Another Yellowstone thread

I had decided to make our family's summer 2008 Yellowstone trip an in-park, non timeshare vacation, so made ressies back in May for 2008. I just looked at what I did, and need to arrange the rest of our days in either West Yellowstone or Jackson Hole area. July 4. 2008 is a Friday, so we are unscheduled Friday 7/4-Mon 7/7. Monday night we are staying in Old Faithful Inn, Tues and Wed in Roosevelt Lodge, Thurs and Fri nights in Yellowstone Lake Hotel. I assume we will fly into Salt Lake City and rent a car there, as it would be cheaper than flying to a reginal airport. So, for July 4-7, should we stay in the Jackson Hole area?? Is there anything special that happens fourth of July in either West Yellowstone or Jackson Hole? Does it make sense to leave Lake Yellowstone and spend our last night in West Yellowstone to see the Grizzly museum, or should we skip West Yellowstone altogether?
Also, from Jackson Hole and/or West Yellowstone, is there a rodeo to see and an easy mellow float trip? I thought those would be fun activities.
Thanks for any advice.

Wow! Yet another Yellowstone thread that I will chime in

Have you thought about spending July4th at Mount Rushmore National Monument? It may be a truly memorable 4th!! :whoopie:

I am by no means an expert about the area, but it seems logical that if you want to know more of what's happening at a certain time, start with the webpages of the local Chambers of Commerce.

In reading the page for West Yellowstone, for example, their current calendar for next July shows a parade and fireworks display in town. Check out http://www.westyellowstonechamber.com/calendar/ I'm sure you could contact them for more specific information.

I'm sure as the dates get closer, more events will be added. Search for the pages for other towns in the area. They probably have similar pages to view.

If you have several days to fill, you may also want to head out the eastern side of the park and see some of nearby northern Wyoming. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, is a fascinating place, and showcases a lot of the opening of the west from the era. http://www.bbhc.org/home/index.cfm

Have a great trip!

Dave

Both Jackson Hole and Big Sky have fireworks on July 4th. But it gets dark late at that time of year. This year the fireworks in Big Sky started after 11 p.m.

calgal said:

Is there anything special that happens fourth of July in either West Yellowstone or Jackson Hole?

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If you like Celtic harp music, this year there was an International Folk Harp Festival July 4 week at Big Sky. I don't know yet whether this will be an annual event, but they did have performances open to the general public, and some great artists.
http://www.bigskyharpfestival.com/

You can take a very mellow canoe ride in Island Park. Macks Inn will rent you the canoe and take you to Big Springs and you float back down to Macks Inn. It is a very nice float trip.

West Yellowstone also has wolves at the Grizzly Museum and an Imaxx next door. There is also a Yellowstone museum and lots of fun shops.

You can float in Jackson as well - the trip we took had quite a few rapids - I think it depends were you put in

If you are flying into Salt Lake City, you could also stop Friday night in Idaho Falls - they have a very nice fireworks display on the river and is a 3-4 hour drive depending on how much of a hurry you are in. You could then drive up to west yellowstone or Island Park & spend a day or two. Warm river is a great place to feed fish, Upper & lower Mesa falls are worth a trip as is cave falls. Harriman state park for the trumpetor swans and sawtelle peak are all between Idaho Falls and Island Park. There is also a museum in Rexburg about the teton dam break (Occurred in the 1970's) I have never been but understand it is very interesting.

When we were in Jackson Hole last year, we really enjoyed the sunrise float trip with Solitude. Here is their website: www.solitudefloattrips.com .

Thanks to all who replied. I have been out of town in Tahoe (Hyatt High Sierra Lodge), so not logging in as much as usual. Both the canoe trip in Idaho and the river float trip from Jackson sound like trips my family would enjoy. Maybe I'll start the trip with Idaho Falls 1 night, West Yellowstone 2 nights, inside Yellowstone for 4 nights (cut out the second night at Lake Yellowstone), and Jackson for the last 2 nights. I think Mount Rushmore is too far away. Not sure if we would hit Cody or not. Planning a non-timeshare vacation is hard!