Yellowstone & Grand Teton

I am no expert on this area but I went with my wife and 2 kids (9 & 10) this past summer. I posted a trip review then, but can highlight a few things that we enjoyed. Here is that review: LINK If you are just now starting to plan for a trip in 2022 I am afraid you may be out of luck. If you really want to do it right you need to reserve about a year in advance.

Our trip was 8 nights with my wife and 2 kids. We are all active and enjoy hiking. We are also up and at 'em type vacationers. For this trip you have to be- this isn't the trip to sleep until 9 am and then wander around for breakfast.

We flew into Jackson Hole- this airport will be closed this year from April-June. Rented a suburban and also rented bear spray and an ice chest. We spent an hour or 2 in JH seeing the town then hit a grocery store and set off for the drive to Yellowstone.

We spent 4 nights inside Yellowstone, moving around each night. This is the best advice I can give you. To see the whole park you cannot stay in the same lodging every night. It is a lot of loading and unloading suitcases but it is far and away the best thing to do.

Inside Yellowstone we hit the usual sights-
Old Faithful and geyser basin- sort of underwhelming
Grand Canyon Area- went at 7 am and had the place to ourselves. Beautiful photo opportunities
Lamar Valley- go early and drive through to see all kinds of wildlife
Mammoth Springs- okay, nothing special
There are plenty of falls you can see from the road. You can drive up, pull off to the side and walk over for a bit then get back on the road to the next site.

Favorite Hikes in YS:
Brink of upper/lower falls
Wriath Falls
Fairy Falls
Trout Lake

To me the attraction of Yellowstone is the wildlife. You literally drive around all day and pull over and see buffalo, elk, coyotes/wolves, and sometimes bears.
The scenery is nice but it takes a backseat to just existing in the wild for a few days. Driving through Hayden Valley one morning we had a buffalo trotting alongside our vehicle blowing smoke out of his nostrils. It was thrilling.

Food in Yellowstone is generally terrible. Coffee was basically water and food is pre-packages Aramark style shite. We made sandwiches for most of our meals.

Grand Teton park is all about the scenery. Seeing the mountain peaks every morning was spiritual for me. We stayed at Jenny Lake Lodge for 2 nights. The number 1 hike is the trail to Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point. We took the fairy across Jenny Lake and this was the most crowded portion of our trip. We also visited Mormon Row and saw the old homestead and barns of some of the early settlers. Really cool and you can get the classic Teton picture with the barns in the foreground.

There are many pullout points in the Tetons (that's what she said) all with different views/angles of the peaks. We did a horseback ride through the park and it was great.

The last part of our trip was 2 nights in Jackson. The city can really be seen in a day, it is a beautiful mountain town. We rafted the Snake River with Dave Hansen, it was a blast. The square is nice, but it is disappointing to see so many touristy T-shirt shops so front and center. There are amazing shops and galleries, right next to a place selling Big Johnson type shirts etc.

We went the last week of May and the weather was perfect. Cool mornings and 70's in the afternoons. Lot of snow at higher elevations, but none in Jackson. We travel quite a bit and this trip was our favorite so far. In fact, my wife and I are heading back in September to stay at Jenny Lake again and do some of the more challenging hikes.

Not being a dick but this thread comes up once a month. Try a search. There's tons of info.

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Does this include your travel days to and from? That's not much time if so fwiw.

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No, it's 4 full days in the parks with travel days before and after.

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Please help us by defining spring? Exact time is fairy important as weather changes drastically and many people from the south don’t understand their seasons.

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This X100.

We were there the weekend before before Memorial Day weekend in 2007 and there was still snow on the side of the road and snow showers overnight. The northeast entrance to Yellowstone was closed, as was the northern loop between Canyon Village and Mammoth Hot Springs because the plows had not cleared Dunraven Pass.