Island Park ID vs Jackson Hole WY to visit Yellowstone NP

[chellej Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chellej]

What all is there to do in Island Park. I've got Yellowstone & The Tetons on my most wanted list. shaggy

Harriman State Park you can see trumpeter swans, historic ranch buildings and go horseback riding.

Go to big springs and see an old hand built cabin, float the river from there back to macks Inn. (they will drop you and the canoe off)

Upper and lower Mesa falls

Quake lake - go to the visitors center - very interesting.

Imax and grizzley discovery center in West yellowstone

Yellowstone museum in West Yellowstone.

Fly fishing all along the snake river and in yellowstone

hiking

Sawtelle Peak - great views and snow even in July

Warm river - feed the fish hundreds of them

Go to Ashton and go to fall river - this is at the southwest edge of the park but you can only hike,, picnic or fish - no roads into the park.

There are sand dunes down near rexburg also a museum in Rexburg about when the Teton Dam broke.


and then of course there are the parks....

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

If costs are not a factor I would stay in the park. There are 3 or 4 different areas in the park you can stay. Two summers ago we spent 2 night at Old Faithful Inn and it was great. There are restaurants on the grounds and the food was good. There are plenty of tours offered through Old Faithful Inn. The room we had was small but functional. It was a one bedroom unit that shared the bathroom and shower with several units (kinda like a collage dorm). My wife and I didn't mind as we are early risers and the showers were never crowed. We didn't have to wait to get your day started because we couldn't get in the showers. I would stay there again if I go back to YNP.

We also spent a week at Island Park and would not go back there if are plans are to see the parks. The trip to YNP from Island Park is about 45 minutes. However coming back from the park we saw a grizzle eating a carcass just a few feet off the road. In the Island Park area we went to a moms and pops rodeo, Mesa Falls, and Warm River.

Here are some pictures I took of Yellowstone, the Tetons, and Beartooth Gap in Montana. On the second page there are 2 pics of the room we stayed in.

[eal Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eal]

Hi John,
We stayed at Lake Yellowstone Hotel a few years ago in the annex and it was very nice.
Here is the web page:
Yellowstone Cabins, Accommodation, Inn, Camping, RV - Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Cabins

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

Thanks for all the info.

I am not able to do much walking so can I see most of the attractions from the road or very short walks?

[Laurie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Laurie]

Yes, you can see a lot that way, tho not quite all. Be sure to take all of the little one-way scenic drives off the main park roads too.

You might want to print yourself out a park map, and do some research on the boardwalks at each of the basins, then plan a few different overnight spots at opposite ends, if you'll be staying in the park. Each basin is different and 100% worthwhile, although one or 2 of them might be a longer walk in than is comfortable for you. There are benches along most of the boardwalks so you can take a break.

When I think national parks, I usually think hiking trails for an afternoon or 2. But there was so much to see along the road and the boardwalks at Yellowstone, and we stopped so many times for photos and admiring, we couldn't even quite do them all, and never got much further than that.

(Exceptions: an hour's round-trip level walk + very short climb above Grand Prismatic Spring, to look down upon it, plus the walk down to the overlook at the Yellowstone Grand Canyon falls and somewhat-strenuous walk back up to the parking lot. We never even had time to walk the rim trails at Yellowstone Grand Canyon, which was on my wish-list - 2 weeks at Yellowstone wouldn't be too many for me.)