No offense meant by "flatlander"

The veneer of West lasts a day or two. Petty crime is not a problem. But meth, weed, and prostitution keep a third of my county's sheriff dept down there (a county bigger than the state of Delaware) despite 90% of the population being in Bozeman, Three Forks, and Belgrade.

Where else to stay? Red Lodge. The dining is *far* better as is, well, everything else. On the west side of YNP? Either Ennis or Big Sky. South of YNP? Any of the lodges in GTNP or some of the motel/cabin operations just east of Moran Jct. East of YNP? Cody is a tourist town, but the rodeo every night makes it fun (PRCA, pro rodeo, not just local kids). There are also a few cabin places between YNP and Cody. NE of YNP? Cooke City is about two blocks long and run by mountain hippies, nice folks but "distracted." There are a couple nice cabin places there, but it's not much of a muchness. Red Lodge will be sure to please. N of YNP? Gardiner is pure Montana, kind of gritty, but in a real scenic little spot. Or go further up Paradise Valley to Chico Hot Springs (or even Livingston). A lot of tourists base themselves in Bozeman or Livingston, which are good bases for fishing trips, but if all you want to do is ride the Park, they're probably a little far (~90 miles, which in "Montana miles" is an easy and quick ride, but still).

Hope that helps.

 

I have stayed in West Yellowstone twice and I am just now finding out they have prostitution! CRAP

 

Did you go to a different West Yellowstone than I did? The one I went to was about as close to the park without actually being in it as you could possibly get. The entrance was within walking distance (once you shoved past the hookers and addicts ) from my cabin in town. Not trying to belabor anything but just sayin.

It helps me, for my next visit anyway. Thanks! I've heard very good things about Red Lodge and it is on my "to do" list.

I would imagine LaMing would come in from the south or east, but only he can say. To the east we cruised through Cody and it looked fine. Again, touristy, as you mention, but still okay.

LOL! Exactly what I was thinking!

Too funny. Seriously, I believe faber totally, but I never would have guessed from my (very short) visit. I did have my gf along, so she would have taken fierce exception to any hookers visiting I'm sure.

 

Wow! Been out of town (and other things) and have just now grabbed a couple minutes to visit this thread... gotta' say the input is impressive! Thanks all. Gonna' be back later tonight to try to digest it more fully.

Quick question: Where's Red Lodge?

 

Red Lodge is in Montana just kinda northeast of Yellowstone. Great town. The one time I went over beartooth, there was lots of road construction which tainted my view on using Red Lodge as a base for Yellowstone.

 

Lot of good input and advice here. We toured with two other couples out there this past August - went late in the month which is a good time because a lot of people have left with kids going back to school and the weather is not too cold. We used Madison campground as a base of operations (parked the car/trailer there and it's only $20/day) as I had planned on doing more fishing than I actually did Our friends stayed at one of the Best Western's in West Yellowstone. We actually only camped in Yellowstone two nights as we were riding and stayed at hotels in Idaho and Montana. The final night we stayed at Yellowstone Lodge - very cool. During our stay we rode throughout the Park (plan on 3 days if you want to spend time seeing the amazing sights - and you will . Route suggested by Faber is perfect. One day we rode out the east entrance of Yellowstone to Cody, WY (neat town and museum) and stayed that evening in Red Lodge, MT. Then we rode the Beartooth Scenic Hwy west into Yellowstone - what great scenery! The day after we rode Beartooth Pass it was closed due to snow! We also spent a day riding in Idaho out to Craters of the Moon. That evening we stayed in Idaho Falls. When we rode in the Tetons we used Driggs, Idaho as a base (hotels much cheaper than Jackson Hole). We encountered a little sleet riding across the Jackson pass. On the way back to Virginia went through Sturgis and the Badlands. Lots of good riding there. Next trip we plan on including Glacier into our plans.

 

There's a neat little dealership in Red Lodge (Beartooth HD) with some really nice people in it if you happen to go there.

 

Excellent input in this thread. It is very much appreciated. Our plans at this point:

We'll likely leave Oklahoma during the week of the 4th of July. For the Yellowstone region, the weather is near its warmest and the precipitation is near its lowest during that time.

Don't know about staying in Jackson Hole at this point. We may investigate lodges within Yellowstone. It would be nice to be in close range of the things we want to see in Yellowstone. Thanks much for the "reservations by December" tip!!! We would'a been SOL had we waited until about May like we were thinking!

Old Faithful is a must. Wife has never been to Yellowstone and she wants to see its highlights and icons. It wouldn't be Yellowstone to her if she didn't get to see Old Faithful. I remember it as a kid and wasn't wowed by it... but hey... it's her vacation too!

We still plan to use about 2-3 days to do Yellowstone. We hope to travel from Yellowstone to Glacier Park in a day. Google Maps says it's something like 450 miles, so don't see a problem.

We've got to also learn more about the Glacier area as to what are must sees, lodging, etc. All in good time!

No doubt, I will be resurrecting this thread from time to time as we find new questions raised that could use an answer!

Thanks lots.

 

Whenever I go to Glacier I make a trip around Flathead Lake. I prefer the east side and like to stop at the little tourist town of Bigfork. The west side is less treed and busier with more small towns.

 

LAming...take a look at booking the Old Faithful Inn for a couple nights for your YNP travels. Definitely a Yellowstone icon and you're bound to meet some interesting folks there. Easy to base there and go in different directions. I'm also a huge fan of Red Lodge but it's too far away from YNP to use as a central location to take trips into the park. Jackson is an OK place but, again, kind of far to go back and forth to YNP. Coming from OK you could get to Red Lodge, Mont. and then make it to Old Faithful Inn the next night after doing Beartooth and entering YNP at the NE entrance. Then when you leave the park go out the W. Yellowstone. Mont. entrance and take the road to Ennis, Mont. After Ennis you can hit I-90 if you're trying to hurry to get to Glacier. Too bad you can't give that trip to Glacier just a couple more days. Previous posts regarding Missoula, Kalispell and Whitefish gave some great reasons. Be sure you let us know how it all goes...maybe see you out there someplace.