiking, weeze eat up with the rheumatiz. :P

Cant speak for Utah, but you will have no problem finding booze in Montana.

If you like bones, I humbly suggest the U of Utah's Natural History Museum. That place is a real gem.

https://nhmu.utah.edu/

^ Best museum i've been to.

also, it's well worth it if you get down to see Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks in Southern Utah.

I was just last week in both parks. Amazing.

Luckee!

If you like old firearms and the old west the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody is worth a visit.

If you're going through Yellowstone before Memorial Day you'll be off season as in avoiding the tourist crowds between then and Labor Day. Jackson Hole, WY is a great place to visit although it is a tourist hole in the summer. It's 60 miles from the south gate of Yellowstone and a good place to stay while visiting the park.

If you make it as far as Bozeman, Helena is less than a two hour drive from there. It has some quality museums you might enjoy. My parents took our family to the Montana Historical Society when I was a child. There was something for all of us to feast our eyes on.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g45212-Activities-c49-Helena_Montana.html

Don't bother buying beer in Utah, it is watered down.

When you pass through Idaho Falls, be sure and stop at the falls and check out Snow Eagle brewery. They have amazing, award-winning brews.

Between Idaho Falls and Montana there really aren't any more cities to hit either until Bozeman. :)

There are PLENTY of high-octane SLC beers.

A little bit of Mormon history while passing thru.
Just north outside of Jackson, opposite of the airport is a spot in the Teton National Park called "Mormon Row". In the late 1800's Mormons were sent to make settlements in the area. The east side of the Teton range didn't take hold as strong as Star Valley and areas west of the mountains. There are some nice iconic buildings still standing that are known worldwide from photos of the Tetons and also scenes from the old movie classic Shane.

https://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/historyculture/mormon.htm



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2018 11:38AM by mankosuki.

Belle Wrote:
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> Should we buy our week's beer and liquor


You spelled week wrong. It should be "weak" because it is from Utah, after all.

No tour of temple square ?

Avoid Rigby, Rexburg, all cities/ towns between I.Falls & Yellowstone!

They're fine for gassing up the car or getting food. Rexburg has some nice restaurants.

Island Park is right before the border from Idaho into Wyoming. That's a nice resort, but doesn't really start to pop before Memorial Day.

And good old St. Anthony. Another blip on the map, but makes a good pit stop if needed.

Ririe, Rigby, St. Anthony and the other small towns are farming towns. Rexburg is the college town to speak of. Otherwise, it's farming country as well.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2018 10:44AM by Amyjo.

My east coast friends who are never Mo tour temple square out of curiosity.

It remains a landmark destination regardless of someone's religious preference.

Amyjo Wrote:
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> My east coast friends who are never Mo tour temple
> square out of curiosity.
>
> It remains a landmark destination regardless of
> someone's religious preference.


Yep. My neverMo (Catholic) parents took us there on a family trip to Utah when we were kids. It was just considered one of many "must-sees" in Utah.

(Years later, I found the free copy of the BoM my mom had gotten at the temple. I flipped through it, and it was filled with her annotations on the text, most of it along the lines of the "WTH? Seriously?" variety.)

This was funny! Thanks!

Ashton, which is 55 miles south of West Yellowstone on US 20, has a nice pizza/sandwich shop called 511 Main, located at 511 Main Street. Great place to grab lunch on your way to the park. Delicious homemade soup too.

When you travel out west, there are lots of things to see and do, but many times there are many miles of travel between those places.

When I first went back east to work, I was amazed how close everything was. I was stationed in Harrisburg PA and it seemed that places like Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Baltimore, DC, York, Amish country, Princeton, Hershey, Williamsport were within a couple hours.

Plan you trip carefully. If you miss something and think you'll just double back to pick it up, you'll mess up a good part of your agenda.

If you plan on Yellowstone/Teton Parks before Memorial Day, check the Parks websites for weather conditions. Some roads and sites might still be snowed in.

A snowstorm can happen out of nowhere also during May in the Rockies, like Yellowstone country.

It's good to be prepared for that. Snow chains are required for snowy driving conditions in the mountain passes.

If you go due north from Idaho Falls to Montana you will cross the Continental Divide between the two states. At its peak it is 6390 feet high. What a road trip!

http://www.mytripjournal.com/travel-237566-dubois-continental-divide-park-idaho-city-lot-guess-nice

Cody, WY is well worth the time. The Buffalo Bill Museum is amazing. You'll want to buy your booze in WY and MT instead of UT or ID. If you are driving north in Wyoming, be aware that there really isn't much until you hit Jackson. Make sure to gas up in Rock Springs as the further you get from I-80 the more expensive it gets. I really like Pinedale but it is a pretty small town. Fremont lake is beautiful. Lots of Mountain Man history.

Have fun!

No time to properly read and thanks right now. Later in PM. But many thanks for now! Already done Zion, Bryce and Temple Square. Nothing North. And thanks double for all museum and smartie-pants stop suggestions. We are museum/knowledge types

https://www.redlodge.com/bearcreek/

I concur on the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody. It's worth a half day for sure.

Check out the pig races at the Bear Creek Lodge on Friday nights. They make a mean steak and in between bites, you can put $5 on your favorite swine to take first place.

I live in Bozeman and am affiliated with Yellowstone Park. Ping me at jddavisster@gmail.com if I can help with Park advice.

Next time you're south in UT you should check out Goblin Valley, also there's Dinosaur National Monument in Vernal. I hear that there's a pretty awesome lake down near Vernal also that has fossilized dino tracks on the shore. You can picnic on the tracks. Maybe not for this trip, but there's my two cents...