Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, I love Yellowstone but wouldn't recommend it if you have young kids or dogs. Too many boiling hot pools with inadequate fencing.

I disagree; just be aware and hold on to your kids. We went to Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP last summer with our son who turned 3 on the trip, and it was great. These two parks alone could easily eat up the time you are talking about. Such vastness and variety, really. Have fun!

Yellowstone and Grand Tetons was our favorite family vacation and we went when our son was two. Be careful, of course, and have plenty of safety chats. We used a backpack when hiking in certain areas and insisted on hand holding. DS "got it" pretty quickly and we all loved it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, I love Yellowstone but wouldn't recommend it if you have young kids or dogs. Too many boiling hot pools with inadequate fencing.

+1

+ 2. I grew up in Wyoming and we went to Yellowstone every year. Unless something has changed substantially in recent years, the walkways and railings are not adequate to stop kids and small animals.

Anonymous wrote:We did this last year. We flew into Cody, WY and drove through grand tetons, Yellowstone, badlands, mt. rushmore. GREAT trip! It rivaled any of our pricey overseas trips and this was under 1k total for 2 weeks.

Airfare + lodging + food + car rental for 2 weeks was less than $1,000? Tell me your secrets please!

Not what you asked but we just came back from a great trip to CO. Did Co Springs, Salida, Chalk Lake and Breckenridge. Did zip lining over canyon, white water rafting, bouldering, hot springs with huge water slide, camping, Alpine slide, plus one of hiking. Best vacation ever according to kids - they are 7, 6 and 6. Mt and Wy sound beautiful too and I've been looking up options but attractions are all too far apart for us. We may do Utah (Zion national park and park city) next summer.

Anonymous wrote:FYI, I love Yellowstone but wouldn't recommend it if you have young kids or dogs. Too many boiling hot pools with inadequate fencing.

+1

We did this last year. We flew into Cody, WY and drove through grand tetons, Yellowstone, badlands, mt. rushmore. GREAT trip! It rivaled any of our pricey overseas trips and this was under 1k total for 2 weeks.

This thread is old, but I cannot resist naming the dude ranch we went to a few years back in Montana ... Rich Ranch. It is a family run ranch with wonderful horse riding every day that is very kid friendly OR advanced depending on your abilities. They also take you to an old mining ghost town that is very cool, a night at the rodeo if you tie your trip correctly, and tubing on a beautiful river. There was fly fishing and target shooting too. Mostly it was just beautiful and the lovely horses took you up to mountain top views each day. The food was fantastic and the individual cabins were so nice. Loved it.

Anonymous wrote:Can I recommend staying at a child friendly dude ranch? YOu will LOVE it. I worked on one and that was the best summer ever. Love those two states!!!!!!!!!!

What was the name of the dude ranch?

Can I recommend staying at a child friendly dude ranch? YOu will LOVE it. I worked on one and that was the best summer ever. Love those two states!!!!!!!!!!