Sherry L. Moore - Explorers Guide Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks

YELLOWSTONE &
GRAND TETON
NATIONAL PARKS

FOURTH EDITION

JEFF WELSCH AND SHERRY L. MOORE

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Explorers Guide Editor

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You can email Jeff and Sherry at gardenangelink@aol.com.
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All photographs by the authors unless otherwise identified

Copyright 2019 by Jeff Welsch and Sherry L. Moore

Interior photographs by the authors unless otherwise specified

Maps by Erin Greb Cartography The Countryman Press

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To Daisy, Cash, Cameron, and Parker, future stewards of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

More than 4 million visitors come to the Greater Yellowstone region each year to immerse themselves in the history, geology, scenery, and wildlife of a natural and wild landscape. In our fourth edition of Explorers Guide Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks , we strive to enhance the extraordinary.

Whether youre marveling at wolves and grizzly bears in the wild, gazing in abject wonder at mountains touching the sky, or getting acquainted with the colorful personalities of the parks gateway communities, we give you the story behind the portrait. On these pages youll get historical, geological, and ecological lessons you wont find in other guidebooks. Youll get easy-to-understand descriptions of the fiery world just beneath your feet and the wonders before your eyes. And youll get the backstory on the regions charismatic megafauna: wolves, grizzly bears, bison, moose, elk, and more.

Even though Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are inextricably linked in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, for this edition we have further distinguished them, providing primers devoted to information pertinent to each park. Yellowstone remains separated into five chaptersone for each of the entrances with pay stations. Within each chapter youll follow the roads inside the park that begin and fan out from those entrances. Grand Teton National Park is covered in a separate chapter in the same format.

Each chapter includes key information on gateway communities while highlighting cant-miss attractions and recreation outside the parks. We have made every attempt to organize important information so that it is easily found, understood, and current, but changes occur rapidly in these tourist destinations. Restaurants come and go, and hours and menus change, literally with the seasons. What was true last week might not be so during your visit.

WHATS WHERE A major change in the fourth edition is an alphabetical listing of important information to ensure you get the most from your Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks bucket-list vacation. It is where youll find out how to stay safe and healthy, acquire permits and licenses, and know the best places to get a closer look at the regions colorful history.

LODGING Choosing where to lay your head at night is vital to a successful trip. Weve made a point of including lodging we would recommend to our family and friends, whether youre on a budget or neednt spare any expense. We have stayed in many of the hotels, motels, lodges, cabins, and other accommodations listed, or have relied on friends, acquaintances, and others connected to businesses for further insight. Please note, none of the entries are paid listings.

We use a $ symbol to reflect average high-season (summer) rates for most rooms. Costs differ dramatically by season, and you can expect slightly lower rates in the winter unless youre in ski country. The best opportunities for bargains are in the so-called shoulder seasons of spring and fall. We also include icons for lodging that welcomes pets, meets ADA standards, and has a restaurant on-site.

Our lodging codes are as follows:

Best Lodging

Because of the many lodging choices in these communities, we further arranged best selections into groupings based on price. The exception to our best of dining and lodging criteria is inside YNP and GTNP, where we have included everything.

When you see the Authors favorite star icon, youll know these are places we consider to be the best of the best and eagerly frequent. We give them our seal of approval for a variety of reasons, starting with the quality of the experience.

Finally, we have made every attempt to determine open times for lodging, dining, and attractions, including if they close for a month in spring and fall to regroup. If facilities are open year-round, no seasons are noted.

DINING As with lodging, getting the most out of your restaurant experiences is also an important part of your journey. Dining choices abound in Greater Yellowstone, and on these pages we offer favorites based on our personal experiences and the recommendations of friends or acquaintances who live in these communities. Consideration is based on many factors: reputation, ambiance, quality and diversity of menu, and local popularity. We further organize the various options based on whether we favor them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Again, none of these are paid entries.

Dining codes ($) are based on the price of an average entre. In cases where we have two sets of dollar signs separated by a slash, either most meals are in the lower range or there is a significant difference between breakfast and dinner. Generally, because menus change so frequently, we dont mention specific entres. If we do, its a signature dish or typical representation of the menu. Finally, each restaurant includes a B, L, D, Br, and/or HH to reflect whether it serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, and/or has a happy hour. Our codes are as follows:

Best Dining

KEY TO SYMBOLS

Authors favorites. Some lodging and dining have consistently stood out to us for their personality and quality. Owners who bring their A games with their unique environs earn a star.