Road trip to Yellowstone from Seattle
NOT FINISHED YET!!
NOT FINISHED YET!!
*All work including photos, videos and writing on this page is my own, except the tourism videos freely available on Youtube.
There are two main reasons to do a road trip to Yellowstone National Park. Firstly to see some beautiful scenery on the way and secondly to gradually increase the elevation, as Yellowstone is 8,000 feet above sea level! Flying from sea level in Florida directly to West Yellowstone is not something I would advise.
Here are the elevation levels of this road trip:
Seattle 520ft
Snoqualmie Pass mountain Pass 3,000 feet
Spokane 562 feet
Coeur D'Alene 2,190 feet
Missoula 3,200 feet
Gardiner 5,259 feet
West Yellowstone 6,666 feet
Yellowstone 8,000 feet
Jackson 6,237 feet
Boise 2,700 feet
Walla Walla 942 feet.
There is a one hour time zone change on this road trip you should be aware of.
Time differences from the UK:
Seattle -8hrs
Spokane -8hrs
Coeur D'Alene -8hrs
Missoula -7hrs
Gardiner -7hrs
West Yellowstone -7hrs
Yellowstone -7hrs
Jackson -7hrs
Boise -7hrs
Walla Walla -8hrs
As there is a short summer window to do this trip, hotels fill up fast, I recommend booking 8- 12 months in advance to get affordable prices on flights and hotels. Some of the mountain passes in Washington State don't open until May and the Yellowstone to Grand Teton road doesn't open until the end of May, so I wouldn't advise getting to Yellowstone until the 2nd week in June at the earliest to make sure all the roads and facilities are actually open. Some campgrounds don't open until the middle of June or even July in some cases. Here is an in depth look at what is open in Yellowstone on whichever dates they open.
Some of the popular stopovers on this road trip such as Missoula get booked up in advance too, so don't just book your Yellowstone accommodation book it all on free cancellation and keep an eye on the prices every month. I managed to get cheaper deals in Boise and Walla Walla nearer to departure time and booked the cheaper deals and cancelled the original hotels there. The same applies to car hire. I saved $200 on my Alamo car hire by checking the coast monthly and rebooking at the cheaper price. I highly recommend Alamo as I have been using them for 35 years!! You don't pay until you collect the car, so can cancel anytime. They are always good quality cars and they don't worry about the odd small scratch on the car. I wouldn't use anyone else. The Gold package includes up to 3 drivers, a good insurance and a full tank of petrol (So no need to find a petrol station near the airport, you can drop the car off as empty as you risk doing.) Also if your plane is delayed or cancelled they usually give you 24 hrs to collect your car at no extra charge or you can change your pick up location in case you have to change where you are flying to.
Here are the elevation levels of this road trip:
Seattle 520ft
Snoqualmie Pass mountain Pass 3,000 feet
Spokane 562 feet
Coeur D'Alene 2,190 feet
Missoula 3,200 feet
Gardiner 5,259 feet
West Yellowstone 6,666 feet
Yellowstone 8,000 feet
Jackson 6,237 feet
Boise 2,700 feet
Walla Walla 942 feet.
There is a one hour time zone change on this road trip you should be aware of.
Time differences from the UK:
Seattle -8hrs
Spokane -8hrs
Coeur D'Alene -8hrs
Missoula -7hrs
Gardiner -7hrs
West Yellowstone -7hrs
Yellowstone -7hrs
Jackson -7hrs
Boise -7hrs
Walla Walla -8hrs
As there is a short summer window to do this trip, hotels fill up fast, I recommend booking 8- 12 months in advance to get affordable prices on flights and hotels. Some of the mountain passes in Washington State don't open until May and the Yellowstone to Grand Teton road doesn't open until the end of May, so I wouldn't advise getting to Yellowstone until the 2nd week in June at the earliest to make sure all the roads and facilities are actually open. Some campgrounds don't open until the middle of June or even July in some cases. Here is an in depth look at what is open in Yellowstone on whichever dates they open.
Some of the popular stopovers on this road trip such as Missoula get booked up in advance too, so don't just book your Yellowstone accommodation book it all on free cancellation and keep an eye on the prices every month. I managed to get cheaper deals in Boise and Walla Walla nearer to departure time and booked the cheaper deals and cancelled the original hotels there. The same applies to car hire. I saved $200 on my Alamo car hire by checking the coast monthly and rebooking at the cheaper price. I highly recommend Alamo as I have been using them for 35 years!! You don't pay until you collect the car, so can cancel anytime. They are always good quality cars and they don't worry about the odd small scratch on the car. I wouldn't use anyone else. The Gold package includes up to 3 drivers, a good insurance and a full tank of petrol (So no need to find a petrol station near the airport, you can drop the car off as empty as you risk doing.) Also if your plane is delayed or cancelled they usually give you 24 hrs to collect your car at no extra charge or you can change your pick up location in case you have to change where you are flying to.
For the best road trip to Yellowstone, Everyone that has ventured on a road trip there will agree the best place to start is from Seattle, the nearest International airport for a direct flight from the UK. I have been to most of Washington State, some places multiple times and highly recommend it! Washington State has spectacular scenery and three stunning National Parks, so do spend time here on the way to or from Yellowstone. July is the best time to see Washington State. Yellowstone itself is massive 2.2 million acres over several states so you will need a minimum of 4/5 days here, preferably a week.
Here I will give you the road trip that can be done leisurely in 21 days. It is only a 12 hour drive, if you take the most direct route along highways, but there is so much beautiful scenery along the way, that I would advise a minimum of 14 days. May/June/July would be the best time to do this trip. Before May and some of the mountain passes may be shut or require snow chains and further into August and September can be nice, but wildfires are a high risk this time of year!
Yellowstone is a high altitude resort with West Yellowstone at 6,666 feet and inside the park around 8,000 feet. For that reason I strongly suggest stopping on the way at somewhere such as Missoula 3,200 feet, to help avoid altitude sickness.
Fly to Seattle, pick up a hire car, I recommend Alamo and stay in a hotel in the very safe city of Bellevue for a few nights, there is so much to do in the Seattle area! Below is Mount Rainier near Seattle in both photos. You can take a day trip from Seattle/Bellevue to Mount Rainier National Park. This is my favourite National Park and I highly recommend you spend at least one day here. I would recommend staying in Bellevue, Redmond, Woodinville, Kirkland or Bothell rather than downtown Seattle which is more expensive, especially parking!! It also has seen a rise in crime lately, so the East side cities are much safer and just take a day trip into Seattle, which is a lovely city to see. (Seattle is still safer than Orlando and phoenix though), but not as safe as Bellevue, which is generally rated the safest city of it's size in the US. It is a very expensive city to live in though. It is easy to take a day trip to Seattle from Bellevue.
Below are some of my favourite places in the Seattle area:
Kerry Park, Seattle ^
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Mount Rainier (Tahoma) ^
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My kids, Kayaking in Kirkland ^
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Chateau Ste Michelle winery, Woodinville ^
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The wealthy city of Bellevue ^
Here are my two choices of getting from Seattle to Yellowstone: I have done both of these routes to Lake Chelan.
A) You can take a direct route through Snoqualmie pass to Lake Chelan from Seattle/Bellevue, usually open by the end of April or early May. You can stop at Snoqualmie Pass Summit East for a view of the mountains here and take a trail from this car park. Then when you drive out of the car park you are then entering Eastern Washington State. I stopped at Cle Elum overnight, but you can just stop at one of the restaurants there or the large Safeway supermarket for supplies and bathrooms. It's a small mountain town.
Below is Snoqualmie Pass summit.
OR Take this spectacular road trip!! My recommendation if you can.
B) You could if you have time take the even more scenic drive through the North Cascades National Park to Lake Chelan. To do this route through the North Cascades head from Seattle/Bellevue to Anacortes or La Conner ( I have stayed in la Conner and recommend it.) Spend a night or more here. then on SR20 all the way through the North Cascades National Park to Winthrop ( I recommend Sun Mountain Lodge here.) Then head down to Lake Chelan. Don't forget to stop at Diablo Lake and Washington Pass viewpoints! It's easy to miss the sign to Diablo Lake and it is absolutely breathtaking, A sparkling emerald colour, so set your sat nav to Diablo Lake overlook. You will need to take plenty of food and drinks with you, there isn't anything except toilets in the North Cascades National Park. This mountain road though does not generally open before the end of May. Below are videos I took at Diablo Lake and Washington Pass plus a photo of the Wild west town of Winthrop.
Winthrop wild west town ^
Then whether you do A or B drive to Lake Chelan for some relaxation. I really liked it here as there are delightful and very scenic wineries all around this lake. Photo below is Benson Winery. It's a great place to rest on what will be a hectic road trip. I stayed at an excellent value motel called Lakeside Lodge and suites, video from my balcony below.
Benson winery, Lake Chelan ^
Lakeside Lodge and suites, Lake Chelan ^
Then drive to Spokane, Washington's largest city on the East side of the Cascade mountains for lunch or overnight. There is lots to do here, such as exploring the Riverfront Park, Manito Park, Mt Spokane State Park, Riverside State Park. There are farm shops and wineries nearby. Cochinito Mexican restaurant comes highly recommended. The Spokane river runs right through the downtown area and even has a waterfall.
Then drive over the Idaho border and visit a lovely resort called Coeur D'Alene for lunch or overnight.
You can stay in Spokane or Coeur D'Alene for this night. Spokane is much cheaper though.
Then over the Montana border to Missoula If time permits take a detour to Glacier National Park. I haven't see this park at the moment, but hear it is beautiful!
From Missoula drive to Gardiner, Montana (I have booked to stay here),near the north entrance of Yellowstone Park, Yellowstone park is huge and I recommend at least 2 nights in Gardiner to see the north loop of the park as well as Chico Hot Springs in the town of Pray, then onto West Yellowstone for at least a couple of nights. Lots of people just stay in West Yellowstone, but it's better to stay in Gardiner too for the north Loop. It is a lower elevation than West Yellowstone as well.
Where to stay
It will depend on your budget and what's left when you book. You can choose Gardiner at the north Entrance, West Yellowstone at the West Entrance and inside the park if you have a bigger budget and book well ahead of time and want to beat the queues into the park in the morning. The main disadvantage of staying in the park is you are limited to the food in the hotels which is expensive. Maybe a self catering option in the park would be better and stock up on food from outside the park. The biggest advantage though is you don't have to queue at the park entrances more than once. There are plenty of camp grounds and RV parking as well. Most of these do need to be booked well in advance too. I chose to book Gardiner and west Yellowstone.
Here are some popular accommodation options in each place:
Gardiner:
Dreamcatcher Tipi Hotel
Yellowstone Village Inn
Yellowstone Riverside Cottages
Yellowstone Basin Inn (We are staying here, I will let you know what it's like!)
The Roosevelt Hotel
Yellowstone Gateway Inn
Park Hotel
Inside the Park:
Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel for North Loop
Moran Lodge For both north and South Loops
Canyon Lodge and Cabins For both north and south Loops
Old Faithful Inn For South Loop
Old Faithful Snow lodge, for South Loop
Old Faithful Lodge, For South Loop
Lake lodge cabins For South Loop
Lake Yellowstone Hotel For South Loop
Lewis Lake Campground For South Loop
Fishing Bridge RV park For South Loop
West Yellowstone:
Kelly Inn
Explorer Cabins
Lazy G Motel
Best Western Weston Inn
Gray Wolf Inn and Suites ( We are staying here.)
Under canvas
Clubhouse inn
Best Western Desert Inn
Yellowstone Park Hotel
Crosswinds Inn
Yellowstone West Gate Hotel
Holiday Inn
The adventure Inn
Brandin' Iron Inn
Bar N Ranch
From here drive around the northern loop of Yellowstone National Park, making sure you view these places, being patient as these times are approximate as wildlife can cause delays, but that is why you are here to see the wildlife.
Mammoth Hot Springs (The main attraction here!),
Norris Geyser Basin,
Gibbon Falls,
Washburn hot Springs overlook, Mount Washburn ,
Tower Fall
and any of the hikes listed further down this page.
Then Also visit Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley are the best places to see the Bison. Keep your distance as they are very dangerous animals and tourists are killed every year by them, due to getting too close. If you have time you can also visit Chico Hot Springs.
Then drive over the Idaho border and visit a lovely resort called Coeur D'Alene for lunch or overnight.
You can stay in Spokane or Coeur D'Alene for this night. Spokane is much cheaper though.
Then over the Montana border to Missoula If time permits take a detour to Glacier National Park. I haven't see this park at the moment, but hear it is beautiful!
From Missoula drive to Gardiner, Montana (I have booked to stay here),near the north entrance of Yellowstone Park, Yellowstone park is huge and I recommend at least 2 nights in Gardiner to see the north loop of the park as well as Chico Hot Springs in the town of Pray, then onto West Yellowstone for at least a couple of nights. Lots of people just stay in West Yellowstone, but it's better to stay in Gardiner too for the north Loop. It is a lower elevation than West Yellowstone as well.
Where to stay
It will depend on your budget and what's left when you book. You can choose Gardiner at the north Entrance, West Yellowstone at the West Entrance and inside the park if you have a bigger budget and book well ahead of time and want to beat the queues into the park in the morning. The main disadvantage of staying in the park is you are limited to the food in the hotels which is expensive. Maybe a self catering option in the park would be better and stock up on food from outside the park. The biggest advantage though is you don't have to queue at the park entrances more than once. There are plenty of camp grounds and RV parking as well. Most of these do need to be booked well in advance too. I chose to book Gardiner and west Yellowstone.
Here are some popular accommodation options in each place:
Gardiner:
Dreamcatcher Tipi Hotel
Yellowstone Village Inn
Yellowstone Riverside Cottages
Yellowstone Basin Inn (We are staying here, I will let you know what it's like!)
The Roosevelt Hotel
Yellowstone Gateway Inn
Park Hotel
Inside the Park:
Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel for North Loop
Moran Lodge For both north and South Loops
Canyon Lodge and Cabins For both north and south Loops
Old Faithful Inn For South Loop
Old Faithful Snow lodge, for South Loop
Old Faithful Lodge, For South Loop
Lake lodge cabins For South Loop
Lake Yellowstone Hotel For South Loop
Lewis Lake Campground For South Loop
Fishing Bridge RV park For South Loop
West Yellowstone:
Kelly Inn
Explorer Cabins
Lazy G Motel
Best Western Weston Inn
Gray Wolf Inn and Suites ( We are staying here.)
Under canvas
Clubhouse inn
Best Western Desert Inn
Yellowstone Park Hotel
Crosswinds Inn
Yellowstone West Gate Hotel
Holiday Inn
The adventure Inn
Brandin' Iron Inn
Bar N Ranch
From here drive around the northern loop of Yellowstone National Park, making sure you view these places, being patient as these times are approximate as wildlife can cause delays, but that is why you are here to see the wildlife.
Mammoth Hot Springs (The main attraction here!),
Norris Geyser Basin,
Gibbon Falls,
Washburn hot Springs overlook, Mount Washburn ,
Tower Fall
and any of the hikes listed further down this page.
Then Also visit Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley are the best places to see the Bison. Keep your distance as they are very dangerous animals and tourists are killed every year by them, due to getting too close. If you have time you can also visit Chico Hot Springs.
Then drive to West Yellowstone, Montana and spend at least a couple of nights here at the West Entrance to see the South Loop of Yellowstone Park.
There are lots of petrol stations within Yellowstone Park, so don't worry about running out of fuel or drinks/snacks/lunch and they are handy for toilet stops, but there can be traffic jams in the summer, often caused by wildlife on the road, so I would advise you to keep some drinks and snacks in the car at all times.
From here you should drive around the South Loop, which is the most popular part of the park and here are the must see places, but there are many, many more places to see and hike here:
Grand Prismatic Spring (The main attraction here! Take the Fairy Falls short hike here for the best view.),
Old Faithful, (Don't miss the hikes to Kepler cascades, Biscuit Basin and Mystic falls!)
Thumb Geyser,
Yellowstone Lake,
upper falls,
lower falls
Beryl Spring
Caldera rim.
As well as any hikes listed further down the page.
Best Hikes in Yellowstone National Park
Artist Point.
Fairy Falls
Upper Geyser Basin
Grand Pirismatic
West Thumb
Midway Geyser Basin trail. This is an easy one.
Upper,Lower and Crystal Falls
Dunraven to mount Washburn
Trout Lake Trail
Osprey Falls Trail
Avalanche Peak Trail
Then head to nearby Grand Teton National Park and stay at Jackson, Wyoming.
Best Hikes in Yellowstone National Park
Artist Point.
Fairy Falls
Upper Geyser Basin
Grand Pirismatic
West Thumb
Midway Geyser Basin trail. This is an easy one.
Upper,Lower and Crystal Falls
Dunraven to mount Washburn
Trout Lake Trail
Osprey Falls Trail
Avalanche Peak Trail
Then head to nearby Grand Teton National Park and stay at Jackson, Wyoming.
Below Yellowstone from the air, I took on a flight to LA
Next take a short drive to Jackson, Wyoming if you have time, to visit or stay overnight. (I have booked to stay here and visit the Grand Teton National Park, just 31 miles from Yellowstone.)
Then drive to Boise Idaho, a great place for shopping, with a huge shopping mall. You can make an optional stop at Craters of the Moon Park. I recommend an overnight stay here in Boise, Idaho (I have booked to stay here.)
Then drive back into Washington State to the world famous wine region of Walla Walla, voted best wine region in the US for several years, beating Napa! For there photographers, take a day trip to the stunning Palouse region and Palouse falls, (Washington's mini Grand Canyon). (I have booked to stay here and looking forward to it.)
If you love wine this video will explain a bit more about the Walla Walla wine region, A very famous wine region, that you have probably never heard of.
Next take a short drive to Jackson, Wyoming if you have time, to visit or stay overnight. (I have booked to stay here and visit the Grand Teton National Park, just 31 miles from Yellowstone.)
Then drive to Boise Idaho, a great place for shopping, with a huge shopping mall. You can make an optional stop at Craters of the Moon Park. I recommend an overnight stay here in Boise, Idaho (I have booked to stay here.)
Then drive back into Washington State to the world famous wine region of Walla Walla, voted best wine region in the US for several years, beating Napa! For there photographers, take a day trip to the stunning Palouse region and Palouse falls, (Washington's mini Grand Canyon). (I have booked to stay here and looking forward to it.)
If you love wine this video will explain a bit more about the Walla Walla wine region, A very famous wine region, that you have probably never heard of.
Then drive to the cute small town of Issaquah which is not far from Seattle's Seatac airport, ready for your flight home! I have been to Issaquah several times and love to stay there, by far the best small town close to Seatac airport!
If you have longer than 2 weeks for your Yellowstone road trip ( I recommend a minimum of 3 weeks in total), you can do my Washington State loop road trip when arriving back in arrival in Seattle. That would really be a trip of a lifetime!!!!