Travel

Visiting Yellowstone and the Tetons

Posted Updated

If you visit the wildly diverse and massive Yellowstone National Park, it only makes sense to visit Grand Teton National Park just to the south.

We flew into Jackson Airport which is the only commercial airport located within a national park in America. A great place to stay is Signal Mountain Lodge with one of the grandest lakeside and mountain views in the country.

The first morning I joined a photographers' club from Colorado at the site of some old farm buildings and houses in the Antelope Flats area of the Tetons. The early morning light led to some wonderful photographs along Mormon Row.

A scenic boat ride across Jenny Lake and a hearty hike up past Inspiration Point highlighted our first full afternoon in the park. That evening we looked for wildlife in Oxbow Bend but found only mosquitoes.

A two-hour raft ride down the Snake River highlighted day two. We saw five bald eagles and elk along the way.

While the Tetons impressed me with their majestic beauty, Yellowstone blew me away with its high adrenaline climate. There is just so much to see in this park. We started with the iconic Old Faithful geyser and then enjoyed some of the rotten egg, bubbling sulfuric wonders nearby.

The second day in Yellowstone began with an awe-inspiring trip to Artist's Point and a look into the Grand Canyon of the park and some glorious waterfalls. We also enjoyed the colorful Grand Prismatic spring.

While in the park, we stayed at Lake Yellowstone Hotel and a cabin in the Canyon area.

Hayden and Lamar Valleys offered fantastic wildlife viewing points. Here we saw elk, bison, moose, wolves, coyotes and a black bear. We even caught a mountain goat giving birth on a steep river cliff.

The crescendo came along the west bank of Yellowstone Lake where we saw a massive grizzly bear.

Tetons and Yellowstone! Truly one of America's greatest trips!

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.