u/brustysf

We stayed in Yellowstone this summer. Ever since we've stayed, I've been curious about something: what actually happens when all of the seasonal lodging shuts down for the winter?

It seems like it must be a massive operation. Do they completely winterize the hotels/cabins - drain plumbing, shut off water, remove food and supplies, etc.? What happens to furniture, linens, kitchens, and everything else when some of these places are sitting under snow for months?

I’m equally curious about the spring. How far in advance do employees arrive to get everything back up and running before the first guests show up? Is there a huge opening crew that goes through all the buildings and basically brings a small town back to life?

I looked around Reddit and the internet and couldn't find anything! I know this is super random but I would especially love to hear from anyone who has worked at one of the Yellowstone lodges or has been involved in either the fall shutdown or spring reopening. It seems like quite the operation!

I've been a power user lurker on this subreddit since early this year to plan a family trip to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Jackson. Now that we are back I want to return the favor and share a massive (read: super long) post of our itinerary, recommendations, and other tips.

Background: We traveled at the start of August with our two kids, ages 7 and 9. My wife and I are very active. Our 9 year old is a willing hiker and an adventurous eater; our 7 year old is somewhat less enthusiastic about hiking and a picky eater, so we had to balance the two.

Lodging Itinerary:

• 3 nights - Canyon Lodge
• 1 night - Old Faithful Inn
• 3 nights - Rustic Inn in Jackson

Overall, I thought this itinerary worked really well, and I'd mostly do almost exactly the same trip again.

Day 1: Bozeman → Mammoth → Canyon

• Recommend stopping at Target. We bought a soft-sided cooler, ice, snacks, drinks and lunch food before driving into Yellowstone. It gave us a lot more flexibility since food options are concentrated around the villages/lodging areas and we weren't constantly planning our day around restaurants.
• Mammoth Hot Springs: Since it was late and we'd been traveling all day, we mostly explored the Lower Terraces. Very cool and definitely worth stopping.

Day 2 - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone + Norris + Old West Cookout

• Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone: We did the North Rim Drive. Hiked Brink of the Lower Falls and stopped at various other points. Later we did Artist's point. All of it is awesome.
• Norris Geyser Basin - Porcelain Basin loop: Only about a mile and flat so was an easy hike with kids.
• Old West Dinner Cookout: This was a surprisingly big hit. You take a covered wagon out to the cookout, where they serve steak and all the fixings. The food was pretty good, and our kids channeled their inner cowboy by attempting to lasso fake cows. Highly recommend.

Day 3 - Wildlife Tour

• Wildlife Tour with with Wolf Tracker: This was one of the trip highlights. I found Wolf Tracker via this subreddit. It's pricey, but if it's within your budget, highly recommend. Our guide, Michael, picked us up at Canyon Lodge at 5:30am and took us around the park until about 11:30am. We saw grizzly bear, black bear, 5 wolves, mountain goat, bison, bald eagles, osprey, pronghorn. They had scopes for my wife and I, and separate scopes for the kids, and brought breakfast, coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Here's an example of why it's worth it - At one point we pulled into a turnout with a huge mountain in the distance. Within what felt like a minute, Michael had located a mountain goat on the side of it. There is approximately a 0% chance I would have found it myself.
• Mud Volcano / Fishing Bridge / Lake Butte Overlook: We enjoyed Dragon's Mouth Spring but, if I were doing the trip again, this is the one afternoon I'd change.
  • We also drove through Hayden Valley. It's beautiful, but wildlife-wise it wasn't remotely comparable to Lamar when we were there. We saw a bison here and there, but that was about it. Obviously, wildlife sightings depend heavily on time of day and luck.

Day 4 - Canyon → Grand Prismatic → Old Faithful

• Artist Paint Pots: I'd put it in the "do it if you have time" category rather than "must do." That being said, I would have repurposed the Day 3 afternoon and done this instead.
• Gibbon Falls: Easy/quick stop and absolutely worth doing.
• Grand Prismatic: Obviously incredible. We did both the lower boardwalk and the overlook hike. If you only have time for one, I'd choose the overlook. Seeing it from above gives you a much better sense of the size and colors.
• Old Faithful: Was really cool to see the geyser erupt a few times.

Day 5 - Geysers → Grand Teton → Jackson

• Old Faithful + Geyser Hill: This led to one of my favorite surprises of the trip - Beehive Geyser! There were some serious geyser enthusiasts hanging around who told us Beehive was getting ready to erupt and that we should stick around. I'm glad we listened. The force and height of the eruption were incredible. Old Faithful is obviously iconic, but Beehive was more impressive to all four of us. If you're staying near Old Faithful and Beehive looks like it might erupt, don't leave.
• West Thumb Geyser Basin: This is another one I'd put in the "optional" category. It's cool, especially with Yellowstone Lake in the background, but by this point we'd seen so many thermal features that they were starting to feel repetitive.
• Jackson Lake Lodge: Incredible views from the massive windows. Unfortunately, the wildfire smoke made it a bit smoky.

Day 6 - Jenny Lake + Inspiration Point + Cascade Canyon

• Jenny Lake: Took the boat to Inspiration Point and a little ways into Cascade Canyon. Our total hike was around five miles. Excellent hike and totally doable with our boys (though not without some complaining from our youngest).

Day 7 - Snake River Whitewater Rafting

• Whitewater rafting on the Snake River: We used Lewis & Clark River Expeditions. This was a huge hit. We spent around 1-1.5 hours on the river and both of our boys had an awesome time. If you're visiting Jackson with kids around our boys' ages, I highly recommend it.

Lodging Overview

• Canyon Lodge: Location is the selling point. Canyon is extremely central and three nights felt perfect. We could head out in the morning, see some things, come back for lunch or a break, and then head back out again.
• Old Faithful Inn: Worth staying one night simply because it's such an iconic and impressive building. Staying there also makes it really easy to experience the Old Faithful area in the evening and early morning. If we'd booked multiple nights, I think we probably would have regretted it.
• Rustic Inn: Great hotel, nice location and close enough to walk into the downtown square area of Jackson. We'd stay there again.

Food

• After reading this subreddit, I repeatedly warned my family that the food in Yellowstone was going to be terrible. This actually worked to our benefit because our expectations were so low that the food...was perfectly fine! No, Yellowstone isn't a dining destination. But most meals exceeded our expectations.
• We had a drink at M66 Lounge and I must say the food coming out looked pretty good.
• Old Faithful Dining Room was fine for dinner, and eating inside the Inn is part of the experience. We also did the breakfast buffet the next morning and enjoyed it.
• Food in Jackson was fine but the real recommendation is to try a Greyhound Sloshie at Creekside Market & Deli in Jackson. It's basically an adult beverage slushy. They were a big hit. If an alcoholic slushy sounds like your thing, keep an eye out for them. (Fun fact: the friend who told me about this, told me that Creekside is the largest purchaser of fresh grapefruits in Wyoming!)

Recommendations/Observations

• Download GuideAlong: This was recommended by the subreddit. Highly recommend! It uses GPS rather than cell service, knows where you are in the park, and automatically tells you about upcoming sights, history and recommended stops. We basically stopped listening to music because GuideAlong was always running.
• Buy Cooler and Snacks when you land: See bullet at the top.
• Rental car space: Rent a comfortable car with enough room. We rented a Jeep Compass (intermediate SUV). It was fine, but with two kids, backpacks, cooler, etc., it occasionally felt cramped. Enterprise offered us an F-150 at pickup and in hindsight I wish we'd taken it. You're in the car a lot.
• Parking: Wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. Norris and Grand Prismatic were busy, but otherwise parking was surprisingly manageable.
• Cell Service: Don't count on it. We have AT&T and service ranged from spotty to nonexistent throughout much of Yellowstone. Download anything important ahead of time. On the plus side, it's a fantastic excuse not to respond to work emails.
• Bathrooms: There were lines at bathrooms at most spots we stopped. With kids, something to keep in mind.
• Binoculars: Get binoculars for the kids. Both boys had their own and loved trying to spot wildlife. It made wildlife watching much more engaging for them.
• Merino wool shirts for the win: I sweat...a lot and didn't have unlimited packing space in my suitcase. I tried merino wool/cotton blend shirts for the first time. I still cannot believe how they didn't retain odors after a day of hiking in the sun! I wore them multiple days.
• I can't believe I'm saying this...but consider bringing a selfie stick. I've never owned one nor have I desired one. However, this was the first trip in my life where I repeatedly wished I had one. There are SO many incredible photo opportunities, and quite a few places where getting the phone higher and/or farther away would have made for a much better family picture and captured the scale of what was behind us.

Huge thanks to this subreddit. You made planning dramatically easier.

Happy to answer any questions while everything's still fresh!