America’s first national park is popular for a reason—but is it really worth the money?
This summer , my phratry and I plan a summertime stumble to the OG of national parks : Yellowstone . Established in 1872 as the first interior park in both the US and the entire globe , it ’s dependable to say that the parking area — with its scenic geyser , hot springs , and canyons — has never been more pop . We visited in mid - June , a busy sentence , so our approach was to either start our days very too soon or very late to sidestep the crowds ( looter alert : It sort of worked ) .
I journey with my parent , babe , and brother - in - law , making our company five grownup in sum . We were there to explore the park and see geyser and wildlife , but our main precedence was just to spend quality time together . We all live on in different parts of the world and do n’t see each other as often as we ’d care . With a shared cacoethes for the outdoors , we ’ve found that internal park make ideal location for our multi - generational family trips , and Yellowstone was no exception . However , while entry to US national parking lot is low-cost , it ’s well - known that lodging and intellectual nourishment in areas near national common can be high , so I was a little unsure what to expect regarding budgeting .
However , looking back on the misstep , I can say that Yellowstone is unlike anywhere I ’ve ever been . Between that and the family time , my sojourn was absolutely worth the price .
Design by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist
About the traveler
Job : Freelance writer and digital marketerAnnual salary:$71,000 - 90,000 per yearLocation of abidance : Sydney , AustraliaAge:41
About the vacation
Where : Yellowstone National ParkHow long : Six days of a two - workweek tripPlanned budget:$3,000
Upfront costs
Flights:$1,724 . I ’m an American living in Australia , which mean every trip-up back home is an epical journey . Let ’s just say I ’ve receive pretty good atsleeping in thriftiness . To vanish from Sydney , Australia to Bozeman , Montana , I ante up a gut - wrenching $ 1,724 . But this is a special family trip , and character time with kin is invaluable , proper ? ( I prompt myself of this as I entered my debit visiting card point to pay up for my Qantas flights and keep an eye on my checking account counterweight shrink . )
Rental auto and accommodation:$903 . For $ 461 , my family rented an sport utility vehicle to get aroundMontanaandWyomingfor five day . We also stay in vacation renting in both Bozeman and West Yellowstone , which came out to $ 1,223 in total . However , my parents very kindly pay the lion ’s share of both the rental car and the holiday renting . My portion of these monetary value was $ 500 . My babe and I had also planned a special one - night stay in Yellowstone ’s Lake Lodge Cabins as a birthday present for my papa . We rented two cabins at $ 403 per cabin , and my babe and I split the monetary value .
Day by day
Day 1 - Wednesday
entire cost : $ 26.07The journey begins ! To get from my home in Sydney to the airport , I took the railroad train ( $ 16.09 ) , by far the fastest and cheap option . I ate breakfast at home but pick up a savorless E. B. White on the means ( $ 3.03 ) .
I get on my Qantas trajectory , which offered meals and snacks at no additional cost . While the flight took 15 hours , it was still Wednesday when I arrived in the US , thanks to the International Date Line . I picked up an iced caffe latte ( $ 6.95 ) during my stop in Dallas , then continued on to Bozeman .
My parent had arrived in Bozeman the day before , so they had already picked up the rental car and checked into our fitting . When I arrived that even , they meet me at the airport . I was so excited to see them , but also pretty beat after almost 24 hour of traveling . We point back to the house , spent some time catch up , and then I fell deceased passably early on .
Day 2 - Thursday
Total cost : $ 83.47Slightly still wrecked from jet lag , we spend our first full trip Clarence Shepard Day Jr. inBozeman , exploring the cute , historical college town . We popped into Zocalo Coffee House for a morning iced latte ( $ 4.50 ) before browse the touristed shops along Main Street . A few souvenir magnets and postcards were in order ( $ 19.97 ) . For breakfast and dejeuner , my parents had stocked up on some groceries before I go far , a cheap alternative than eating out for every meal , so we wipe out at our rental firm .
afterward that Clarence Day , my babe and her hubby fly in and we all checked out the mythic Museum of the Rockies ( admission $ 20 per mortal ) , which is mob with absorbing dinosaur dodo and a complete T. male monarch skeleton .
pace back to the modern earthly concern after our raid into the previous Cretaceous period of time , we had our first kinsfolk dinner of the holiday at Montana Ale Works , a fun brewery housed in the former Northern Pacific rail freight building . Burgers and a few craft beers ( $ 39 per person ) did n’t disappoint .
Jason Edwards/The Image Bank/Getty Images
Day 3 - Friday
entire price : $ 861I woke up excited to in the end search Yellowstone . We were all feeling eager to get to the green , but first we blockade for coffee and sinker from a nearby bakery ( $ 6.80 per individual ) before hitting the route . We cruised the 90 arcminute or so from Bozeman to Gardiner , house to Yellowstone ’s North Entrance .
commonly , entry into Yellowstone National Park is $ 35 per private vehicle , valid for up to seven back-to-back days . However , if you get laid parks and plan to visit a few throughout the year , I extremely boost you to grease one’s palms an annual home passport ; my parents really have a Lifetime Senior Pass , so with that , we were all able to infix the green at no additional price .
Lunch was packed sandwich and yield , and we drop the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. check out some of the highlights near the park ’s North Entrance , include Mammoth Hot Springs . While we explored the park , we spot a few elk , bison , and a black bear with two lad ( from a secure aloofness ) , so all of us were in a great mood .
Photos by Katie Dundas
That night , we all stay in Yellowstone ’s Lake Lodge Cabins , which my sister and I had booked as a birthday present for my dad . This was unquestionably a splurge , but was entirely deserving it . Staying inside the green , after the cache of holidaymaker have gone , is so dissimilar from being there in the daytime .
We watched the sundown from the Lake Lodge ’s gorgeous porch , complete with rocking chairperson . We brought down some bourbon from our cabin for a celebratory DIY cocktail before enjoy a beer or two from the hotel taproom , Wylie ’s Canteen ( I spent $ 25.30 ) . This all made for some truly unbend folk sentence . The gentle pastel sunset over the lake and the fun of being all together in such an iconic spot is something I ’ll remember for a long clip .
Dinner was also at Wylie ’s Canteen , and unfortunately the food for thought was n’t as nice as the setting . I ordered a rather distressing burger and minor ( $ 22.90 ) that seemed to have spent more than an ideal amount of time under a heat lamp . But hey , you do n’t come to Yellowstone for the food for thought , and rust next to prospect of the sensational Yellowstone Lake is really what it ’s all about .
Photos by Katie Dundas
The evening also brought heaps of wildlife bodily function very close to our cabin , let in a bear and a curious coyote . I think it ’s a bully spot for wildlife partisan who require to be there for nighttime beast antics .
Day 4 - Saturday
full cost : $ 487.70We were up before dawn for our Wake up to Wildlife tour ( $ 127 per person , plus tip ) , an early morning guided wildlife tour through the parking lot . This was the second part of the birthday surprisal for my dad , so I paid for my own just the ticket and split the cost of my parents ’ tickets with my sister . We clambered onto the restored 1936 historic yellow touring bus , full of prediction . Only one other Edgar Albert Guest was book in , so we basically had a secret tour . Our guide , Doug , was an rank legend who spy several grizzlies for us and was a fount of knowledge about both wildlife and the park ’s history .
Around midday , the term of enlistment finish and we check out of our cabin . Then , we warmed up with a coffee from the nearby Lake Yellowstone Hotel ( $ 4 per person ) . We spent the afternoon sightseeing , munching on bomb sandwiches and micro chip from Canyon Lodge ( $ 13.90 each ) , one of many grab - and - go type places around the park , for lunch . We ’d had to throw our groceries away , since we had n’t had a electric refrigerator in our cabins the night before , so this was the gentle pick .
For the rest period of the trip-up , we stayed in a VRBO rental in West Yellowstone , giving us more room to spread out . With a full kitchen at our letting , we stock up up on a big grocery shop for breakfasts , plus some lunches and dinners ( $ 304.30 ) . There are two grocery store stores in West Yellowstone , both sort of feel like delightful 1990s time capsules . They offer everything you involve , just do n’t expect Whole Foods vibes .
Photos by Katie Dundas
Dinner was at the mythological Yellowstone Brewing Company , a newish streak and restaurant that actually occupies a former school gymnasium . We enjoyed hand - cut fries , and I had a delicious grill chicken salad with a few craft beers ( $ 38.50 ) .
Day 5 - Sunday
Total price : $ 170.20Today our program was to explore the boardwalks along Old Faithful , Grand Prismatic , and some of the other geysers nearby , include some short hikes . We started the day late and had dejeuner at the bathetic retro dining car in West Yellowstone , Canyon Street Grill , for $ 24.85 per person . After a miscellanea of fried food , we were quick to come in the park again .
As we arrived at the parking area a footling early for the next Old Faithful eruption , we browsed the nearby Yellowstone Forever giving shop class and I found a grizzly bear baseball detonator that absolutely had to come home with me ( $ 24 ) . A percent of each sales event funds parking area preservation projects , so this purchase was a no - brainer .
In a eldritch weather turn , after a few days in the fourscore , we know a snow-clad Clarence Day at the park , so we felt a piece chilly as we watched Old Faithful . After the eruption and some hiking , we did something pretty unique : a walk duty tour of the historical Old Faithful Inn , just step from the geyser . This stunning rustic lodgepole pine hotel in the beginning open in 1904 and gave way to the term Parkitecture . It ’s easily one of the most jaw - drop hotels within any national common . However , as you might expect , it ’s quite expensive to stick here , so the barren guided term of enlistment was the next good thing . Armed with hot chocolates ( $ 4.50 each ) , we join along on the tour , which become out to be very crowded , but pack with historical anecdotes of early ballpark tourism and play stories from a passionate parking lot ranger .
Photos by Katie Dundas
After the walk tour wind up , we adjudicate to nobble off to the Old Faithful Inn ’s barroom — a quick whiskey from the delicious Bear Pit Lounge ( $ 11 , plus tip ) was in society before we head back to West Yellowstone that eventide . possibly it was the hard liquor talking , but I decide to complement my fresh gray-haired hat with one more relic , the tackiest Yellowstone T - shirt I could witness ( $ 23.90 ) .
As you might expect , the geyser areas near the park West Entrance are some of the most extremely democratic areas to visit , so these areas get very crowded . It just takes one bison meandering near the check to cause Brobdingnagian backup on the park ’s roads . We started calling these slowdowns buffalo jams , and they really impacted our drive back to the holiday rental ; by the meter we got out of the park , it was almost 10 premier and we were all pretty all in .
On the room home , we stopped for a few pizzas and salads in town from the aptly named Wild West Pizzeria ( $ 81.75 each ) and ate at the mansion .
Photos by Katie Dundas
Day 6 - Monday (and beyond)
Total cost : $ 17.80On Monday , we say our auf wiedersehen to my sister and her hubby and dropped them off at West Yellowstone drome for their flight back home . We then grab a quick luncheon from Ernie ’s Bakery & Deli in town ( $ 17.80 each ) before we headed back to our rental home . It had been a big few 24-hour interval and we were all experience tired , so we had a lazy afternoon at the household and I caught up on some work . dinner party was leftovers from the fridge .
We departed the Yellowstone area on Tuesday ( and thus ended the family trip ! ) , but my parents and I spent another 10 day together after my sister and brother - in - law departed . Over the next week and a half , we explore Grand Teton National Park , and a bunch of other local state Rosa Parks and evenghost towns — there is seriously so much to see and do in this region . We also made a pilgrimage to the tiny townsfolk of Denton , Montana , where my grandfather was assume .
Still , when I see back on this time with folk , I ’ll always remember the time we spent together in Yellowstone . I ca n’t recollect of a better post to get up and enjoy some wild .
How it all broke down
Upfront and travel costs:$2,627Costs from the week:$702.74Final total:$3,329.74How I did against my original budget:$329.74 over budget
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