Yellowstone & Grand Teton — Trip Planning Guide

Planning a first trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton? This printable guide puts the whole trip on paper: when to go, what to book and when, how many days you need, and the best beginner day hikes in both parks, so you arrive with a plan instead of a dozen open browser tabs.

What is inside (30 pages)

• The two parks at a glance: entrances, the Grand Loop Road and how the parks connect
• When to go, season by season, with road openings and summer crowds
• Booking timeline for lodging and campgrounds, and the October 2026 entrance fees
• Airports and gateway towns, and the smart route: fly in one end, out the other
• Sample plans for 3 days, 5 days and 7 days across both parks
• Yellowstone regions in plain words: geyser basins, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Hayden and Lamar valleys, the lake and Mammoth
• 16 beginner day hikes: 10 in Yellowstone (Grand Prismatic Overlook, Fairy Falls, Observation Point, Lone Star Geyser, Brink of the Lower Falls, Wraith Falls, Trout Lake, Storm Point, Beaver Ponds Loop, Mount Washburn) and 6 in Grand Teton (Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point, String Lake Loop, Colter Bay Lakeshore, Heron Pond and Swan Lake, Phelps Lake Loop, Taggart Lake). Distance in mi and km, elevation gain in ft and m, time and best season for each, taken from nps.gov
• Thermal area safety, wildlife distances from the NPS, and bear spray basics
• Weather, altitude and sun, plus a 'no signal' page on what to download and print before you go
• Packing checklist, two day-plan pages, a trip budget sheet, a trip log and wildlife spotting list
• Official sources and questions to ask a ranger

Good to know

• Instant PDF download, no physical item is shipped. Download buttons arrive in your order confirmation email right after checkout
• US Letter and A4, colour and printer-friendly versions included
• Works offline once printed or saved, which matters in parks with little or no phone signal
• Checked against nps.gov in October 2026. Rules, fees and trail closures change, so always check current park alerts before you go
• No maps or GPS files. The guide points you to the official NPS maps
• Made for first-time visitors and beginner to intermediate hikers. For personal use

Also in our national park series: the Great Smoky Mountains and Utah's Mighty 5 trip planning guides.

Cover photo: Sam McCool on Pexels, credited in the guide.