If you travelling parents out there are anything like my husband and I, we do everything with our kids. Feel like hiking some mountains? Bring the babies. Want to swim in the ocean? Pack the diaper bag. The boys make travel that much more exciting as we see this incredible world through the wonder in their eyes. The bonding our whole family experiences by travelling all over, camping in our pop up, and generally seeking out adventure whenever possible can’t be overstated.
That being said, when it came time to figure out the plan for my husband Matt and my 12th Anniversary this year, we decided to try a different sort of adventure. Like many, when we were first married, money was limited so if we went somewhere, it was to visit family and stay with them. This normally involved such exotic locations as Ohio or New Jersey. In fact, the only reason we were able to travel to Kauai on our honeymoon was that it was given as a gift. So, a week and a half before our Anniversary, as we sat down to lunch together, we began to spit ball about where would we want to go if we could go anywhere with just the two of us. The obvious answer for anyone with any level of adventurous itching feet was of course, Yellowstone.
And that is how we found ourselves on an airplane, leaving our babies for the first time with their grandparents, flying from one big sky to another, all the way to Bozeman, MT. We, like many in the Southern US, try to rack up the Southwest points whenever possible since it flies out of all our local airports. Amazingly, we found out that the airline recently added a new destination, flying into Bozeman, MT, just a few hours North of Yellowstone National Park’s northern entrance om Gardiner, MT. The airport itself was adorable, with a very rustic log cabin look and feel and replicas of dinosaur fossils filling the baggage claim area.
In the kind of win that can only be the Universe telling you you’re doing the right thing, we randomly got a free upgrade to a Jeep Wrangler at the Car Rental in the airport.
We drove down through the Gardiner, MT entrance and made an obligatory quick stop to snap some photos of the famous North Gate.
From here, we drove down to Tower Junction and turned east towards the Lamar Valley. We had a chance to visit this area of the park when we stayed in Red Lodge, Montana outside the Northeast entrance, last year. Red Lodge is on the other side of the Bear Tooth Highway, considered the most scenic road in America. The high elevation combined with the Northern Latitude means the road is often impassable, even as late as June due to snow. When we stayed for a month from late May to late June, we had to go through the East and North entrances several times due to snow, so be prepared to change plans as needed if you choose to stay in this beautiful area.
For this trip, however, we decided to stay in Cooke City, Montana. As you exit the Northeast entrance, the first “town” you come to is Silver Gate. This is a glorified old mining settlement with little to no infrastructure. There are cabins to rent here but we were informed by locals that they are rustic and one should be prepared to share them with rodents if staying there. Yeah…nope. So, instead we stayed in the Soda Butte Lodge in Cooke City, Montana. Cooke City is just a few miles down the road from Silver City but has more amenities. There are two gas stations, several restaurants, and a fun local bar with pool tables. There are several lodging options available in town and the entire economy is built around the summer months when tourists come in to see the park. During the fall and winter, the entire place apparently shuts down with only a few “locals” remaining through the hard winter. The town was hit hard by COVID and the impacts to the tourist industry so it felt good to spend some money here and help the local people who rely on visitors.
If you’re interested in getting some local know-how on your side, there are apparently some top notch tours available in the park starting out of Cooke City. We didn’t get a chance this time but the winter snow mobile wolf watching tour has definitely been added to the bucket list!
The Miner’s Saloon was our favorite thing in Cooke City. They had fabulous pizza which made for perfect caloric therapy at the end of a long day of hiking, bar games, and fantastic people watch. 10/10 recommend this place!
After we arrived to our hotel (which was in some disrepair but was clean and free of mold etc.), we had some bison based dinner and got cracking on our plans for Day 1 in the park.
On our first day, we decided to drive down to the Norris Geyser Basin area. Many of the Geothermal features in the park are located on the Western and Southwestern sides so we new it would be a bit of a drive. Last time we visited we came for a full month but with so much to see, we weren’t able to see even many of the main “highlights”. To be honest, you would devote your entire life to seeing everything in this park and barely scratch the surface so prioritization and planning isn’t just smart, it’s necessary.
Understandably, the geothermal features are a huge crowd drawing mechanism. Yellowstone contains more geothermal features than anywhere else on Earth and they are absolutely incredible. Yes, everyone should see Old Faithful but if you stop there, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. The Geysers, Mudpots, Fumeral Holes, and Hot Springs are an awe inspiring reminder that you are standing on a thin piece of crust on top of one of the largest Super Volcanoes in the world. On the west side of the park, the smell of Sulphur fills the air.
If I could give 3 pieces of advice regarding the thermal features, they would be the following:
- Don’t stay by the Western Entrance. I realize this is personal preference but I found this area to be too built up and touristy. There are different levels of comfort with wilderness out there but it seems counterproductive to visit one of the most beautiful, pristine in-tact wildernesses on Earth and then essentially stay in a plastic Disney World. Just me.
- Visit the big hitters on off-days. Grand Prismatic Spring, Old Faithful, Mammoth Hot Springs… every human should see them but if you want to be strategic and really enjoy them rather than being jostled by crowds, you should try to visit on a weekday and if possible early in the morning when no one else is around.
- Read “Death in Yellowstone” before you go. Yes, this sounds morbid but it’s actually a good idea. When I visited the features on our first trip to Yellowstone, I certainly understood they were dangerous and very hot but I don’t think I fully appreciated just how dangerous and just how hot. Death in Yellowstone goes through the many stories of people who either purposefully or accidentally have taken plunges in these pools. All in all, it gave me a very healthy respect and fear of these awe-inspiring sites.
As a side note to #3, while we were visiting the Old Faithful Basin, we literally witnessed a woman step off the boardwalk, right past the warning signs with her young son (maybe 2 or 3), take him by the hand, and proceed to stretch down to put it into liquid hot silica coming out the think ground. Suffice to say, I yelled at her and directed her to get back on the boardwalk right away but many people are not that lucky. Don’t add your count to the Darwin Awards and stay on the marked path!
Soliday Holidays 