Thoughts on Yellowstone from Dad

We stayed at the Gray Wolf Inn and Suites in West Yellowstone, which was an excellent choice for families. A suite is worth it when going to Yellowstone, mainly for the space and the kids. Unfortunately, the major drawback of this place was the god-awful wifi. The wifi was always very spotty during high-traffic times, and seemingly cannot handle a lot of traffic (like, ever). This place had a great breakfast, free ice cream in the afternoon, and free s’mores at night. It also had a good, clean pool and hot tub, and a good fitness center.

In Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon area and the Norris Geysers are totally worth the hikes. These places are just so cool and unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There are huge waterfall views and the geysers and hot springs are all really cool. I would highly recommend taking all possible hikes (even with kids!) and turning off at every cool spot.

An incredible view of the Grand Canyon after a short hike!

Hot springs and geysers. Just amazing!

Watching geysers erupt was mesmerizing.

I would also strongly recommend using the Gypsy app as a tour guide for your visit. This app was great and completely worth the price; even the kids loved listening! The app also works despite the fact that there is no cell reception in the park.

Leaving the park at 5pm is a really bad idea, however. Crazy traffic. But in our case it was due to an elk family hanging out by Madison river!

Oh Hi Elk family! Amazing, but led to some real traffic problems 😂

We also took a self-guided UTV Tour. Lion’s Head was an interesting journey up the mountain, but there wasn’t really a scenic end point. It was fun driving in the UTV though; there were lots of hills on the trail getting there. Unfortunately the map wasn’t that great. Running Bear was a nice little restaurant by the UTV rental place that was good for lunch.

A shot from our UTV trip up to Lion’s Head

For dinner in West Yellowstone, Buffalo Bar is well worth the wait. They had great beer, great food, slots and poker; just a cool spot.

Buffalo Balls and Beer at the Buffalo Bar; tasty, and a great spot

We then took a wildlife tour with Yellowstone Wild Tours. This, friends, was absolutely incredible. We got so many live shots of Yellowstone animals. Our tour guide Frank was amazing and could spot anything. He did a great job of setting up scopes for the kids and us that allowed us to view bison, black bears, grizzly bears, etc. Just so cool. Reminder: Tipping is 20% of the total price you paid, and best to have cash on hand. The lunch spread was also great. There was also as much hot cocoa and coffee as you need. You have to get up early for the tour, but it is totally worth it. 5+ stars for this tour!!!

Frank helped us watch two grizzly bears through a scope! Just so cool.

Firehole falls is a really cool turnoff on the way to Old Faithful. The fountain paint pots (boiling mud) and the fountain geyser were both super cool. Same for the grand prismatic hot spring and the crater geyser…and hot waterfalls!

Fountain paint pots: bloop!

Grand Prismatic…no words. A bit of a hike is required for the best view.

The Old Faithful area is like a mini-metropolis. All the geysers and springs were really cool…worth the relatively long walk! And check out the Old Faithful Inn before you depart.

Old Faithful erupts every 90 minutes.

Simply put, Yellowstone was inspiring and incredible, and you could dedicate several days to fully exploring it. I loved it.