Travel Guide: YELLOWSTONE, JACKSON HOLE, BIG SKY
Every year I set up to plan a road trip somewhere in the U.S. I’ve never visited. This year I took one of my favorite trips of all time: wrapping around Yellowstone National Park and exploring Jackson Hole + Big Sky.
The reason why road trips fuel my soul is because there’s nothing like open road and pockets of total cellphone disconnection to bring yourself back to…you. In this travel guide you’ll find everything you need to recreate this epic trip — now, let’s begin!
The Schedule
We’ll get into the details of a play-by-play per day and some highlights, but here’s a glance:
Day 1: Salt Lake City, UT • Idaho Falls, ID
Day 2: Idaho Falls, ID • Western Yellowstone • Jackson, WY
Day 3: Grand Tetons & Jackson Hole, WY
Day 4: Eastern Yellowstone • Big Sky, MT
Day 5: Big Sky, MT • Idaho • Utah
Day 6: Salt Lake City, UT
The Flights
I’ve mentioned before, booking your flight is the hardest step but thankfully it’s step one so it all gets better from there. To travel to Yellowstone National Park there are options:
Yellowstone Airport in West Yellowstone, MT: This one is the closest to the park, but sometimes priciest. Delta is the only commercial airline that flies in there and it’s only open from May through late September because of heavy snow otherwise.
Jackson, WY: The closest major airport, about an hour away from the South Entrance of Yellowstone. If you want to stay somewhere more affordable and central, you might want to consider flying in here and having your accommodations here. More on that later.
Bozeman, MT: About 2 hours away from Yellowstone, but another sometimes affordable option because many major airlines fly here. In fact, JetBlue often has great deals here.
Where I flew in? Salt Lake City, UT. I had flight alerts on via Hopper and found a round trip flight from NYC for only $250 during Labor Day Weekend. Now that’s a steal! It’s about 4 hours away from Yellowstone itself, but we made a big ol’ road trip out of it which I’m glad we did.
The Stay
We tried a trifecta of ways of staying: AirBnb, Glamping and Hotel. Depending on your needs, you might want to consider a mix of these on your next trip.
If You’re in a Pinch — AirBnb ($): we stayed in a home on the first night of our trip as we were just staying in Idaho Falls to cut our driving time to Yellowstone in half. It was the cheapest to book something hassle-free. The city is quite small so everything was central. On the last day of the trip, I stayed in an AirBnb again as I was just looking for a basic place to rest my head at night on a budget. In Yellowstone itself, there were many neat AirBnb Experiences to consider, but places to stay were slim or too pricey for the offering.
For the Outdoor-Minded — Glamping ($$$): This was by far the COOLEST accommodation experience I’ve done on a road trip. We used Glamping Hub to find a cabin in the Jackson Hole area and it was a very seamless experience to find, book and check-in. We stayed here for two nights and were completely disconnected as our cabin on Lower Slide Lake was about 20 minutes away from the closest cell service. The place was cozy and waking up to these views took our BREATH AWAY.
Craving Familiarity — Hotel ($$): On our last leg of the trip, in Big Sky, MT, we booked a hotel because we wanted the amenities of an established place after spending so much time around nature. We stayed at The Wilson Hotel, which recently opened, and loved that it actually felt like having your own little studio apartment in Big Sky. It also had a beautiful view of Lone Peak Mountain and was central to many things. We walked from the hotel to the town center for food and entertainment. Bonus: it has a heated pool!
The Play-by-Play
Day 1: We arrived in Salt Lake City, UT at night and picked up our rental car. From here, it was a 2.5 hour drive up to Idaho Falls which we did to cut our daytime driving the next day. This was pretty much a half day because of the time our flights arrived, but you can make more out of it if you fly earlier. We ate road food because we were in a hurry to get some sleep (time change included).
Day 2: We woke up and spent about an hour touring Idaho Falls. The Greenbelt Trail & Riverwalk was really neat because it’s basically these beautiful waterfalls right through the middle of the city. You can drive up to them, get close, or enjoy some leisure time in the park. From here, it was about a 2.5 hour drive to the West Yellowstone Entrance to the park.
The drive through Idaho into Montana was rainy, so we didn’t stop much. We got lunch in West Yellowstone INSIDE A BUS — if you like Mexican food I highly recommend. The town is really small and there’s one main road so these little food trucks will be hard to miss. From here, we went in to Yellowstone National Park from the West side. The way the park works is via "a “Grand Loop” that you can drive along to catch all the major parts of it. The whole thing would take 4 to 8 hours to drive around, but we only had time in our trip to see about 50 - 75% of it. Now, if you visualize a clock, we essentially drove in at the 9 p.m. marker and made our way counter-clockwise to exit out of the 5 p.m. marker. This part of Yellowstone was mostly forests, geysers and hot springs.
The stops you can’t miss along this route are Grand Prismatic Spring, Old Faithful and one of the Geyser Basins. It’s just so unique to anything you’ve ever seen before that you’ll be driving around with your jaw dropped. We thought we were in a different planet!
From these stops, we continued driving down toward Jackson toward our Glamping site. Along the way we stopped at a few waterfalls and canyon look out points. Plus, there were so many Elk to see along the way. What made us stop and gasp right before arriving was sunset over the Grand Tetons. A little tear just developed talking about this.
We ate at Bin-22 in Jackson this night, which was about 40 minutes from where we were staying. Yes, you will be driving a lot when you’re staying in and around the parks! It’s a great wine and Spanish tapas bar. We bought groceries this night to have in our cabin and for the road.
Tip: Try to get to your accommodations during daylight if it’s the first time you’re checking in. You will have little cell service and visibility (if anything) at night, so it’s best to familiarize yourself when there’s light.
Day 3: I have a new obsession with the Grand Tetons. If I can recommend you go anywhere it’s this park right here. WOW. It’s much less touristy than Yellowstone, and right nearby. Our Jackson Hole accommodations were on Lower Slide Lake — which, fun fact, was a lake created recently from earthquakes that made landslides. From here, it was about 20 minutes outside of the mountain and into the main road, with visibility of the beautiful Tetons at every turn.
We had breakfast in Jackson, WY at Cultivate Cafe which was delicious. I had some of the best Chicken and Waffles ever. We then drove toward Mormon Row Historic District through the back roads (Road 390) which allowed us to see Grand Teton National Park quickly. At Mormon Row, the old barns with the backdrop of the mountains was beautiful. We then drove back into the Tetons to see Jenny Lake and spent some time back in our cabin until dinner. There’s a really great hike at Inspiration Point, but we weren’t quite ready for that on this day.
We wrapped up this evening with dinner at The Kitchen. It was a seafood place that you can trust, infused with different flavors around the world. If you have any restaurant on your list, it 100% has to be this one. It was a journey of flavors and we had the most incredible connection with the staff. Seriously, I am convinced our server Sarah was a walking angel. If you have energy for a drink, hit up a local saloon — they’re all around the city center.
Day 4: Waking up and leaving our Glamping Hub cabin was the hardest thing to do. We spent some time here having breakfast, watching otters on the lake (!) and driving around before we left. We wanted to watch the sunrise at Schwabacher’s Landing but gave ourselves a break. We’ll be coming back for this for sure. Breakfast at Persephone Bakery was recommended, but a long line had us taking things to grab and go. Get there early if you want in!
We were on the road back to Yellowstone around 10 a.m., knowing it was about a 4-hour drive to Big Sky, MT. Now we were doing the Eastern side of Yellowstone. Remember that clock visual? We came at the 5 p.m. marker and looped our way back through West Yellowstone, MT by cutting through a road that passes through the center of Yellowstone. What you see along this route is Hayden Valley — where the Bison are a’ plenty — and some of the major waterfalls of the park, like Artist Point.
One of the most beautiful drives of the trip was on the way up to Big Sky, MT. From Yellowstone, it was about an hour away and you’re driving through the Gallatin National Forest. Hop off and touch the river, it’s such a serene experience. In Big Sky, we checked in to The Wilson Hotel and then decided to go to Riverhouse Grill for dinner which had amazing wings, live music and the coolest bar with SWINGS!
Day 5: We had minor setbacks because of Hurricane Dorian turning all of our travel backward, so we had to cut a few things from our itinerary this day. We found ourselves at Big Sky Resort where we were originally scheduled to have the Lone Peak Mountain expedition, but due to a shorter time crunch, we ended up doing just a lift up to the edge of the mountain. It was still just as breathtaking! There are so many things to explore on-site, so if you have about half a day to spend I’d recommend coming here.
From Big Sky, MT you can either wrap up the trip and leave from Bozeman airport (nearby), but since I booked a roundtrip we needed to head back to Salt Lake City, UT for my friends’ departure. This was a 6-hour drive down, which was quite nice, but we drove through many things we’d already seen. If you have time, I recommend finding local places and shops along the way back to make a new experience. Or, leave out of Montana, you’ll thank yourself.
Day 6: I stayed a day in Salt Lake City, UT alone so drove around to these places to explore, but mainly took it easy:
Eva’s Bakery for breakfast
Temple Square
The State Capitol
Three Pines Coffee for a pick-me-up
Great Salt Lake
Thrift Store Hopping (a favorite activity while traveling)
Sugar House Park to rest and watch Sunset
And then on the way home in the evening!
The Packing List
Clothing for different seasons — rain, cold, hot, snowy (check weather per location)
Bathing suits for hot springs, lake days, etc. — be wary of any water warnings
Hiking shoes & socks — regular socks might cause blisters
Light backpack suited for walks & hikes — avoid leather or fashion backpacks, they’ll be uncomfortable
Camera Gear: I brought a 24-70mm lens and it worked great, a telephoto lens would have been better for wildlife closeups. Be sure to bring a Tripod for that, or any group photos. My gear is listed here.
Binoculars to watch wildlife — they won’t come too close to you and seeing them this way was great as well
SUNSCREEN and a hat. The high altitude sun will sneak up on you.
Bug spray, depending on the season but particularly important if you’re staying or visiting lake areas
All your toiletries — add wipes in case you need to make a road stop (don’t litter)
Biodegradable garbage & recycling bags — you’ll collect trash throughout your drive from eating snacks, potential bathroom brakes, etc. Respect the planet!
All your tech chargers — it will be hard to find an electronics store
Altitude Sickness medicine, if you think you’ll need it
The Costs
Estimates based on a six-day itinerary, splitting costs will save you tons (we were a group of 4):
Flight: I found a steal at $250, but this area averages about $400.
Accommodations: $1,200
Note: This is what it took for all of us to have our own beds and space, you can definitely make budget cuts here for a smaller group or solo trip
Park Entrances: $100 (annual pass deal is best)
Gas: $120
Car Rental: $150
Food: $300
Tip: You should cook at home one day if you’re Glamping or at The Wilson (which has a kitchen)
The Important Things
If you’re coming from a place that is below 4,000 ft. altitude, prepare yourself for an adjustment. I am really sensitive to altitude and we were in the 6 to 10,000 ft. range at all times. Landing in Salt Lake City on the first day helped me adjust before going into the Yellowstone area. On some drives, your ears WILL pop! Stay hydrated, eat carbs and make sure to watch your drinking.
The weather fluctuates…a lot. We saw all four seasons on our trip here. You can be driving in a thunderstorm and end up in 80 degrees and sunny, but then take a turn up a mountain and catch snow within the hour. Be prepared for any weather. Recommend layers and a raincoat, plus checking the weather often.
Watch out for wildlife. While driving, you need to keep your eyes on the road 150% of the time, no excuses. We had animals jump out of the woods and cross us during the day and night — about 5 times where we had to hit the breaks! And one of them was a BEAR! It’s such a beautiful sight to be able to be so close to them, but be careful and remain calm in the car.
You will be disconnected for 75% of this drive. There is little no cell service in and around Yellowstone. Most shops, restaurants and accommodations have WiFi for you if you need to check-in on anyone, but prepare to be disconnected on the road. Download your google maps as “offline,” print maps where needed and screenshot need to know the information you might need internet to access. And enjoy it. Because sometimes going back to basics is quite nice!
The MORE Important Things
This trip is for those who love Planet Earth and are looking to disconnect, savor every moment of that. I felt so recharged coming back from this and can’t wait to do it again.
Have you taken this trip before and have your own tips? Anything I can answer? Let me know in the comments below! x