Our family recently took our first vacation or trip of a n y kind since Harry was born (our last one was over 3 years ago). We’ve felt really nervous going anywhere—general state of the world aside—because Harry’s not exactly a ‘sit still’ kinda guy. In fact, I have joked (well, sorta joked) that if we traveled by plane, other passengers would take out him or one of us due to screaming and general loudness.
Nevertheless, we were long-overdue for a trip, and decided to head to Yellowstone. Todd’s parents have a cabin on Bill’s Island (so lodging would be free-of-charge), which is about 45 minutes away from the park. Growing up, Yellowstone was the only vacation Todd’s family went on, as well, so he has lots of good memories there. The last time we went was baby-mooning when I was pregnant with Gwendolyn. We figured someplace familiar, and some-what close, was ideal, just incase things didn’t go smoothly.
There’s a bunch of Yellowstone travel posts out there, and we weren’t the craziest, because we had two kids (and driving for hours around a national park isn’t exactly top-notch kid fun), so I’m going to share how we did the trip w i t h k i d s. When we went, our kids were 5 almost-6, and 2 almost-3.
long car ride
For us, total travel was around 5.5 hours, though we did take a brief stop at Todd’s parent’s house to get the cabin key, and another at a park in Pocatello to let the kids run around for a minute.
I’ve covered traveling screen-free in a different post, so I won’t rehash that, but we were, indeed, screen-free. To keep the kids entertained, we brought, or did the following:
brought a variety of snacks – even though at home we aren’t huge snackers, a car trip is different. We brought several snack crackers, as well as fruit, and as a big surprise: several kinds of Pocky sticks. We got lucky and didn’t have to break out the Pocky until the drive home, but we were glad we had it.
packed the right toys – this trip, we didn’t have any special toy surprises (though Grandma got them one new animal figurine each, and that was really great), and we wanted to make sure we didn’t bring any toys small enough to get lost either in the car, or by falling out of the car. We brought large Schleich animals; a couple of stuffed animals each; and I had two National Parks books I brought as a surprise towards the end of our trip up, once they were pretty done with being in the car. That’s not a lot, but between a short nap, snacking, bored time (when Todd and I listened to podcasts), and music, it was enough.
music – the number 1 thing that got us through the long car rides. Look, I’m not gonna suggest you listen to My Little Pony songs, or whatever kid-show music you tolerate, the entire time. But make sure you have music your kids like with you (especially if internet is spotty or non-existent). The kids requested some of my music, and some of Todd’s, and we adults chose some stuff, too. When the kids have their picks, they play with their toys—making them dance, etc.—so that was truly hours of fun for them. Before we headed into the park, Todd warned them that some songs might not work once we were in the park, so I rapid-fire made sure lots of their favourites were on my phone, and downloaded Psy’s Gangnam Style so I could pull that out, if we really needed it. By the time we made it to the entrance of the park the first day, we needed it. The background music of our entire trip was 90% Gangnam Style. So there’s that.
what to see
Yellowstone National Park is huge. This year, with the flooding, there was slightly less that you could go see, but it’s still a lot; and, in my opinion, unreasonable to think you can get to it all with young kids.
When Todd went growing up, his family often stopped at nice spots of the lake or river for hours while his dad fished. But, if you’re wanting to just have some fun park days that the kids will enjoy, I suggest picking a few areas, and doing one a day. For example: we went to Old Faithful, and made just that a day.
— top tip: Tower Falls still doesn’t have a path to the bottom of the falls. We made the mistake of going up there, thinking surely it did by now, but no. And the ice cream counter at the gift shop there was completely closed, so I’d recommend skipping that for now, as it’s pretty far out of the way, and there’s nothing to do —
Since our kids are young, we spent just two days in the park, and divided it:
hiking day – This was our day to do the most driving in Yellowstone itself. I mentioned we went most of an hour out of the way for Tower Falls (bad idea), but we stopped at several other places, too. Here’s the ones I recommend with little kids:
- Gibbon Falls is not too far into the park, and the impressive size of the falls make it a great stop to stretch your legs
- Artist’s Painted Pots was a pretty short hike, but long enough to feel worth the stop, and it was really beautiful. That was our first real hike, and it set a great tone for the rest of the day.
- Artist’s Point is nice, because it can just be a scenic point, or a place to hike, as there’s a trail. This time, we only stopped to enjoy the view, but it’s impressive, and a good stop for taking in the ‘yellow’ stones.
- Brink of the Lower Falls trail is not easy, but it’s also not long. We mistook it for Uncle Tom’s trail, and each wore a child. I was pretty beat by the time we got back to the top, but the end of the trail is at the top of a huge waterfall, so that’s neat.
- Uncle Tom’s trail is my favourite hike in the whole park. It’s mostly just walking down some some-what step metal stairs though ferns until you reach the bottom on the falls. Gorgeous. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us, it was closed (hopefully just for maintenance, and not permanently), which is how we accidents ended up on the Brink trail.
- Picnic Spots – throughout the park, there are picnic spots where you can enjoy nature. Any will likely be nice enough to stop at—just pick one that’s along your route, and get any wiggles out.
- Ice cream is a must for Todd when visiting, and we figured we ‘d appreciate it best after a day of hiking. I think you can get ice cream at most of the general stores ( we stopped at the one in Canyon Village).
sights day – we visited old Faithful walked the boardwalks around there, and went to the Old Faithful Inn. It’s beautiful, and memorable, and probably enough for an entire day. I highly recommend wearing toddlers on the boardwalk, though, to avoid them turning themselves into soup. There’s so much to see there, that it really is enough to be everything you do for the day.
balancing driving time with fun time
The most important thing for me, planning our days, was to make all the driving tolerable for the kids. I wanted to strike a balance, and make sure they weren’t too overwhelmed, or in the car for longer than reason. To balance your own trip, you might want to keep these things in mind:
- the drive to yellowstone is probably a few hours at least for most people, so make sure to balance the travel time with downtime the next day. We just chilled at the cabin, and wandered the woods. I would highly recommend that. Playing with toys indoors, and watching a movie could be fun, too. Take it slow.
- on your biggest driving day in the park, make stops that matter, but don’t stop for everything little bit of steam you see—it will add time to park and get everyone out of carseats and back in, and then the day will be longer, but without much payoff for the extra time spent. As kids get older, you can make more stops, but with little kids, it’s best to stay focused.
- If you can, try to have a slow day at your lodging before the trip back, too. If you’re staying in West Yellowstone, you could walk around town exploring, but minimizing car use that day will help you for the long ride home.
There you have it: our best tips + practices for Yellowstone. I hope this helps anyone else out who may be planning a trip, but is a bit nervous with little kids. With a little preparation, you can have a fantastic time.
Good luck!
Best of luck!