Anyone been to Grand Canyon or Yellowstone?

[Anonymous]

We would like to visit one or the other of these this summer, but are late to getting started with our planning. Any tips or advice about where to stay or what to do? Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

To stay in Grand Canyon you have to book pretty far in advance. We stayed in Sedona, which is Beautiful, and drove two hours to the GC for a day. For Yellowstone I recommend Staying about an hour away in Big Sky Montana. There is a nice ski resort there with some summer activities.

[Anonymous]

We've been to both. How much time do you have? To me, Yellowstone is a longer trip with more to do than the GC, but you're probably too late to get a room anywhere inside the park. I wouldn't stay as far away as Big Sky. You'll waste too much time driving back and forth every day. There are some reasonably priced hotels/B&Bs at the entrances in West Yellowstone (the city) and Gardiner, but if you can, try to make your initial approach to the park through the NE entrance and take the Beartooth Hwy, which is really beautiful.

[Anonymous]

For the GC south rim, you can stay in Williams, AZ. It's a very short drive and there are almost always hotel vacancies. PP is right - you are most likely too late to stay in the park. If you're going to the north rim, lodging is about an hour from the park. If I'm remembering correctly, there is one set of cabins on that long road so the GC, but they fill up too.

[Anonymous]

There are quite a few options for lodging in Yellowstone, and this is a good time to book. We've stayed at the Old Faithful Inn, a historic hotel, but there are many other options in that part of the park, as well as other areas. Old Faithful Inn has a beautiful lobby in the style of the classic national parks lodges. We really enjoyed hanging out on the deck in the evenings -- you can read or play cards, and enjoy the view. This area of the park is quite crowded, though, so you might want to consider alternatives if that would bother you. (We were fine with it as we took day trips every day to different parts of the park that were not as tourist-y.)

You can also stay in Jackson Hole (WY) and drive up to Yellowstone through Grand Teton National Park, or stay in GTNP itself (Jenny Lake Lodge is a great option there). If you choose to do this, it's not really a day trip (2-3 hour drive to Old Faithful area, for example), so, you'll still want to spend 2-3 nights in Yellowstone.

Both Yellowstone and GTNP have amazing hiking; there are also swimming holes and lakes for canoeing and kayaking. We have gone with with our extended family, and found that it's best for kids in late elementary grades and older. With younger kids, you're more limited in hiking options and, as a result, the trails will be more crowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To stay in Grand Canyon you have to book pretty far in advance. We stayed in Sedona, which is Beautiful, and drove two hours to the GC for a day. For Yellowstone I recommend Staying about an hour away in Big Sky Montana. There is a nice ski resort there with some summer activities.

Staying in Sedona for the Grand Canyon is ridiculous. Williams or Flagstaff. Dining options are better in Flagstaff, but Williams has a kistchy Route 66 feel.

[Anonymous]

It is not to late to book inside the park at the Grand Canyon.

[Anonymous]

Camped in the Grand Canyon and loved it.

[Anonymous]

I hiked the Grand Canyon in college (rim to rapids, 5 days of camping, then rapids to rim). I visited Yellowstone this summer with my kids.

If you are taking the kids, I would go to Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon is in Arizona. It's hot in the summer. It's hot in the canyon and it's hot outside the canyon. It can be dangerous.

Yellowstone is more pleasant in the summer and there are more things to do there with kids and with a smaller degree of danger. It's right next to Grand Teton, which looks as if a Lord of the Rings set was dropped in the middle of Wyoming.

If you want to stay in Wyoming, outside of the park, Cody and Jackson are both awesome. Cody is more family touristy. Jackson is more expensive and la-di-dah/ Thermopolis is a little bit away, but you can swim in a hot spring there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hiked the Grand Canyon in college (rim to rapids, 5 days of camping, then rapids to rim). I visited Yellowstone this summer with my kids.

If you are taking the kids, I would go to Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon is in Arizona. It's hot in the summer. It's hot in the canyon and it's hot outside the canyon. It can be dangerous.

Yellowstone is more pleasant in the summer and there are more things to do there with kids and with a smaller degree of danger. It's right next to Grand Teton, which looks as if a Lord of the Rings set was dropped in the middle of Wyoming.

If you want to stay in Wyoming, outside of the park, Cody and Jackson are both awesome. Cody is more family touristy. Jackson is more expensive and la-di-dah/ Thermopolis is a little bit away, but you can swim in a hot spring there.

can you tell more bout your hike. What was the name of the trail?

[Anonymous]

We hiked Havasu falls. Details here:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/334332.page#4127480

[Anonymous]

For the Grand Canyon south rim, you only need one night there. Even if all the hotel rooms in park are booked up, just check the site every day. Something will open up. The rooms in the park are pretty basic, but it's just one night. And it's so much easier to be right there. The line to get into the park from Williams can get pretty long. But if you time it right, you'll be fine staying in Williams. Williams has better food options and the hotels are better than in the park.

If you do Grand Canyon north rim, the rooms are harder to come by and you'll want 2-3 nights there. It's a little farther to drive in/out of the north rim, but I've heard it's totally worth it. There's no town close by that's a good alternative like staying in Williams for the south rim.

I haven't been to Yellowstone, but you really need to stay in the park there. The park is HUGE and you'll waste a lot of time driving in and out if you're staying outside of it. Even better if you can get a few nights at different locations in the park so you're not always back tracking. If all the rooms are booked, you can keep checking for cancellations - but they don't open up in Yellowstone like they do for the GC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hiked the Grand Canyon in college (rim to rapids, 5 days of camping, then rapids to rim). I visited Yellowstone this summer with my kids.

If you are taking the kids, I would go to Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon is in Arizona. It's hot in the summer. It's hot in the canyon and it's hot outside the canyon. It can be dangerous.

Yellowstone is more pleasant in the summer and there are more things to do there with kids and with a smaller degree of danger. It's right next to Grand Teton, which looks as if a Lord of the Rings set was dropped in the middle of Wyoming.

If you want to stay in Wyoming, outside of the park, Cody and Jackson are both awesome. Cody is more family touristy. Jackson is more expensive and la-di-dah/ Thermopolis is a little bit away, but you can swim in a hot spring there.

can you tell more bout your hike. What was the name of the trail?

Hermit Trail on the way in. We hiked from the rim to Hermit's Rapids. We hiked from there to Phantom Ranch, and then hiked out from Phantom Ranch. We stopped half-way over to Phantom Ranch and camped for a couple of days. I don't remember the name of that campground, though. On the way out from Phantom Ranch, it snowed. (It was late February/early March.) My feet got wet and I got terrible frostbite in my feet. The guy that I was with ditched me and my friend because he thought we were all going to die.

The hiking there can be dangerous in the summer, due to the heat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the Grand Canyon south rim, you only need one night there. Even if all the hotel rooms in park are booked up, just check the site every day. Something will open up. The rooms in the park are pretty basic, but it's just one night. And it's so much easier to be right there. The line to get into the park from Williams can get pretty long. But if you time it right, you'll be fine staying in Williams. Williams has better food options and the hotels are better than in the park.

If you do Grand Canyon north rim, the rooms are harder to come by and you'll want 2-3 nights there. It's a little farther to drive in/out of the north rim, but I've heard it's totally worth it. There's no town close by that's a good alternative like staying in Williams for the south rim.

I haven't been to Yellowstone, but you really need to stay in the park there. The park is HUGE and you'll waste a lot of time driving in and out if you're staying outside of it. Even better if you can get a few nights at different locations in the park so you're not always back tracking. If all the rooms are booked, you can keep checking for cancellations - but they don't open up in Yellowstone like they do for the GC.

If you stay in Cody, it's about an hour from outside the park to inside the park and it's a pretty drive. It's an hour from Cody to Thermopolis to swim in the geyser pools. Cody also has a very cool set of museums at the Cody Center.

[Anonymous]

N.P. I've been with kids to the Grand Canyon (hiked to the bottom and back out with 6 and 8 y.o.). N. Kaibab down 1/2 day, stayed at Phantom Ranch, and the longer but shadier/with water Bright Angel Trail back out. Do a search for "Grand Canyon" in the DCUM travel section; there are some posts.

I planned for that trip over 13 months ahead, to get the right month and lodging situation--because the Grand Canyon is very extreme in weather and unforgiving. Bottom line is in summer, Grand Canyon is hot and I don't recommend it.

Yellowstone--the perfect time is summer; August I think is the best time. It will be crowded around Old Faithful, but it's a huge park, so better.