Yellowstone National Park – trip planning
I spent June 25, 26, and 27, 2018 in Yellowstone National Park trying to see as much as I could in a short time. The excessive crowds didn’t help that endeavor a whole lot. There were places I couldn’t even get into the parking lot so I ended up going back late in the day.
Before going I researched and downloaded the Yellowstone tour by GyPSy Guides. After using it for three days I will always check to see if they have a tour available for a location I’m headed to. It was the best $7 I could have spent (and I am not being paid by them for this review). The tour told me about places I would have missed and provided so much interesting information about the geology and animals in the park that it was great to have along. For someone traveling solo, it felt like a had some very knowledgeable company along — an unexpected bonus.
I spoke to a couple ladies while waiting for Old Faithful who had used the GyPSy Hawaii tour and said it had been excellent as well.
One negative – it overheated my phone and drained the battery to the point I had a terrible time keeping it charged since my vehicle’s 12 volt outlets turn off when the vehicle isn’t running and I spent a lot of time outside the vehicle. Turning the app off and restarting was a pain so I’d leaving it running while the truck was stopped. Since I was camping, the truck was my only charging option. It’s a minor negative — I figured out how to baby my phone so I didn’t lose the tour. It’s a big program so be sure to download this app while on WIFI. You might want to get Teton and Yellowstone together for $9.99
I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten in and out of my vehicle so many times. There is so much to see, so many places to stop. And all of it worth it in my opinion.
If you are headed to Yellowstone MAKE RESERVATIONS well IN ADVANCE. I don’t care whether it’s for a room or a campsite — do it as early as you possibly can, especially if you’ll be visiting in July or August. There are tons of lodging options and my guess is they were all fully booked when I was there. I know the campgrounds were full.
An additional note: quiet time in the campgrounds is from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. Don’t be the jerk campers that are rowdy in that time period. I experienced them and I wanted to throttle someone — instead I put in earplugs. The campground encourage campers to call 911 if people aren’t respecting the quiet hours — I would encourage you to call at 10:15 or 10:30. I had my phone turned off and in the truck and I didn’t want to slam a truck door at 11:30 to get it and call park law enforcement. I regret enabling bad campers.
