Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks (And More)

Road Trip 2020

In the fall of 2020, we decided to go on a Mediterranean Cruise that would leave out of Rome; however like everyone else in 2020, we adapted to a much smaller world. We instead decided to do a road trip to three of the jewels of the US National Park Service: the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier national parks. This 15 day road trip would see us drive 3,700 miles, visit a total of five national parks, three national monuments, and four national historic sites. Here’s how we did it….

This page will detail our road trip. Some of our stops were pretty epic and there are links to pages devoted to that, others were short stops that allowed us to get the most out of our time. We flew into Denver from St. Louis to save two days round-trip driving. In the era of COVID, it was a strange experience. Masks were required the whole time in the airport and throughout the flight, guaranteed open center seat, minimal flight service, but we took precautions and we stayed safe. Our poor rental car had no idea what was in store. After a thorough cleaning with alcohol wipes and detailed documenting of it’s scratches, chips, and other defects we were on the road. We didn’t bring everything we needed, just what made sense. Everything else we got in Fort Collins, CO. Items like bear bells and bear spray aren’t easy to come by in St. Louis. So if we were going to have to order it, might as well have it waiting at our destination. Side note, you can’t take bear spray on a flight, so be ready to donate it to the park rangers, or whomever else you can find at the end of any trip like this. Our first day was a pedal to the metal straight shot to Jackson, WY. since there weren’t a ton of places to see along the way and we had a solid 8 hours of driving to get there. We did stop at Wind River Brewing Company for dinner and found the first in what would be a long line of excellent beers. We stayed at Miller Park Lodge. This place left a lot to be desired, but Jackson seems to be a very expensive place to stay, regardless of the season.

After our wet hiking adventure, we took a trip to a familiar kind of stop, a winery. Just outside Jackson is Jackson Hole Winery with a pretty amazing lineup of California grown, but Wyoming fermented and aged wines. They say that with the thinner air, it adds a little something to the wine. I can’t say if it did or didn’t, but they were delicious. We even joined the wine club here, which has a waiting list, so no wine this year. Hopefully, we’ll get a case next year though. They’ve got a serine little outdoor area overlooking the mountains with a small pond, all-in-all it was a great little stop.

We had dinner at Sidewinders Tavern. They had a nice menu and their chicken fried steak was pretty good. The service was a little iffy, but it’s really hard to take away points from anyone that’s open during COVID.

We talked ourselves in to another hike to Taggert Lake since the weather was clearing up a bit, and everything I read said that this is the picture we want if we’re here; so back to the trailhead we went. As we were driving into the park, we noticed a large number of cars parked off the side of the road. Later, we would come to learn that this was a better indicator of wildlife than any broken branches, tracks, or droppings. A herd of Elk were traveling close to the road right at sunrise, so we jumped out and got our pictures, remembering to keep a safe distance.

After our wildlife encounter, we resumed our trip to Tagger Lake. The short hike in was a welcome change from the previous day; still no bears where it seems like there should have been some. There was an breeze over the lake, but it wasn’t consistent, so at times we were able to get some pretty good shots of the still water. The wind was coming in during spurts, so we were able to wait it out initially, but as it got warmer out, the wind became more consistent. Therefore, it was good that we got there as early as we did.

We felt like we hit the top spots for casual hikers here and decided to start our journey north to Yellowstone. With the wind starting to pickup, glass lake pictures were no longer going to be possible anywhere else, so we picked our spots along the way, and the further we got, the bigger the range became. The colors began to become more brilliant as we got further from the pine dominated mountains, pictures around Jackson Lake were especially seasonal.

As we continued north we ended up in a strange traffic jam. It took us about a half hour to realize that we were in line to get through the gate for Yellowstone. The two parks border each other, so once you’re in this line, there really is no choice but to sit, we had no reception on our phone and were only able to listen to a Mormon sermon on the radio. Once we got through the gate, we stopped at the first popular turnout we could find to stretch our legs and get some pictures along the Lewis River.

Our next move was to check the Geyser hotline…. yeah that’s totally a thing at Yellowstone. They can predict some of the Geysers plus/minus ten minutes, others border on an hour, but it certainly helps when planning your day. As luck would have it, Old Faithful had a scheduled blow soon. We had some time so we made a quick stop over at the West Thumb Geyser Basin. There are plenty of hot springs, steaming cones, and multi-colored runoffs, all on the shore of the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. Once the time got close enough, it was on to Old Faithful, which was only about 10 minutes late. We were told by a guide there are usually a few teasers, but usually it’s somewhere around 5-7, one said they say 18 before Old Faithful finally blew.

We had dinner that night at Wild West Pizzeria & Saloon. Boy was it good. They’ve got a really big menu, lots of wine and beer, and they even had Rainier, which was a beer we thought was fictional since we’d only ever seen it on the show Longmire.

Our first full day in Yellowstone (as if yesterday hadn’t been full enough) was an early one, we had a long way to go today and weren’t really sure what the crowds would look like. The steam coming off the river in the morning were amazing, nearly impossible to photography well (with our limited experience) but a great view. We made it to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone early and had the trails nearly to ourselves. The platform at the Brink of the Lower Falls provided some great pictures. We hiked to the Upper Falls as well but this one was a bit of a let down as the hike was mostly hilly and the view was only so-so. We stopped by Lookout Point afterwards and the pictures were ok, but we got much better pictures at our stop the next day….

Our next stop was the Lamar Valley, which is known as one of the best places to see wildlife in the park, but it was a haul. It seemed like everything worth seeing in the park was going to be a long drive. Lamar Valley gave us shots of the largest buffalo herd we saw on the entire trip. We also spotted a small pack of wolves that were too far away to get great pictures, but still a fun sight watching them play. There were plenty of Pronghorn grazing in the area and while taking pictures we also had a curious coyote wander through.

In addition to tons of wildlife, the valley itself couldn’t have been any prettier. The Lamar River splits this valley with the road on one side with the more curious animals and nothing but nature on the other side. Our trip down the road ended with a short hike around Trout Lake in lieu of one of the possibly bear infested hikes along the river.

On the drive back we slow rolled past the buffalo carcass that we spotted on our way out. Park rangers will regularly move carcasses to more convenient locations for bears, and this attracts a pretty large crowd of semi-professionals based on the equipment and patients; we had neither. On our way back we stopped at Wraith Falls and Undine Falls, then drove through Mammoth where we got some long distance shots of the hot springs as well as a herd of Elk wandering through town.

We had dinner at The Buffalo Bar in West Yellowstone, which looks like it would be a pretty fun place when it’s nice out and in non-COVID times. The food and beer selection was excellent. Miranda really liked the Nachos and there wasn’t a bad beer on her flight.

Our next day in Yellowstone was another packed schedule, we had two must-see stops and then a whole list of nice to have stops along the way. Stop one was the Fairy Falls, a nice little hike on the far side of the Grand Prismatic. There was a new overlook that we could hit along the way as well. It was still pretty chilly on walk out, and the fields with the river and geothermal vents looked like the opening scene from a volcano disaster movie.

On the way back (and really on the way there, but that wasn’t our plan) there is the lookout for the Grand Prismatic. This offers a much better overall view of the area than if you go to the Grand Prismatic itself. It’s a bit of a steep climb, but it’s short, and absolutely worth it. It gets busy for sure as there was a small army headed that way when we were leaving.

After our morning hike we jumped in the car for a scenic trip around the north side of Yellowstone Lake, with our eventual goal being the Natural Bridge hike near Bridge Bay. We took advantage of a couple of the turnouts and stopped at Sand Point for a short hike down to the black sand beach.

Our next stop was the the Natural Bridge Trail, which left from marina parking lot at Bridge Bay. Part of this hike shared a bike trail too, so it might be a little busy during the peak season. The hike was pretty flat with the only real elevation being the climb up to the top of the Natural Bridge, which you are no longer allowed to cross, but there’s a nice setup that allows you to walk right behind it. We encountered a rather persistent chipmunk that had obviously been well fed, and a buffalo slowly crossing the parking lot, but other than that, it was a pretty quite hike. We made a brief stopover at the Lake Village with it’s small trading post and nice bathrooms.

The next step was a bit of a smelly one, the Mud Volcano area had the stench of sulfur everywhere. We pitied the park ranger stationed there. There were several smaller sites to see along the boardwalk with their boiling mud pits and hot algae filled pools. Up the hill there were large areas of cracked landscape, boiling lakes, and sulphur spewing holes in the ground that give the whole area it’s distinct sound and smell. For once, the masks we had to wear around larger groups came in handy. They didn’t filter out the entire smell, but they helped.

Our last stop of the day was revisiting the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, but this time along the southern rim. We made two stops, first at the end of South Rim Dr. at Artists Point, this is without a doubt the best view of the falls. We spent some time along the North Rim the day before and the pictures were ok, but the views didn’t compare to the platforms on the south side. Our second stop was Uncle Tom’s Point, but we couldn’t go down to the platform along the ledge because of COVID restrictions, so it wasn’t anywhere near as good as we had read about.

We finished the day at Canyon Street Grill, a 50’s style diner that had some good food options and excellent milk shakes. This wasn’t our first choice for the night, the line at the Beartooth Barbecue didn’t seem that long, but our name never seemed to get called, so we walked across the street.

Our last full day in Yellowstone was really planned during our time here, anything neat we saw along the way we took a note and made sure we went back if there was time. The first of those stops was not in the park, but at Running Bear Pancake House. This was a pretty popular place, we waited for about 20 minutes to get in, but it was well worth it.

Our first hike of the day was the Ice Lake Trail. This was a nice, mostly flat trail that took us nearly all the way around Ice Lake, down to Little Gibbon Falls with it’s multiple fallen tree creek crossings. As we got to the end of the trail, we found ourselves in the middle of an open field, which is a very uneasy place to be, so we raised our voices, clapped, made sure our bear bells were ringing, and quickened our pace. Once we finished the last leg of this hike, which was uphill on the road, we drove to Virginia Cascades. This part of the park was a bit hard to get to, and I can only imagine it would have been a mess during the busy season. The road is one way, narrow, and has almost no actual parking making everyone pull off to the side of the road, which made it even more narrow. There are really only two points to get pictures here, unless you decide to hike off the side of the road, which was not something we were down for today.

Our next stop was Norris Geyser Basin, which was getting pretty crowded by the time we arrived in the early afternoon. There are a number of geysers here like Norris and Steamboat Geysers, as well as a number of springs and pools along the trails and boardwalks.

Our second to last stop of the day was (Big) Gibbon Falls, which we had seen several times from the road, but hadn’t stopped yet. There’s a view from the top and a nice walk way to the bottom to take some pretty good pictures.

Our last stop of the day was the Artists Paintpots, a very colorful field of small geysers, springs, and cauldrons.

Dinner that night was a repeat, a lot of restaurants close for the season, so even though there were more places on our list, none of the ones that would have beat a repeat trip to Wild West Pizzeria & Saloon were open, so we had to settle for delicious pizza and some local beer.

Day 7

Our next few hours were spent killing time at breweries. The one thing we learned on this trip about Montana, is they sure have figured out beer. Our first stop was on oldie, by a goodie, Big Sky Brewing Company with their amazing Moose Drool. Our second stop was KettleHouse Brewing Co. with their excellent IPA selection and their Cold Smoke variants. They’ve also got some good looking shirts there. Our last beer stop was Bayern Brewing Inc., which wasn’t as good as the other two in our opinion, but still had some nice options, and they were doing beer flights, which a number of the breweries we tried to go to in town were not.

The dinner bell rang at 4 pm as Lolo Creek Steakhouse opened. We patiently waited for all of the 80 year old regulars to be seated and then we got in. This place was billed on a number of sites as the best steakhouse in Montana, it was certainly the best (only) one we went to. The steak was good, but it wasn’t anything I’m going to rave about, the prices weren’t awful either, all-in-all it was a good stop. Fed, watered, and re-supplied at the local Walmart, we were ready to put the last few hours in towards Whitefish Montana and our hotel at The Pine Lodge on Whitefish.

Our full Yellowstone write up and more pictures are here.

Day 8

We came across a mama bear and her three cubs, in what had to be the most fortuitous situation we could have hoped for. Not only were there cubs, which everyone always says is the most dangerous situation, but they were up on about a 10 ft. cliff. They didn’t seem threatened by us, and there was already a crowd and a park ranger there.

Still enjoying our high from finally seeing some bears, we stopped at Wild Goose Island Lookout, for some of the most picturesque scenes of the entire trip. There was a brief sighting of another black bear, but it vanished without us getting a second look. The lookout on the other hand over looked Wild Goose Island and the Saint Mary Lake with the mountains right along the lakeside.

Our last hike of the day was one that we read about as one of those “can’t miss hikes of Glacier” and it it was right on the money, The Trail of the Cedars to Avalanche Lake was a hike that just didn’t seem to ever end, but by the time we made it to the lake, we realized it was well worth it. We got a pretty good glass lake picture in Grand Teton, but this one was much better and probably far more reliable given the smaller surface area of the water.

We ended the day at Piggyback BBQ and it was delicious with the ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and mac & cheese were all delicious, not a bad thing to say about the place. Their beer selection was very good as well, a number of places we had visited along the way were represented.

We were due for another easy day since we had a doozy of a day planned for tomorrow. Today we decided on two short hikes with the first one being Johns Lake. We think we did this one right, but when you look at the maps you’ll see that there are a few options here. We made it to Johns Lake which wasn’t terribly impressive, but the hike was very nice and flat. The highlight was the walk along McDonald Creek.

Our second hike of the day was Rocky Point, which traverses the opposite side of Lake McDonald from the main road. There were some sections of elevation here, nothing too bad, mostly just to get up to the nice overlooks of the lake. This whole area was burned out back in the 90’s and has come back very well, but there are still scars all over the landscape. The view of the lake with the mountains in the background were amazing. This is not something you get along the main road, but definitely worth a look.

With the hikes for the day complete, we started on a different kind of trail, a wine trail. We’d found plenty of great beer in Montana, but a quick google search showed that there were a number of wineries in the area as well, so we decided to take a break and check them out.

MontaVino Winery - Not the easiest place to find, but once we did, it was a great experience. They’ve got a lot of dry wine from the west coast, a nice little tasting area, and an outdoor patio. All-in-all it was a nice first stop for us.

The Tailing Loop Winery - This was a one woman show and she was pulling it off. This winery has a big selection of wine, nothing really stood out, but they also had some solid meat and cheese boards and free coffee, just in case this wasn’t your first stop of the day either.

Waters Edge Winery - Waters Edge was a pretty mature operation with all of their wines being named after birds, so that causes a google search or two. The wine selection was large and the staff was very friendly, they even helped us find our dinner spot.

With the wine trail at an end, we stopped at The Desoto Grill for dinner which was an excellent pick. We shared a three meat entrée with their mac & cheese and cornbread which was all delicious!

Almost 3 miles in we arrived at Haystack pass, a fairly long and daunting looking switch back that adds almost 300 ft. of elevation in a very short distance. At the top we got our very first full valley view of the hike. On our way back, we saw plenty of people who just did this hike and turned around, because of how late in the day it was getting.

Along the way we saw a great deal of wildlife, mountain goats, rams, mule deer, and crazy little chipmunks at the top of the world.

After 7 long miles, we arrived at the base of the Glacier Overlook, the sign said .6 miles up…. it was much more than that…. much. We took our time getting to the top, taking stops when we needed. There’s a false summit that looks like it’s .6 miles up, and once we arrived, we could see that we were only about halfway up. We trudged on, and as we got closer to the top, the wind started picking up considerably. Finally at the top, we were able to sit and enjoy the view, we found a quiet ledge to sit behind and protect ourselves from the wind. Looking down we could see the glaciers, the Upper Grinnell Lake, and basically the whole half of the park that we couldn’t enter due to COVID. We planned to eat lunch at the top, but the wind was too much, and the chipmunks might have attacked us for our sandwiches.

The way back was grueling, one of the downsides to a non-loop hike is that you’ve seen it all already. It’s still very beautiful, but other than being able to see a group of mountain goats, not much was new. We got back to the car just as the sun was starting to set. It was a long day of hiking. We got some great pictures, but the jury is still out as to if it was worth it. Maybe next time, we can do the shorter trail from the other side of the park.

Our full write-up with more pictures of Glacier National Park can be found here.

It was not easy getting out of bed after the Highline Trail, so we had a pretty easy day planned out. We swung back over to the tourist trap right outside the park for a couple of souvenirs and then started our beer trail. We had a number of places picked out, some were either closed on the account of it being Monday, or were just closed for the season. The four we managed to find were:

Backslope Brewing - Our first stop of the day and we sat outside in the cool air and enjoyed a large variety of beers. The food menu looked pretty good but it was a bit early for lunch for us. Their beer menu seems to change fairly frequently, so any reviews we could provide might be meaningless, definitely worth a stop after a long day of hiking.

Bias Brewing - In the heart of Kalispell, and empty before noon on a Monday, Bias Brewing had a fun beer hall look with a solid selection of beers. We tried a number if IPAs and a Coffee Blonde Ale and they were all great.

Kalispell Brewing Company - Just a short walk from Bias was Kalispell Brewing. We tried the Hefeweizen, Pilsner, and IPA, which were all great.

SunRift Beer Company - Our final beer stop of the day was only a short drive away, it seems like they could host quite the party during normal times, but with COVID, we had to wander around a bit to find our beers. The beers here were so good that a bee got into one before we even got a chance to taste it, a free replacement later and we were set.

For dinner we hit a local burger place called Great Northern Bar. The reviews we had seen on it suggested it would be good. The burgers did not disappoint and the bar also had a great selection of local beers.

With the best of what we could see at Glacier National Park behind us, we hit the road again headed towards our stop that night in Billings, MT. We had some random spots picked out along the way to visit. Our first one was the Berkeley Pit, but sure enough, it wasn’t open on Tuesday or Thursday so on we drove. Our next stop was to pick up some sandwiches at a place that intrigued us when we drove by before, Wheat Montana Bakery & Deli. If you ever get a chance to stop here, then don’t miss it. We were lucky enough to get a second chance and the sandwiches were amazing. We drove to the headwaters of the Missouri River to dine and see the baby river that eventually ends in St. Louis.

For dinner we stuck with a reoccurring theme on this trip, Montana Brewing Company.

We could feel the days starting to run out on this trip, but we still had a lot of miles to cover. Our first stop of the morning was the Little Bighorn Battlefield, the site of Custer’s Last Stand. This national monument sets an example that could be followed in a lot of places. We found what we expected to see, a monument to George Armstrong Custer and the men of his 7th Cavalry.

What we didn’t expect to find was an entire area devoted to the Native Americans that fought a losing battle for their way of life and a message of peace that should ring as true now as it did then.

The results of this message of unity can be found in Custer National Cemetery, which is a final resting place for American Soldiers and civilians laid to rest throughout the frontier forts. Laying right next to them are fallen Native American service members who died in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

Want to see more about Devil’s Tower?

That night we stayed in Deadwood, SD. where we sat for a drink with our backs to the door (because it was the only seating available) at Wild Bill’s Bar & Grill. Deadwood is a casino town nowadays, but it was a place where you could find anything during the gold rush in the Black Hills. The main street is lined with tourist shops, restaurants, and snacks. It was a great way to get a few more steps in after a long day of driving.

We continued southwest to the Badlands National Park, an area so alien looking, that it’s hosted movie sets for scenes where an alien landscape was needed. As neat as it was to see, this park would be a hard sell for us if we didn’t already have the yearly pass, $30 is a lot of money for some short hikes and a drive. Luckily we didn’t have to make that decision. Our first stop was the Big Badlands Overlook, which might be one of the best views in the entire park if you don’t want to climb.

We kept going further into the park and stopped for a hike at Door Trailhead, which gave us the opportunity to walk out into the Badlands along a marked path. It seems like you never get to actually walk out on to something beautiful like this, but that is what we got to do, hiking through the exposed layers of rock and getting some pretty good shots.

We probably only spent about two hours in the Badlands, and actually managed to find what might have been a free way in from the town of Interior, but that’s up to you if you want to try that. As we left the park, we made our way to Mt. Rushmore, probably South Dakota’s most famous attraction (sorry Corn Palace). This was the one time on our trip that the yearly pass didn’t get us anything, Mt. Rushmore is free to visit, but parking will cost you. There is a trail that goes down to the base of the monument, and then back around to the plaza again. It’s about a mile and well worth it since Mt. Rushmore looks very small if you just stay near the main viewing plaza. There are also little tidbits about each president, as well as the story covering the construction of the monument.

The last stop of the day was the Crazy Horse Monument. This one is a pretty expensive one to get into, and I’m sure there’s plenty of literature and smaller things to see once you get in, but you can see most of what you want to see from the highway. You can also do what we did, drive up to the booth, ask about the price, and if it’s too steep then drive in a short way to the turnaround for some decent pictures. We continued on to Hot Springs, SD. where our initial idea was to visit the hot springs, but that seemed like a questionable idea with COVID still raging in the area just two short months after the Sturgis motorcycle rally. As we drove towards our hotel, we traveled through Wind Cave National Park. Unfortunately, the cave was closed due to COVID, so we’ll have to come back to cross this one off the list.

Our final full day of vacation was a mad dash back to Fort Collins, CO. But first we visited Hot Springs most famous location, the Mammoth Site where 61 mammoths have been found uncovered from an area that was a shallow lake thousands of years ago. This site provided a unique time capsule into the previous ice age when this lake lured Wooly and Columbian Mammoths, along with dozens of other creatures, that would slip into the lake and not be able to climb out from the steep cliffs. This museum is a working excavation site with archeologists and students working as tourists walk through the area.

Leaving South Dakota, the mad dash was on to get to Fort Collins while still having enough time to enjoy a few beers. We snacked on what was left of our car supply of peanut butter, bread, honey, chips, homemade trail mix, and sweets. We passed semis, campers, cattle trucks, and slow cars, only to have to pull over to replace a contact lens and watch them all fly by us again.

We arrived in Fort Collins and stopped at our first brewery, Obstacle Brewing and Grill, was amazingly enough in the parking lot of the Walmart that we stopped at for supplies two weeks earlier. Our favorites were the Red Tape Irish Red Ale and the Thinking of Something Orange, which was a guest tap from Verboten Brewing.

Next up was Black Bottle Brewery, with it’s little black squeaky duck table ornament and it’s immense outdoor seating area. This stop had a number of good beers with Scuba Steve Underwater IPA, Music City Cold Beer and Mellow Tiger being our favorites. The staff was friendly and the location was in a strip mall with a few food options around. There was also a gong on the wall for last call that we would have liked to have heard but we had more places to see.

Our last beer stop of the evening was Rally King Brewing, an interesting place with a great sense of humor, even in COVID times. They had X’s all over the ground depicting where you could stand and then a sign saying it was a confusing time to be a pirate! Our favorites were “A Girl Named Joe” Coffee Blonde Ale, “Citra-Licious” Grapefruit IPA, “Surfer Girl” American IPA, and “Shark Attack” Blood Orange IPA.

Our last night of vacation we stayed at The Armstrong Hotel, which was a fun little boutique hotel on the main drag in Fort Collins. For breakfast we went across the street to the Urban Egg, which was a delightful breakfast experience. Minus a couple of last minute stops, like trying to find a place to recycle our bear spray and dropping off the rental car, our trip had reached the finale.

We had a great time on this trip. We made the most of a bad situation, COVID impacted us all, and with this trip, we found a way to make the best out of what would have just been a bummer that we weren’t in the Mediterranean. We saw some of the best the National Park Service had to offer, and we’ve got a list of places we’d like to see again along the way when they fully re-open. Hope this post helps you find something you want to do and I hope it reminds us of who remembered it right. :)