Help me plan a trip to Yellowstone

Hey everyone,
Being from Alberta, and having never visited the good ol' US of A, I know nothing of whats available in and around Yellowstone. Here are some of the things we're looking to find / do / have while on our vacation:

1. First of all, there's 3 of us. Me, wife and our son who will be just over 3 months old at our time of departure.
2. We're driving nearly 1000 miles to get from our home to the nearest park entrance, and will stay in a hotel after day one of driving on the Canadian side of the border and cross through in the morning.
3. We'd really like to stay in a 'well equipped' [read: kitchen w/ fridge and a decent bathroom] cabin, or lodge of some sort.
4. We are planning on spending a total of 6 days in the park after arrival day, so we're looking for a good list of places to go / things to see / doable activities giving that we'd be packing our kid around.
4.1 on the kid note, we do have a carrier which I will be using to 'wear' our kid on my front, and we are looking to do some short to medium hikes. Just want a few good suggestions where to do such a thing.
5.We're planning on heading out on the 28th of september, and leaving the park on the 5th of october. What sort of weather should we be planning to be outside in during this trip?
6. Any suggestions of places to stop / things to see or do on the way from the Canadian border to the Park or on the way home as well. For reference we'll be crossing in Coutts, Alberta, over to Sweet Grass, Montana.
7. What items should we bring that I may not obviously consider as necessary, but you think I might want while there?

Thanks for any and all input. For the help I'll be trying to GoPro the entire trip from the hood of the truck, maybe roof, who knows. Also, a lot of pictures will be posted here for all to enjoy. This is my first trip into America, help me make it a great one!

 

Prepare for snow, plan for chilly mornings and nights and decent days.

You really ought to see Glacier too while you're so close.

West Yellowstone or Mammoth probably where you're gonna want to stay. Should be able to find a place like that for some $$$$.

Be smart about animals, and stopping, and gawking, and where you do it. There are too many stupid people in Yellowstone, so don't contribute. Traffic should calm down by then a bunch but I'm betting there will still be some. That's a good time to visit though honestly, though the weather won't be superb. WY weather changes rapidly, very rapidly, so keep your rain gear with you if you go on a long hike and keep something warm handy. I wouldn't be surprised at all if you saw a flurry of snow.

I wouldn't focus on taking pictures of each scene a 100 times at different angles but just try to see as much as you can and take it all in or you'll go too slow and miss too much, or at least IMO.

Make reservations soon!


Been a long time since I've been to Jellystone. Like, since the 4th grade, though I drove through very very quickly this summer. Grew up 4 hours south in Kemmerer fwiw.

 

was thinking glacier NP too, ...maybe big sky, ...i've been several places in MT, but don't think there's any big attractions unless you're into skiing or something like that...

 

The wife and I are planning on spending last of May-beginning of June 2013 there for our 10 year anniversary. We alre also about 1000 miles away but will be towing our popup with the Tacoma. In researching our trip, we found the National Park Services website really informative about how to plan your trip. There are many well done videos with a ranger discussing your trip, the rules of the park, and how to plan accordingly.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

The "Plan your Visit" tab on the left side is where we started. All of the lodging- primitive campsites through the high end lodges- are resrved through Xantera Parks and Resorts. It takes a little researching, but once you get the hang of how the website is set up, it's pretty easy; especially for the reservations, as some areas of the park open before others and you have to select where you want to stay before the dates.

There is so much information on the website, that I really haven't looked elsewhere, but maybe some one more local knows more than what I do.

Good luck with the trip.

 

Not sure if OP is reading, but I have been helped by your info.

Thanks.

 

MTgirl.

would springbreak time suck? that seems to be the only big chunk of open time my wife has. (nursing school) we vowed to see more of the USA, and spend less time and money overseas.

a roadtrip to yellowstone seems like a great idea. gentle camping, etc.

 

thanks..spring break is the 3rd week of march.

oh, well. maybe the east coast then