Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.
Yellowstone National Park is home to one of the largest populations of grizzly bears in the United States. These majestic creatures play an important role in the park’s ecosystem, and are a must see attraction for visitors.
Lamar Valley from West Yellowstone is over a 2 hour drive one way. There are plenty of sights along the way, but the trip makes for a long day. In the past we’ve stayed in Gardiner, which is the north entrance and so much closer. The Park Headquarters, provisions, and a restaurant are located in Mammoth. In 1872, Yellowstone became our first National Park. Lamar Valley is where there are huge herds of bison. Sometimes wolves and grizzly can be seen, but to the naked eye, they are usually just specs in the distance.
West Yellowstone in the fall is typically not very crowded and a great time to see fall foliage and Yellowstone’s numerous attractions. The risk is cold weather and snow. Which, we had on this trip. Probably because of COVID, people aren’t traveling much outside of the USA and traveling local instead, so there were more people than usual. Animals are getting ready for winter, putting on their winter weight and coats.
Teton National Park is in northwestern Wyoming, just south of Yellowstone National Park. It was established in 1929. We haven’t been here in over 10 years and were looking forward to seeing the striking Teton range, but haze from all the western fires almost completely hid them from view on some days. From Thayne, Wyoming it was a two hour drive.
Last Updated: May 25, 2026
We spent a full week in Gardiner, Montana, at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. It was the perfect base — a short drive to the entrance gate, and each morning we were greeted by elk and pronghorn antelope right along the road. We explored the park on multiple days, covering the Lamar Valley, Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris Geyser Basin, the Madison River corridor, and more thermal features than we could fit into one visit.
Last Updated: May 25, 2026
From the Bighorn Mountains, we headed west to Cody, Wyoming — the eastern gateway to Yellowstone and one of the most historically rich small towns in the American West. It rained for much of our stay, but that didn’t slow us down. We spent a half-day at the extraordinary Buffalo Bill Center of the West, made a full day trip into Yellowstone through the dramatic east entrance, and enjoyed every bite of the local homemade food.
