Travel Diary: How to Spend 6 Days in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks

True story: One of my biggest regrets of the last few years is that my husband and I didn't buy an RV in our early 30s to see more of the United States.

Here's the view from Schwabacher Landing in Grand Teton National Park

My family lived all over the U.S. when I was a child and always did domestic trips, so I prioritized international travel once I became an adult and began planning my own vacations. It wasn't until my honeymoon in Australia and New Zealand that I started to realize I still really hadn't seen so much of the beauty in my own country.

And then when the pandemic hit, my husband and I — like everyone else! — saw it as an opportunity to see more of America's natural wonders.

In July 2021, my husband and I embarked on a 2-week cross-country road trip from Virginia to California to hike Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. We loved it and have wanted to plan more cross-country road trips ever since.

Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park

We finally got the opportunity in July 2023, when we drove from Virginia to Wyoming and Montana to visit Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks!

Below you'll find my travel diary for our 6 days in the two national parks, including what we saw, hiked, and ate. Even though 6 days definitely wasn't long enough, road tripping to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks was one of my favorite trips I've ever taken.

On Targhee Pass Highway toward the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park

Note: This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase after clicking on a link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

what to know

Here's some general information that applies to both parks.

100% of Grand Teton and 96% of Yellowstone National Parks are in Wyoming (with a small portion of Yellowstone — 3% — in Montana and an even smaller portion of Yellowstone — the remaining 1% — in Idaho).

The two parks are only 31 miles apart, linked by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway.
Yellowstone is significantly bigger than Grand Teton (more than 2.2 million acres compared to more than 310,000 acres).

The main differences between the parks: Grand Teton is mostly known for its mountains and glacial lakes, whereas Yellowstone is mostly known for its geysers, hot springs, and canyons... and both have an abundance of wildlife, like bisons, bears, and moose!
One thing I've found impressive and admirable is that the National Park Service works hard to try to make our country's parks accessible to everyone. You can see many of the sights simply by driving through the parks and pulling over at the overlooks. And the boardwalks make many areas of Yellowstone accessible (though there might be some additional but non-critical areas that can only be reached by stairs).

Learn more about the accessibility at Grand Teton and at Yellowstone.
The National Park Service offers an Access Pass that is a "free, lifetime pass, available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States that have been medically determined to have a permanent disability." Learn more here.

When we booked our lodging, we decided to do 1 more day in Grand Teton than in Yellowstone... which seems to be the same time allocation mistake we'd made in Australia and New Zealand because everything I read recommended more days in Yellowstone than Grand Teton. However, I was happy with what we saw in Yellowstone, and I'm glad we had the time to hike in Grand Teton that we did. (Plus this gives us an excuse to go back!!)

Cell phone service is prettty bad in the parks, especially Yellowstone. Download the park maps off of the National Park Service app in advance, and then when you enter the park, the person checking your pass will offer you a paper map (and the visitor centers have paper maps, too).
Buy bear spray! This is a must!! I insisted we buy some, so my husband just went along with it to make me happy... and then we encountered a bear while hiking and he was very glad we had some, even if we didn't end up needing to use it.

After we encountered the bear, we warned everyone on the trail afterwards to keep their bear spray handy — but so many people didn't have any. One person even said, "When I saw the spray was more than $50, I decided against it." Your life is worth the $55-60 it costs to buy!
Each and every person should have their own cannister... because you can't guarantee you'll be right next to each other when you need to be (someone might have stopped for a few seconds to take photos or rest or eat or drink, or the bear might approach at an angle that separates you). And your cannister needs to be easily accessible — you don't want to be fumbling for it as a bear charges you.
You can practice at the visitor centers with an empty can (they'll walk you through how to pull off the safety tab, where to spray and for how long, etc). I wanted to practice (because I'm a worrier), and we ended up being so glad we did because it gave us more confidence in the moment.
Check out the Be Bear Aware Campaign and information on bear safety from the National Park Service.

Do not approach wild animals, especially if they have a baby with them. It's not safe for you and it's not safe for the animal... animals who have interacted with humans sometimes end up being put down, such as this bison calf in May 2023. Keep a safe distance!
Practice safe food storage and the 7 Leave No Trace principles.
All this being said... the best way we found to spot animals was when we saw other people pulling their cars to the side of the road or when there was a crowd all looking in the same direction, haha!

If you do pull your car over, make sure all 4 wheels are off the road (aka fully to the right of the white line, not on it).

If you have an America the Beautiful Pass, it's $80 for an entire year, rather than paying individual park fees (usually $35 per vehicle). Since we (very quickly) visited Badlands National Park on our way home, this one week alone made the pass worth it.
My personal favorites at each park:

Grand Teton: Schwabacher Landing, Jackson Point Overlook, Oxbow Bend (on the way to Yellowstone)
Yellowstone: Oxbow Bend (on the way from Grand Teton), Red Rock Point at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, Grand Prismatic Spring (from the overlook)

Map of Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton

Don't make my mistake by mispronouncing "teton," haha! You pronounce the name of Grand Teton as "tee-tawn"!
There are restaurants at Jenny Lake (Jenny Lake Lodge), Signal Mountain (Trapper Grill and Deadmans Bar), and Jackson Lake Lodge (Mural Room, Pioneer Grill, and Blue Heron Lounge), among others.
Per one of the Grand Teton visitor centers, here are the best places...

... to see wildflowers:

Lupine Meadows
Antelope Flats Road
North Blacktail Butte
Highway 89 between Colter Bay and Lizard Greek

... for roadside views:

Cathedral Group Turnout
Snake River Overlook
Oxbow Bend Turnout
Teton Glacier Turnout

... for loop hikes:

Swan Lake and Heron Pond
Jenny Lake

... for short hikes:

Taggart Lake
Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point

Other views that came recommended:

Snake River Overlook, Glacier View Turnout, Togwotee Pass

Map of Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Loop Road

Yellowstone

There are restaurants at Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful in both summer and winter; places like Canyon Village and Roosevelt also have dining in summer.
You can find the predicted times for Old Faithful's eruptions on site and on the National Park Service website (as well as the app).
Old Faithful predicted eruption times are posted at the site and on the website (and app).
The Grand Loop Road is approximately 140 miles and will pass by or through many of Yellowstone's most popular attractions.
Best places to see animals:

Drive Hayden Valley or Lamar Valley at sunrise or sunset to see bison, bears, and wolves.
Drive Moose-Wilson Road at sunrise or sunset to see moose.
A National Park Service employee recommended the road near Seven Mile Hole Trail to see bears.

I'd read that it's best to visit the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River in the morning because the Canyon faces east, so it falls into shadow by afternoon. On the other hand, it's best to visit Grand Prismatic Spring in the afternoon, to ensure the mist has time to burn off. (So if you're driving the Grand Loop Road, plan the direction accordingly.)
Do not step off of the boardwalks. Pay attention and follow the instructions on the signs! According to the National Park Service, "hot springs have injured or killed more people in Yellowstone than any other natural feature."
The traffic at Yellowstone was bad. We left Yellowstone early one day (around 3:30pm) to make an early dinner and didn't have any traffic, but the next day we saw traffic begin around 5pm. We tried to leave the park around 8pm and it took us approximately 2 hours to get to the town of West Yellowstone where we were staying.

Bison in Yellowstone National Park

where we stayed

Jackson (for Grand Teton): We stayed at the Mountain Modern Motel, which we booked through Hotels.com (affiliate link).

We had initially planned to stay a little further out, but at the last minute I decided I wanted to stay in Jackson... and I am SO glad we switched and that we found this hotel!

It was very conveniently located to downtown Jackson (we walked to dinner each night instead of driving); it offered self-service laundry facilities (and we greatly appreciated the opportunity to wash our dirty hiking clothing); and in addition to its indoor pool and hot tub, it had a new(ish) outdoor infinity pool and hot tub, which we took advantage of at night to ease our aching muscles!

Learn more about the Mountain Modern Motel in Jackson.

West Yellowstone (for Yellowstone): We stayed at the Historic Madison Hotel Motel, which we booked through Hotels.com (affiliate link).

This hotel didn't offer as many amenities as the hotel in Jackson, but it was also extremely convenient (just off the West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park) and within walking distance from many restaurants and bars.

We stayed in a motel room on the ground floor.

Learn more about the Historic Madison Hotel Motel in West Yellowstone.

Our motel room at the Historic Madison Hotel Motel

what we did

Though our road trip lasted 10 days total, only 6 of those days were spent in Wyoming at Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, with the other 4 days reserved for driving to and from our home in Virginia.

Arriving in Grand Teton National Park! First stop: A visitor center to get maps and buy bear spray

Sunday (Day 1): Arrived in Jackson, WY!

Cafe Genevieve for breakfast.
Drove to Schwabacher Landing, to Cathedral Group Turnout, and along Jenny Lake.
Returned to Jackson to hike Crystal Butte (3.1 miles, there and back).

This hike was more difficult than I expected due to its steep incline, but I did appreciate the views over Jackson. Wear sunscreen because there's very little shade!

Dinner at Million Dollar Cowboy Steakhouse (which we thought was excellent — we were worried it'd be an overrated tourist spot, but we didn't find that to be the case!)

We drove to Schwabacher Landing and got out of the car to take photos. (About a 10-minute total walk)

Views at Cathedral Group Turnout.

Sunglasses: Illesteva (affiliate link) | Tank top: CRZ YOGA (affiliate link)

After the visitor center and some scenic overlooks, we didn't feel like we had enough time to do a lengthy hike but still wanted to stretch our legs — hence the short hike (Crystal Butte). Keeping my bear spray (on the left in the photo) easily accessible!

Views from the Crystal Butte trail

Monday (Day 2): 1st full day at Grand Teton National Park.

Hiked Cascade Canyon (the route we did was 14 miles, there and back), starting from Jenny Lake and including Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point.

I really enjoyed this hike (Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point were both great, and walking through the canyon was stunning) but felt that the ending was underwhelming... this trail ended in a bunch of trees at a fork, where you could continue on to different trails (that I understand have more spectacular endings). But we decided to just turn around so we still had time for downtown Jackson.
You can shorten this hike by taking the shuttle boat across Jenny Lake instead of hiking around it.

Returned to Jackson for dinner at Gather.

First major view of the Cascade Canyon hike: Hidden Falls

Overlooking Jenny Lake.

One of these days my husband and I will learn to take quality photos on the iPhone. One of these days...

Here's what the end of the Cascade Canyon fork trail looked like, with the option to keep hiking if you want.

Back in Jackson for dinner at Gather! The food and drinks were both delicious. I don't think we had a single bad meal in Jackson.

Earrings: Red Dress | Jacket: Old Navy | Dress: Lulus (affiliate link) | Sandals: Tory Burch (here and here, affiliate links)

Tuesday (Day 3): 2nd full day at Grand Teton.

Stopped at the Grand Teton National Park sign for photos.
Hiked the Taggart and Bradley Lakes loop (6 miles). This was when we encountered a bear!

We chose to hike the opposite direction as most people (we misread someone else's review, haa!). We were 2 miles in when we heard a group hiking toward us yelling there was a bear. We instantly started backing up while pulling out our bear spray and popping the safety off.
The brush was pretty thick, so I could really only see the brush moving from the bear's movements, while my 6'2" husband could see it over the brush. It was approximately 20 yards from us.
I was so glad the other group was there! They were coming down an incline so they had a better vantage point than us and were able to more confidently follow the bear's movement and keep us updated. Plus, it just felt reassuring knowing there was a large group nearby in case the bear charged us. Thankfully, after a very tense 10 minutes or so, she headed away from both our groups.
How do I know it was a she? The other group later told us they'd first become aware there were bears in the area because they saw the cub cross the trail and knew the mama must be close by!

After the hike, we drove to Signal Mountain to see views.
Drove to Jackson Point Overlook to see views. (This was one of my two favorite views of the trip.)
Returned to Jackson for dinner at Jackson Drug.
Stopped by Million Dollar Cowboy Bar for drinks and live music.

All smiles after the bear encounter.

Holding on tight to our bear spray after our encounter!!

The view from Signal Mountain.

Aaand the view from Jackson Point Overlook!

I meannn... I could have stayed there all day looking at this view.

BUT! We were hungry. My husband picked Jackson Drug for dinner because he liked that it had an old-timey feel, and it was just what we were looking for.

My JD Smash burger hit the spot, and so did my cookies and cream milkshake. (They even have boozy milkshakes if you want!!!)

Jackson Drug is right in the Jackson Town Square.

Sunglasses: Illesteva (affiliate link) | Earrings: Red Dress | Jacket: J. Crew | Dress: Lulus (affiliate link)

Wednesday (Day 4): My birthday! Departed Jackson and Grand Teton National Park to drive to West Yellowstone and Yellowstone National Park.

Drove to Yellowstone, stopping at Mormon Row and Oxbow Bend along the way. (Oxbow Bend was the second of my two favorite views!)
Drove to Old Faithful to see it erupt.
Drove to Grand Prismatic Spring. We parked at the Fairy Falls parking lot and walked 15-20 minutes up to the overlook (which is a better view than on the boardwalk, in my opinion).

I wish we'd also hiked Fairy Falls to see the waterfall!

Drove to Artists' Paint Pot to walk the boardwalk.
Returned to West Yellowstone for dinner at Madison Crossing Lounge for my birthday.

It doesn't take reservations, so I wanted to get there right when it opened at 5pm or so.
We ordered peach burrata flatbread as an appetizer, bison steak for me, and cheesecake and blueberry bread putting with huckleberry ice cream for dessert. Yum!!

Some of the travel blogs I read in advance of our trip said Oxbow Bend was an "optional" stop (and very few even mentioned Jackson Point Overlook)... but this stop was one of the highlights of our trip!

Sunglasses: Illesteva (affiliate link) | Shirt: Gap Factory (affiliate link) | Vest: Patagonia (affiliate link) | Leggings: The Gym People (affiliate link) | Shoes: Allbirds (affiliate link)

Old Faithful!!! As it was winding down from its eruption. (Sorry for the jump scare with the EXTREME close-up of my face)

Grand Prismatic Spring from the overlook

People on the boardwalk, with Excelsior Geyser Crater behind the Grand Prismatic Spring. (And you can see cars that parked along the road rather than in the parking lot.)

Artists' Paint Pots... other travel blogs I read listed this as a must-do, but I was ambivalent about it.

Here you can see how the boardwalks weave throughout (but some additional areas, like the area I was in for these photos, are only accessible by stairs).

Bison!!!

Dinner at Madison Crossing Lounge... It did end up getting busy before 6pm!

Sunglasses: Illesteva (affiliate link) | Earrings: A birthday gift! | Jacket: Old Navy | Dress: Lulus (affiliate link, other color here)

Thursday (Day 5): 1st (and only) full day in Yellowstone National Park.

Drove from the East Entrance to the North Entrance to see the Roosevelt Arch. (We thought this drive was much cooler than our drive the day before from the South Entrance to the East Entrance!)
Stopped by Roaring Mountain on the way. I wish we'd had time for Mammoth Hot Springs — it looked more interesting than I'd expected, and the Mammoth Hot Springs area looked cute.
Drove to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River to drive along the North and South Rims and walk the trails.

The South Rim is a 2-way road that includes Upper Falls Viewpoint and Artist Point. (I believe Uncle Tom's Trail is permanently closed.) You can choose to drive to both spots and park or park at either spot and walk to the other (approximately 1.75 miles one way). We chose to park at the first parking lot (near Upper Falls Viewpoint) simply because we saw there were empty spots and we were afraid of driving to Artist Point and not finding a parking spot. Then we walked from Upper Falls Viewpoint to Artist Point, and back.
The North Rim is a 1-way road that includes Brink of the Lower Falls, Red Rock Point, Lookout Point, Grand View, and Inspiration Point. You can park and walk to each lookout, but we chose to drive to each lookout in the interest of time.
Brink of the Upper Falls is considered a part of the North Rim but it has its own entrance, and we did it a separate day. It has 3 areas of overlooks all fairly close to one another, so you can quickly knock them out.
Obviously, there is so much more to say about the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone! For more information, Earth Trekkers has a guide with maps, photo spots, and tips.
On the off chance it's helpful, I added photos from each lookout to the park map of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, to help people visualize what they'll see at each stop:

Top 3 photos (North Rim): View from Brink of the Lower Falls; view from Red Rock Point; and view from Lookout Point

2 photos on the middle left (technically North Rim but it has its own entrance road): Brink of the Upper Falls

Bottom photo and photo on right (South Rim): Upper Falls Viewpoint; Artist Point

Drove Hayden Valley to try to see wildlife.
Visited Canyon Village for lunch.
Drove to the West Thumb Geyser Basin. (I really wanted to see Abyss Pool.)
Drove to the Norris Geyser Basin... which I LOVED. I was starting to get to the point where I was like, "you've seen one hot spring or geyser, you've seen them all," but for some reason, I just really liked the Norris Geyser Basin. It's the hottest and oldest thermal area in Yellowstone!

Roaring Mountain

Stopped on the drive to the North Entrance for views.

Sunglasses: Illesteva (affiliate link) | Sweatshirt: Etsy (here, similar available here in case shop goes on a break, affiliate links) | Leggings: Old Navy (affiliate link)

Part of the drive on the Grand Loop Road from the West Entrance to the North Entrance

You can see where we are on the map... Look for "North Entrance" and "Roosevelt Arch," above the "Mammoth Hot Springs"!

Sunglasses: Illesteva (affiliate link) | Sweatshirt: Etsy (here, similar available here in case shop goes on a break, affiliate links) | Leggings: Old Navy (affiliate link) | Shoes: Allbirds (affiliate link)

Hahaha somebodyyy made my poor husband take photos of me in front of EVERYTHING...

Like this fence!

Views on the drive... You can see in the mirror how happy I am!

Mammoth Hot Springs. We hadn't planned to stop here because we were booking it to try to get to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone by 11:30am. But after driving by it, I wish we'd saved time in our itinerary to stop!

Stopped along the drive to see some bison...

Starting to make our way around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River!

Location: Upper Falls Viewpoint on the South Rim

Location: Walking the South Rim from Upper Falls Viewpoint to Artist Point.

This photo is of the Lower Falls... can you see all the people on the North Rim's Brink of the Lower Falls platform (just above and to the right of the waterfall)?

Location: Artist Point on the South Rim

This is one of the most popular places to take photos of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Location: Artist Point on the South Rim

Sunglasses: Illesteva (affiliate link) |Tank top: Old Navy (affiliate link) | Leggings: Old Navy (affiliate link) | Shoes: Allbirds (affiliate link)

The best part about road trips is being able to keep as much of your wardrobe in the car as you want! I alternated between sweatshirts, long-sleeved shirts, and tank tops because I'd get cold in the shade and warm in the sun or while hiking.

Location: Artist Point on the South Rim

Our last view from Artist Point on the South Rim

Then we left the South Rim and drove to the North Rim, where we stopped at each overlook along the 1-way road. Our first stop was Brink of the Lower Falls.

There are a LOT of switchbacks to get down to the Brink of the Lower Falls platform, so wear comfortable shoes, bring water, and rest when you need to.

Getting closer to the platform...

Location: Brink of the Lower Falls on the North Rim

On the right-hand side in the upper third of the photo, I believe those steps make up Uncle Tom's Trail (off the South Rim). I was very excited about this trail, but sadly it seems to be permanently closed!