My wife and I went on a 11 day trip during the last week of August out to the Badlands, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons. We had a great time camping and hiking and wanted to share some of the photos with everyone. Saw some great scenery, lots of animals, cool geothermal formations, and some mountains. We took extra precautions to stay safe and everyone was pretty good with masks/distancing on the trip. Glad we made the trip as it was an awesome time ! BADLANDS We have been to the badlands a few time and it never gets old. Great scenery, some nice hikes, and saw prarie dogs, bighorn sheep, and buffalo while in the park. BEARTOOTH PASS We took the Northeast enterance into Yellowstone so that we could see the entire park and get a chance to drive through the Beartooth Pass. The drive though the mountains here was awesome. There were a lot of switchbacks and some small glaciers/snow as well as some lakes along the way.
Yellowstone itself was awesome. Saw a lot of wildlife here including buffalo, pronghorn, and elk. We got up early in the morning to see the mist rising off of the hotsprings and the hikes alongside of them through the steam was cool. Saw a lot of cool geothermal springs, steam vents, and geysers. Its hard to decide which ones were our favorite so here are quite a few. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone was also neat and the hike to the rim of the lower falls was well worth it. We liked this viewpoint much more than Niagra Falls.
Yellowstone continued... They had to shut down the main road two miles south of Old Faithful as there was a wildfire in the area. We saw helicopters flying back and forth and could smell the smoke in the air... We also did a 3 hours horseback ride at a private ranch just outside of Yellowstone that took us on national forest land. It was us, one other couple, and the guide. This was pretty fun as well.
After Yellowstone we spent a few days in the Grand Tetons. Got a nice campsite a short walk from the lake and spent some time on the rock beach enjoying the nice weather. While in the Tetons we did a few hike and liked the Cascade Canyon hike from Jenny Lake the best. While in the Tetons we were lucky enough to see a Grizzly (from the car)! Can't wait until next year! We are tentatively planning on Glacier National Park as well as Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada.
@Adventurer Love it! I have been to all three and would like to go again. Little known spot in Yellowstone is a place called “Fire Hole hot springs” one of the few free and safe hot springs in the park. It’s on the western side of the park north of Old Faithful. Don’t be surprised thou if the European tourists are having a clothes optional type of day
The firehole hotsprings and boiling river were both closed due to covid while we were there... That was on our list of places to stop. They also closed the Old Faithful Inn and visitor center down as well but had a information table set up outside. They also turned a couple of the boardwalks into one way loops as well. Yellowstone shut down the shower buildings but the Grand Tetons had one nicer shower building open to use.
My son's been gone for 2 weeks on almost the same trip. Doing his 1st overland trek with his "overlanded" 4runner. I did those trips years ago and have a lot of great memories.