Reddit reviews Hiking Yellowstone National Park, 3rd: A Guide to More than 100 Great Hikes (Regional Hiking Series)

All of Yellowstone is amazingly varied! We did the Ribbon Lake trail on our last day, and it brought us through all of the different landscapes in less than 10 miles. There's also the Boiling River trail, which (if it's open) is a place where you can swim in the river, heated by the geyser run off. Sentinel Meadows brought us to the most amazing geysers and waterfalls, too.

We bought the Falcon guide, and it was great. Cell service is spotty, and when our planned trails were unexpectedly closed we were able to use it to find backups, as well as navigate the actual trails.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0762772549?keywords=falcon%20guide%20yellowstone&qid=1457027586&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

I second dinot2000's comment. Split your time between the two parks. Also, I'd recommend staying in more campsites (two, or three, maybe four?). Yellowstone and Teton are big BIG parks, and summer traffic is horrendous. Staying in one spot all week will really limit or access to the park.

There are a bunch of day hikes that are manageable for young children, and the visitor services provide many fun activities for children as well (google Junior Rangers and Ranger led hikes, fishing, rafting, horse rides, carriage rides, ect). I'd recommend picking up this book. It breaks down the hikes into quadrants, and then into difficulty. Each hike includes a detailed description. It's the best yellowstone book I've found.

That early in the season some roads still may be closed (Dunraven Pass, Beartooth Highway) But if they're not, I definitely recommend taking a ride up those roads. The view is spectacular.

Feel free to ask any questions. I've lived inside and near the park for years.

I've only been there once, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

If you are planning to do any backpacking, I highly recommend this guide: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0762772549?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

It has a bunch of hikes in it, and some very handy indexes (by length, by strenuousness etc) so that you can find you perfect activity.

Be aware of the fact that you have to book campsites through a pretty complicated process, so you should get on that right now.

If you like looking at plants or tracks and figure out what they are, this field guide is excellent. They also have it in the park book stores:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560375558?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Don't buy or rent bear spray. You can go to any of the back country offices and the park rangers will give you bear spray for free, under the condition that you bring it back to one of the back country offices in the park (honor system).

Obviously, some great information is available in books about hiking [Yellowstone] (http://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Yellowstone-National-Park-Regional/dp/0762772549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419281883&sr=8-1&keywords=hiking+yellowstone) and [Grand Teton.] (http://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Grand-Teton-National-Park/dp/0762772557/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1419281883&sr=8-5&keywords=hiking+yellowstone)


My most valuable tip is to avoid the big Park campgrounds while you're camping before your backpacking trip. Canyon, Norris, and Madison campgrounds etc. are all expensive, crowded, and usually sold out. Even in GTNP Colter Bay, Jenny Lake and the other Park campgrounds are the same. And don't even think about trying the hotels. The trick is to go to Forest Service campgrounds which are cheaper, and less crowded, and you can usually get in without a reservation. Check out the lesser known [Pacific Creek] (http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/btnf/recarea/?recid=71493) campground, and [Sheffield campground] (http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/btnf/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=71503&actid=29). Also, if you drive up the road labelled on Google as 'Ashton Flagg-Ranch Road' in GTNP just a few miles south of YNP, there are a handful of maintained campgrounds that are basically empty- probably because they don't appear on any map or website. I just found out about them in a single paragraph in a guidebook that I picked up.


If you choose to Hike Cascade Canyon in GTNP, I recommend saving a few miles by taking the ferry across Jenny Lake. In fact, I believe the first shuttle of the morning is free one way to start your hike.


I recommend Falcon guides to help you plan your backpacking trips from there. My final advice is that it is really cold at night year round in that area. A sleeping bag that is as least zero degree is necessary, and in May you can probably except snow storms, and trail closures due to snow.