7 Days in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons

June 2-8, 2024

Three years ago in September of 2021, my husband and I took our first trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. It was a 10 day trip with our original plan being to split the time equally between Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. However, because of raging wildfires in Washington there was very little visibility of the Tetons, even on the trails (and the smoke made breathing more difficult), so we decided to cut our time short in the Tetons and spent the majority in Yellowstone. 

This time we decided to take our trip in early June when the chances of wildfires were much lower. There were also the added bonuses of fewer crowds and snow still being on the Tetons for gorgeous views. 

Because we spent the majority of our time on our previous trip in Yellowstone, we focused more heavily on the Tetons this trip. 

**All photos shown were taken on either my iPhone 13 ProMax or my husband’s Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.**

Day 1: 

After our flight landed in Bozeman around 11:30 AM, we picked up our rental car and drove to an REI conveniently 15 minutes from the airport to pick up camp fuel for trail meals and bear spray (since you can’t fly with those things, unfortunately). We also stopped at Smith’s grocery store for trail snacks. We ate a delicious lunch at Backcountry Burger Bar in downtown Bozeman.  

We then drove to Mammoth Hot Springs which took a little less than two hours. Since we got there later in the afternoon, most of the crowds were already gone which was fantastic. We were able to enjoy the boardwalks at the thermal areas mostly alone. 

That night we stayed at the Mammoth Hot Springs Lodge. While the lodge rooms were nice and comfortable, I highly recommend the cabins with the outdoor hot tubs which is where we stayed on our last trip since we spent two nights there.  

Day 2: 

We woke up before dawn and drove into Lamar Valley (this was something we did not get to do on our previous trip because the road was closed). We saw a plethora of wildlife including bison, pronghorn antelope, a black bear, a cinnamon bear, and a wolf (it was laying down and even with binoculars I could barely tell that it was an animal, but people with fancy scopes said it was a wolf for sure.) Binoculars are a definite must for wildlife viewing. 

Now it was time to make our way to the Grand Tetons via Grand Loop Road which was open for the summer. We were able to make several scenic stops along the way including Calcite Springs overlook and Tower Falls. Grand Canyon of Yellowstone was on our route so of course we stopped there and went to Artist Point. We also ate lunch at the diner at the visitor center area and the food was pretty decent. 

Mud Pots was our final stop in Yellowstone. This is one of my favorite geothermal areas because of Dragon’s Mouth spring and the Mud Volcano. There is a lot to see here in a relatively short walk so it’s definitely worth a stop!

As we were leaving Mud Pots, we were able to pull over to a parking area on the side of the road to see a grizzly bear grazing on a hill! We didn’t see one on our last trip and my hope was to see one from afar from the safety of our car (and hopefully not on a trail!) and my wishes came true!  

Finally we made it to Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton which is where we would spend our next 4 nights. We got a Mountain View cottage room that had our own porch and it was totally worth it for the view.  After we checked in, we drove up Signal Mountain summit to see some sunset views (and another cinnamon bear and a mule deer) and then snagged a takeout dinner from the Lodge diner to take back to our room. It was early to bed for us that night but I was able to get a fantastic sunset shot from our porch (taken around 9:15 PM). 

Day 3: 

Today was our first big day of hiking. On our last trip we hiked Cascade Canyon but because of all the smoke we weren’t able to fully take in the beauty of it. So we really wanted to do it on this trip (and take advantage of the ferry this time to cut 4 miles total off the trail). Today (June 4th) was the first day that the Jenny Lake shuttle started operating at 7 AM so we were there to get on the 8 AM shuttle (at the time we went it was $20 cash per person). 

After getting off the shuttle, we went to Hidden Falls and then Inspiration Point. This part of the trail has the worst elevation gain and it gets much easier after that. The views in the canyon were everything I hoped it would be! There were amazing waterfalls cascading down the mountain sides and an incredible amount of volume in the river from the snowmelt.  

Our original plan was to go all the way to Lake Solitude. When we told some workers at the shuttle that that was our plan, we were warned that there was still deep snow at higher elevation. We had microspikes and trekking poles so we decided we would just see how it went. At the end of Cascade Canyon trail, where it splits to go to Lake Solitude, we put on our microspikes because the snow was already getting heavier. The trail was obvious for about three-quarters of a mile until it got to an open area and at that point we were just following footprints. We made it to a bridge crossing and that’s where my husband decided it was best we turn around. The footprints were getting fewer and because of the snow you couldn’t see a trail. While that was a bit disappointing, it’s always best to not exceed your skill level and practice safety first. The open area we were in had fantastic 360 views so we sat and enjoyed that before heading back down. 

When we got back to Inspiration Point, we spent some time watching an adorable family of marmots. That night we ate dinner on the rooftop deck of Dornan’s Pizza that had great views of the Tetons as well as delicious pizza and garlic cheese bread. 

Day 4: 

We got up early to head to Mormon Row for sunrise pictures of the famous barns. Surprisingly there weren’t as many people there as we were anticipating which was great! 

We then headed to the Death Canyon trailhead. On the way we were able to see our first moose of the trip! 

The Death Canyon trail was fantastic. We passed the Phelps Lake overlook point not far into the trail and were able to see the Gros Ventre mountains in the distance. The wildflowers were in abundance which were gorgeous. We even spotted a bear and a moose in an open spot down by the lake which was pretty unexpected but awesome! The views in Death Canyon were stunning as well and we saw very few people.

(Not the best quality photo - my husband had to zoom in quite a bit on his phone)

We had to put our microspikes about half a mile before we came to the cabin because the snow was getting deep. Our plan was to hike the trail to Albright Peak a couple of miles past the ranger cabin to an overlook where we should have some great views. Not too far past the cabin a moose walked out right in front of my husband and was not in a hurry to move on into the woods. To give him some space and time to move on, we went back to an open spot where we had some great views to cook lunch. As we were sitting there, a solo hiker who had passed us earlier in the day came back down the trail and told us that he attempted to go on but the snow was getting really bad and he stopped seeing footprints to follow. We took that as our cue to enjoy the views we had and to make our way back down the trail. 

That night we had dinner reservations at the Mural Room at Jackson Lake Lodge. The view was spectacular and the food was pretty good. I’ve definitely had better at lodges in national parks (specifically The Ahwahnee in Yosemite) but it was definitely worth eating dinner there. 

That night we woke up at midnight to stargaze. We drove 5 minutes down the road where there was a decent parking lot and took it all in. The Milky Way was visible as well as the most stars I’ve ever seen (we were there around a new moon). Definitely worth losing a bit of sleep over! 

Day 5: 

Today was our last full day in the Tetons. We did the hike I was most looking forward to - Delta Lake. While this is not a park-maintained trail (it’s considered a “social trail”) it is very well traveled. Learning from the snow experiences of the past two days, we read reviews on All Trails from the previous day before venturing up. The reviews said that there was still snow but that it was passable if you had the correct equipment (shoe spikes and trekking poles specifically). The trail from Lupine Meadows trailhead up to the split for Delta Lake was supposed to be fine, but it was the last 0.9 miles to the lake that was the most concerning because there was snow on top of boulder fields. For us (me especially) it was grueling. It was 74 degrees outside and the snow was quickly getting slushy. We passed a few people who had been to the lake who said it was doable, and we were following another couple who were able to get up to it without equipment. When we finally made it up, the view was absolutely worth it. The lake and peaks around it were gorgeous and we had some marmots who were fun to watch. Including us, there were only 7 people up there. We had hoped to spend an hour or more up there but because it was hot and the snow was melting quickly, we decided it would be safer to cook a quick lunch, enjoy the views for a few minutes, and then head down. All-in-all, we were at the lake for probably 30 minutes. 

The descent was the hardest because of how vertical it was. Thankfully our spikes were able to grip pretty well on the snow even though it was getting slushy. We found the best thing to do was test the snow in front of you with your poles to make sure it wouldn’t sink between boulders and try to step in the footprints of those who had gone before. When possible, we avoided “snow moats” around trees and boulders, and we also knew to avoid streams under the snow as those were places you would sink in a hurry. 

One of the coolest experiences happened on the way down, about two miles from the car. We were warned that there was a grizzly bear near the first switchback, so we were on the lookout. Near that area my husband, who was in front, saw a bear ten feet off the trail so we quickly backed up. Thankfully it wasn’t a grizzly but a cinnamon bear and there didn’t appear to be a cub around. We got our bear spray out and stood at a respectful distance to wait for it to move on. Not too long after a group of 3 came behind us and then another family of 3. The bear was not in any hurry at all. She scratched an itch, grazed for food, and then decided to lay down in a stream crossing the trail where she played in the water. It was absolutely adorable to watch! We all were making noise and trying to get her to move on and she eventually crossed the trail but was right off the trail continuing to eat (we had been there about 15 minutes at that point). One of the men went off-trail up and around and stood on the other side with his bear spray. Since she didn’t seem bothered by that, we all followed his path as a group (with our bear spray at the ready just in case) and were able to make it around her with no issues. 

Dinner that evening was at Trapper Grill at Signal Mountain Lodge. This was one of my favorite meals because they had local options - our favorites were the trout dip and the huckleberry goat cheese melt with bacon and jalapeños. 

Day 6: 

We got up early again to take sunrise photos at Snake River overlook. There were only 5 people there which was fantastic. 

It was then time to start making our way to Old Faithful in Yellowstone. We were spending our last night of the trip at Old Faithful Inn so we had all day to see the geysers and geothermal pools. 

We were able to see Old Faithful erupt several times. We also made it to Riverside Geyser (my personal favorite) as it was erupting and saw Grand Geyser erupting from afar. 

We continued past Riverside Geyser to see one of my favorite geothermal pools - Morning Glory pool.

 The wildflowers around the geothermal areas were beautiful as well!

That afternoon we went to Grand Prismatic overlook as well as the boardwalk up to Grand Prismatic. This was the only day of the whole trip that one of the infamous afternoon thunderstorms popped up but it blew by fairly quickly. 

For dinner we had reservations at the Old Faithful Inn dining room. Again, the food was good but it wasn’t anything spectacular. The architecture of the dining room itself is very grand (as is the rest of the Inn).  

Day 7: 

We got up early to see Old Faithful erupt one more time. Because we didn’t need to be at the airport in Bozeman until 1:00 PM, we didn’t have to rush too much but we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time in case there was a “bison jam”. Thankfully there wasn’t, and the drive back to Bozeman was beautiful. 

Reflections:

We had an incredible trip. As far as actually being able to see the Grand Tetons and enjoy the trails there without smoke and haze like our previous September trip, early June was a fantastic time to go. It also seemed to be less crowded, and all of the roads and lodges were open as well as the Jenny Lake shuttle. The early wildflowers were gorgeous also. 

While seeing snow on the Tetons was stunning, it obviously posed hiking challenges. For lower elevations it wasn’t much of an issue but since we like to do longer and higher elevation hikes (around 9,000-10,000 feet), early June wasn’t the best since we do not live in an area that frequently gets snow and we do not have much snow hiking experience. I was definitely glad that I bought microspikes (instead of just YakTracks) before this trip, and trekking poles are a necessity in my opinion whether or not there’s snow. If we had gone in mid-to-late June, we probably could have done those higher elevation hikes while possibly still seeing snow on the highest peaks of the Tetons, but the trade-off is that it definitely would have been more crowded.