Western national parks vacay--good family resort?

[Anonymous]

We have no experience with Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah. Looking to see a national park or two for about 10 days this summer. No camping, day trips only, no hard core hiking. Maybe a bit of fishing for my younger kid. MC budget. Your recs? I lean to lakes/mountains more than deserty environments.

[Anonymous]

It would be hard to find something for 2025 that's in/near a National Park, and prices are expensive especially for summer. We're talking $500 a night for the Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn in West Yellowstone.

[Anonymous]

I’d stay in Moab and do arched and Canyonlands. There are a couple of perfectly nice best westerns downtown and lots of good restaurants and things to do in Moab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have no experience with Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah. Looking to see a national park or two for about 10 days this summer. No camping, day trips only, no hard core hiking. Maybe a bit of fishing for my younger kid. MC budget. Your recs? I lean to lakes/mountains more than deserty environments.

We found weekly rentals on a cabin near the west entrance to Glacier. There are plenty of day trip opportunities and easier hikes for every level. There are various places to fish - lakes and streams. But, you need to book a year ahead.

[Anonymous]

Grand Teton could fit that bill but inside the park lodging is likely booked for the summer. You could stay in Jackson hole though

[Anonymous]

What does Middle Class budget mean? DCUM middle class or normal middle class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have no experience with Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah. Looking to see a national park or two for about 10 days this summer. No camping, day trips only, no hard core hiking. Maybe a bit of fishing for my younger kid. MC budget. Your recs? I lean to lakes/mountains more than deserty environments.

We found weekly rentals on a cabin near the west entrance to Glacier. There are plenty of day trip opportunities and easier hikes for every level. There are various places to fish - lakes and streams. But, you need to book a year ahead.

This far ahead you will easily be able to find plenty of rentals within 20-30 minutes of the west entrance to Glacier. Would heavily recommend. So much to see and do in the area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have no experience with Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah. Looking to see a national park or two for about 10 days this summer. No camping, day trips only, no hard core hiking. Maybe a bit of fishing for my younger kid. MC budget. Your recs? I lean to lakes/mountains more than deserty environments.

We found weekly rentals on a cabin near the west entrance to Glacier. There are plenty of day trip opportunities and easier hikes for every level. There are various places to fish - lakes and streams. But, you need to book a year ahead.

This far ahead you will easily be able to find plenty of rentals within 20-30 minutes of the west entrance to Glacier. Would heavily recommend. So much to see and do in the area.

$320/night for 3 BR. 15 minute drive to West Glacier entrance (randomly looked for Aug 8-18)

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/27729994

[Anonymous]

Utah will be hot. Be sure to check if any of these parks require timed entry tickets, in addition to the usual entrance fee. Arches certainly does

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Utah will be hot. Be sure to check if any of these parks require timed entry tickets, in addition to the usual entrance fee. Arches certainly does

Glacier does also. But the booking window opens 4 months in advance each day, and it only costs $2 to get the daily entry pass (it's not timed, it's purely capacity control). If you can't get the 4 month batch, they release more each day in the summer at 7 PM local time for the next day. We did that this last summer and had no issue getting entry tickets for the days we wanted. But definitely had to be on the ball and ready right at 7 PM, logged in, etc like doing Taylor Swift tickets.

[Anonymous]

If you are interested in Colorado there should still be options. We planned later than this last year and found a nice cabin in Estes Park just outside Rocky Mountain National Park along the river where you can fish from. We stayed there and also spent a few days in Colorado Springs and one night in Denver. Great trip. We are truly middle class and not amazing hikers but there are plenty of easy little hikes and beautiful sites to see.

[Anonymous]

Look at some photos and descriptions of each park and then let us know which one you are thinking of. Each one is quite different from the next. Everything from rocks in the desert to snow at the tops of mountains year round.

[Anonymous]

For a specific resort, check out Teton Mountain Lodge and spa.