Hi Kris & Rich
I guess as it is your vacation, it is up to you how you want to spend it. I was one of those previously saying that 2 weeks was not long enough for this kind of trip however looking back on my old travel notes we used to do a lot of driving in 2 weeks. This was just in a car though and we didn't have a lot of time to do many hikes etc. So it is really your choice of how you want to spend your time. Remember in these parks you are likely to do a lot of driving even once you get there. If you capitalise your time you will probably still see quite a bit. Be aware of the info given previously about your doggy and hiking - this is bear country and dogs are not allowed on the trails.
Are you sitting comfortably, I have written quite a lot and I hope that I am forgiven for the length of this post but I feel there is so much to see and do that it was worth writing.
Free websites for campground info:
campendium.com
allstays.com
rvparkreviews.com
rvparky.com
uscampgrounds.info
Membership websites
You get campground discounts with these although there may be restrictions, for example you may only get discount during the week, or for 2 nights, but apparently if you ask they sometimes let you have it for longer. You can search for these here on the forum and make your mind up about whether or not it would be economical for you to join.
http://www.goodsamclub.com
http://www.passportamerica.com
Here is some info from our various trips to your planned destinations:
We went to Colorado in 2009 and visited the RMNP for a half day which was nice, we did a couple of short hikes at Cub's Lake and Bear Lake. A few of the towns nearby are ski resorts and so the area is pretty built up. We didn't really spend a lot of time there and I will leave it to others to advise what to do and where to stay in CO.
We love the Tetons and Yellowstone and have visited several times and spent about a month there last year. There is plenty to do, not just in the parks but also in the surrounding areas.
I can recommend the Rough Guide to Yellowstone & Grand Teton, you can get a decent second hand one on Amazon. there is a 2007 and a 2011 version:
https://www.amazon.com/Rough-Guide-Yellowstone-Grand-Guides/dp/1848367716/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520268064&sr=8-2&keywords=rough+guides+yellowstone
I suggest you also check out the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park websites. These give you lots of information particularly on trails and campgrounds, note that most campgrounds take bookings and for those that don't you probably need to get there at a reasonable time in the morning to get a spot. August is a busy month and people usually advise booking. That said we managed to get 4 nights in Fishing Bridge a few days before our planned arrival. There are often cancellations if you are happy to take the chance, but there may not be and weekends will probably be more difficult. Note that boondocking will be more difficult around Yellowstone as the park is so large.
Grand Teton National Park
We stayed in Gros Ventre which was $53 per night in 2017 if you can get an electrical hook up. You can't reserve at this park so I suggest getting there at a reasonable time. If you don't get an electric site first time you can check with office daily and they will move you if one comes up. You can see the moose here in the morning and we spotted a great horned owl sitting in a tree. They have firepits so you can have a nice fire at night. This is close to Jackson if you wanted to go into the town.
We frequent the coffee shop in the small village of Kelly who have great sandwiches and coffee and you can get a hug of firewood for around $20, it burns for ages. You can sit with your coffee enjoying great views of the mountains.
You can visit the film set of Shane close by here and then drive on to the Mormon Row where you will find the "most photographed shed". The bison usually hang our around here as well as pronghorn.
https://www.bestofthetetons.com/2013/12/10/the-shane-cabins-authentic-homestead-in-grand-teton-national-park
Moose is a village on the way to Jenny Lake. Lovely views here and a couple of shops Dornan's, one a wine shop with expensive wine! We booked our Barker Ewing Float Trip (which we really enjoyed) in the gift shop there. There is also a fishing shop, bike rentals, restaurants and a grocery which is not cheap but does have some nice steaks and cheese etc. We did the sunset float and saw beavers, moose, eagles etc. This section of the river is popular for fishing during the day. Pizza and Paata is the best eatery there.
At Jenny Lake you can take the ferry out to the Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point/Cascade Canyon trails. Pop into the visitor centre first for information and a route map. I think it is roughly 3 miles or so to Cascade Canyon. There are 2 routes one left one right. The one on the left is steeper but shorter and open and takes you up to Inspiration point. The one on the right was through trees. I would recommend left on way up and left on way back to wind down through the trees. Nice waterfalls and the walk up Cascade Canyon was lovely and is where we saw a black bear. You need to go back to the starting point for the ferry or from there you can take the loop trail back to the visitor centre.
Blacktail Ponds Overlook is a good place to spot wildlife - park up and walk over to the fencing. Stand there and look out for moose. There was a mother and calf right below us that we managed to spot once but they were difficult to see munching in the tall willows. Also look across into the trees and you will probably see more moose coming out to the water. You may need to hang around for half an hour or so to spot them. We also saw deer here and birds. Lots of fishermen were going down to the river to fish from here.
Further up the main road is Schwabacher's Landing. We drove down and parked and then walked along for a mile or so. Big beaver dam and lodge there and although we didn't see any, I believe there are beavers here. Not sure if the RV would go down there so check on google maps but it is not a long walk.
Moran and the Jackson Lake Lodge are nice places to stop. Food at the Pioneer Grill just OK but the outlook is nice from the big windows at the lodge, there is also a nice bar, a small Starbucks and large gift shop shop.
Oxbow Bend is spectacular and my favourite wildlife spot - we went out on our canoe in the evenings a lot to watch the wildlife and birds. We did the same at Two Ocean Lake and saw a huge bull moose lying in the lake.
Colter Bay Village has 2 different campgrounds one with hookups, one without. This is Seilerbird's favourite campground as it is very central. There is a great walk from here out to Hermitage Point which is beautiful and a fairly easy 9 -10 miles. There are a couple of small lakes on the way. You need to be bear aware around here.
There is a cable car up the mountain that you can go on from Teton Village, which we haven't been on and I think there is a restaurant up there. The Laurence S Rockefeller centre is worth a visit and you can hike up to some lakes. Note that the parking is busy here and you may have to wait if you are not early.
A few trails leave from the Lupine Meadows area and several of these are long ones and this parking area gets very busy too.
Going towards town is the Elk Refuge which you can walk or drive through, and do catch and release fishing I think. There are boondocking spots here too and a campground called Curtis Canyon.
There are lots of cycle paths in the park if that suits you and lots of places to canoe and fish (make sure you get licences).
Jackson itself is a nice town and I would definitely recommend moseying around it. Parking is limited for RVs though so check that before you go. You could park in one of the supermarket car parks probably. Town Centre is the area most people go to to see the antlers that are displayed there.
Great photo gallery there called Mangelsen Images of Nature, his photos are stunning.
The Snake River Brewery is good for beer and food and we have eaten at Thai Me Up, which was alright and Bin 22 which had nice tapas, but wasn't overly cheap. Depends what you are looking for. Lots of people recommend the Cowboy Bar which we still have not made it to and Bar J Chuckwagon dinner which is supposedly really good.
A friend of our stayed at the Virginian Campground which is in town and said it was good.
We spotted a couple of nice campgrounds about 60 miles outside Jackson - Brooks Creek and Brooks Lake between Moran Junction and Dubois. This area looks worthy of exploration, really wild and beautiful.
Further along that same route are the Wind River Mountains ? we had not heard of this large wilderness area which only has a few roads. There are lots of glaciers up in there and mostly accessible by hiking for a few days. The Union Pass goes over these mountains. This area looks awesome and we plan to spend time there this year.
Yellowstone
West Entrance Yellowstone
We stayed in a very nice commercial campground at West Yellowstone - Grizzly RV Park. Think it was around $45 a night in 2016. It was large but clean and well kept and you can walk into town easily. There is a cinema there and plenty of bars, restaurants and shops.
https://grizzlyrv.com/
The Buffalo Bar had good beer and average food. Wild West Pizzeria was a bit noisier but lively and good pizza, they had a bar and a restaurant for families. Madison Crossing was a more upmarket restaurant, busy, and a bit pricier however lovely food and cocktails!
West Yellowstone is probably the best area to access the following places (but check out the book for other things too):
Norris Basin - the car parks were full almost every time we passed here so you would need to be up early to get a spot. Like all of the geyser areas it is a boardwalk. I think you would spend at least 2-4 hours here. You could also come here if staying in Gardiner, although drive it would be a bit further I think.
From Norris you could then go along to Canyon and then along the Hayden Valley. That is where we saw the wolves early in the morning last year. We were up and away at around 5:30 to get them at dawn which is the best time to see them.
Lower Geyer Basin has 2 sections one on the right hand side which is first if going towards Old Faithful and then one on the left which is a loop. Both worth visiting. I would say 1-2 hours.
Midway Geyser Basin where Grand Prismatic Spring is, has a walk round the geysers there. Another 1-2 hours. There is now a trail up to a viewpoint of Grand Prismatic Spring, the trail head to Fairy Falls, note there is no loo there.
Old Faithful site is the Upper Geyser Basin. There is the old hotel, which you have to go into just to see it. The new visitor centre is there too so you can see when geysers are predicted to go off that day and to get a map of the trail. Lots of geysers here and I would say another 2-4 hours to go round that depending on how long you wait for eruptions and how fast you walk.
Close to West Yellowstone there were several elk and often traffic jams because of this. Lots of eagles were sitting in the trees along that road also.
North Entrance
We stayed in a commercial park called Yellowstone RV Park in Gardiner, it is the sister park of Grizzly RV at West Yellowstone, it is much smaller though with less amenities. If you can get a back in site next to the river which is below you, you can watch the rafts going by and look for birds, elk, bighorn sheep and pronghorn.
https://www.rvparkyellowstone.com
There is also a NP campground in Gardiner - Mammoth Hot Springs - and if you are early you might be lucky and get in there. Not sure of facilities re electricity etc., but I know it is frequented by Elk at night and has lots of different sized spaces. A popular hot springs swimming spot is not far from the campground. Be aware that there are snakes around this area too.
We bought groceries at the local supermarket and ate in mostly, although we ate out twice - had a pretty average meal in the Iron Horse Bar and Grill and a much nicer meal at the Lighthouse out of town on the 89. This restaurant is nice and although it takes tour buses they are served a buffet so doesn't appear to affect waiting time. No alcohol served here though.
From Gardiner you can visit:
Mammoth Hot Springs - boardwalk, 2-4 hours. The Allbright visitor centre is in the middle of town with a museum and some interesting bits and bobs inside. We did eat in the hotel in 2016 but it wasn't great and was expensive for what it was. It was being renovated when we were there in 2017.
Tower-Roosevelt is a nice drive, keep an eye out for birds and if you can, stop off and look for the osprey nest on the left hand side of the road going out to Tower. We have also seen some bears here up on the right hand side in the woods. There is a big cafe at then end but we haven't been in it. You can also get a good look at the volcanic rocks and the river along here and there is a short hike to a view of one of the waterfalls.
Drive on from there to the Lamar Valley. Used to be a big wolf pack there, but not last year, but things change. There had been a bison kill and bears were feeding there but we didn't see them. We saw a moose and calf further along at Trout Lake in 2009. This road has a bridge at one end where you often get a bison jam. That bridge was a view point for beavers (2016 & 2017) so stop off if you can get parked safely and have a look for them. They were active during the day.
South end we stayed at Fishing Bridge RV Park, a NP campground. It is busy as it is the only full hook up in the park, the spaces were tight but we managed fine. From here as well as some of the above areas you can do:
West Thumb Geyser Basin which is a bit smaller and is right on the Yellowstone Lake - that would probably be 1-2 hours max. When we were there a storm came up and we had hailstones - in June! We also got snow that year.
Near Canyon Village are the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone. There are a couple of trails to great viewpoints and these are well worth the effort.
You can also drive up to Mt Washburn and hike up there, not sure how far you can go in the RV though.
There is also the John D Rockefeller Memorial Parkway between Yellowstone and the Tetons which is supposed to be nice.
There are several hikes you can do in the park, but if going you should really buy Bear Spray to take with you especially if just the 2 of you. You can also rent spray.
To see the bears you just need to keep an eye out of the window, often you will see them at the side of the road or in the trees or roaming across are wide open fields. Ask the locals for info as there will often be a spot you can find them feeding for example.
The Beartooth Highway, if open has spectacular views from the top and it is manageable in the RV if you are confident. Cold at the top and it was a bit windy, but well worth it and you can sometimes find pikas squeaking in amongst the rocks. There is a small shop on the way to the top called the Top of the World - this is usually where the road closes if snowy. Toilets not great but you can grab a coffee and look around the small shop. That takes you out to the Northeast entrance and Cody. It is a great drive to Cody from here.
We stayed in Buffalo Bill State Park at Cody but this is out of the town and one section was a bit busy with mosquitos! We were told the Absaroka was nice and it is in the centre of town should you decide to stay here.
Make sure you thoroughly check your driving routes as there are a lot of big mountains out there and keep an eye on the weather, don't expect it to always be warm. We needed a warm blanket a couple of nights in August as it can be cold and it can snow so have warm clothes with you.
There are lots of great things to do in all of these places. I hope I am not spoiling it by telling you all the things we have done. Sometimes it is nice to find things for yourselves.
I think you are best to decide what you really want to see/do and plan your trip around that.
Have fun planning your route!
cheeky...
