Jackie and Steve's 2026 Southwest Roadtrip

[Jackiemac]

We had decided our next stop was going to be either Island Park or a campground just outside Cooke City. Cooke City won. We drove from Trapper out to Belgrade/Bozeman to another Costco before heading to the Sinclair just outside Gardiner to dump, get water, propane and gas. We dro c e up the steep road to Mammoth and saw zero elk which is unusual. Crossed the Bridge which is one lane. We held our breath and squeezed through. Through the park to our campground missing a few bear sightings but seeing a black and cinnamon black bear on opposite sides of the road close to Baronette Peak. Got to our campground again around 6pm. We are friends with the hosts and they had made us dinner - how lovely!

Stayed for 6 nights. Saw several bears, wolves, pronghorn, deer, elk, coyotes, moose, bald eagles and just a few bison! Lots of babies this year.

The park was full of wildflowers and crazy tourists who thought it was acceptable to abandoned their cars on the road to go see a grizzly (4 cars in a row, caused chaos at 6:30am when no rangers are out).

We drove over the Beartooth Highway which still had pockets of snow. Popped into Red Lodge (it was pouring with rain) and then headed back up the Beartooth to visit with Donna and Mark (@tanglemoose ) - forgot to get photos!

Went to a talk about Wolverines which was kind of interesting.

 

[Jackiemac]

We left our campground at Cooke City at 10:30am and had a really nice journey through the park. On down through the Tetons which was also quiet until we reached Jackson and then on to Warren Bridge campground at Daniel Wyoming for one night (again only 2spots left on arrival) before we moved to our friends' yard for several nights.

We did our laundry and had a quiet night.

One photo from Silver Gate- Stop the Car Trading Post does our favourite ice cream - Wilcoxsons. Yummy.

 

[Jackiemac]

On to our friends yard at Green River Ranches just behind Warren Bridge. They have spectacular views of the Wind River Mountains. If you haven't been there you are missing out. The weather is always doing something interesting!

We had a great visit. Pinedale Senior Centre lunches, ATV rides, Mexican Train and catching up with special people.

 

[Jackiemac]

We also spent time with friends in Pinedale. They live on Fremont Lake. There are some nice views up at Elkhart Park. CCC ponds in Pinedale are pretty nice too. And a male pronghorn is always special.

 

[Jackiemac]

Next stop and currently location Gros Ventre Campground in the Tetons. Our nephew arrives 29th July until 11th August so we are doing Yellowstone and the Tetons with him.

We drove through some heavy rain on our way through Hoback Canyon but dry on the other side. We're in B loop site 108 which was easy to get into and is reasonably quiet. Just had steak and a bottle of wine and watching several chipmunks running around and climbing trees! Who knew. Lots of nighthawk activity and we've even heard coyotes.

We've seen a few moose already and some rain and big clouds. It was 90F today.

Seen a moose and calf and a bull moose.

 

[Tom]

You folks really do get around and make the most of your visits. Enjoy reading and seeing your photos.

 

[Jackiemac]

You folks really do get around and make the most of your visits. Enjoy reading and seeing your photos.

Will miss seeing you both this year.

 

[PancakeBill]

Enjoy the Teton/Yellowstone visit. Spent a number if nights at GrosV entre, nice location for trips in the area, Don’t miss Mormon Row. See if your nephew can pronounce the CG name.

 

[Jackiemac]

Enjoy the Teton/Yellowstone visit. Spent a number if nights at GrosV entre, nice location for trips in the area, Don’t miss Mormon Row. See if your nephew can pronounce the CG name.

We've been coming here for several years and really love it. As he speaks French i expect he can

 

[PancakeBill]

We've been coming here for several years and really love it. As he speaks French i expect he can

Well good, but you miss the fun of hearing Gross Venture.

 

[Firstime RVer]

Jackiemac, You've heard it before but I've got to say it again!! Love your posts!!! Great photos and the background info and insights you provide in covering your visits is first rate!!
Heart felt thanks for your contributions.
Safe travels and all the best.

 

[Jackiemac]

Th

Jackiemac, You've heard it before but I've got to say it again!! Love your posts!!! Great photos and the background info and insights you provide in covering your visits is first rate!!
Heart felt thanks for your contributions.
Safe travels and all the best.

Thanks for the compliment! Glad you enjoy it...

 

[Jackiemac]

We had a bit of a lazy time before our nephew arrived, his flight was delayed by 5 hours so he didn't get the nice view on the way in.

We spent a day driving the park and we saw 2 bull moose and a black bear along the Gros Ventre River fairly close to the campground on his first day.

We left on the 31st and headed to Fishing Bridge RV Park for 5 nights. We wanted to be hooked up as it makes things easier when there are 3 of you. Although the prices are crazy even for the old tight pitches where we were in loop D.

We did all of the popular stuff, Lewis Falls, West Thumb, Old Faithful and the boardwalk to Morning Glory. Grand Prismatic boardwalk and overlook. Mammoth and the Roosevelt Arch. We did the waterfalls and the Beartooth Highway where we saw mountain goats fairly close. We managed to see some wolves, although at a distance and grizzlies. Lots of bison, pronghorn and elk and a few osprey.

We came back to the Tetons and camped at Hatchet Campground a few miles from the Moran junction.

We drove along the Buffalo Valley and had dinner at Turpin Meadows. We drove out the back way to the Togwotee Pass Road and drove to Wind River Lake. Lots of bear warnings.

We had never seen any wildlife up there other than moose a couple of times. Our nephew spotted what he thought were 2 bears as we drove towards Brooks Lake (didn't get there). It turned out to be a grizzly and 2 cubs. We watched them in the grass for a while and then headed back to base, stopping at the Teton Overlook for sunset photos. Great experience. There was a lot of wildfire smoke unfortunately.

We spent a few more days exploring the park and giving him a try at canoeing on the Snake River - from the Dam to Pacific Creek. The river is really high due to water being let out gor farming in Idaho. We haven't seen it this high. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of wildlife around at all. A few pelicans, a juvenile bald eagles and a few deer.

We did a few miles at Two Ocean Lake and think it would be good to do the full loop.

We drove to Green River Wyoming and back one day to go to our friends 50th Wedding Anniversary get together. The next day there was a wildfire in Red Canyon just behind Lander. That's a beautiful place so we were sad to hear that.

Steve took him canoeing on String and Leigh Lakes and we did a hike to Louise Lake instead of Cascade Canyon near Dubois because of the smoke. We also showed him some petroglyphs in the area.

Since then its been quite wet so we have been relaxing and recuperating from those busy few weeks.

We are heading to Yellowstone again tomorrow for a week or so hoping to see more wildlife. We aren't decided on where to go after that!

A small selection of photos...

 

[Jackiemac]

We headed back to a campground close to Cooke City and had 1 nights there.

We drove to Cody one day and Red Lodge another where we caught up with Donna and Mark (tanglemoose).

We saw the wolves again and some grizzlies a couple quite close which was good, they were vacuuming up whortleberries! Saw some pikas and marmots and bison, elk, deer and coyotes.

We did a hike with 8 others from our campground to Snyder and Sheepherder Lakes.

We saw many storms during that time but most were later in the day.

 

[Jackiemac]

We left Yellowstone as a few rainy days were coming. Good decision as they had hail a few hours after we left. We drove over the Chief Joseph to Lovell and stayed there for a few days. We did our laundry (the excitement ).

We drove up the 14A to the Burgess Junction late afternoon and saw 16 deer (black tailed think) and 25!! Moose, 3 of which were bulls. This is always a good place to spot them.

We drove into the Pryor Mountains and visited the Big Ice Cave. Forgot to take a torch so didn't see ice but expect it's there. There are also lots of fossilised sea shells in the rocks there. 7500ft up crazy. We saw lots and lots of kestrels up there but no wild horses.

We decided to drive back as a loop. We stopped in at a beautiful campground called Sage Creek. $5 a night. It was empty. Then we headed out. The road from there back to the highway towards Bridger Montana was horrendous. Dirt road with huge muddy ruts for miles. Such a shame. That would have been a good route to take trailer to the campground but impossible in that condition and the other road ok for small trailers but not ours.

We then reached a huge windfarm and the roads improved dramatically.

Next day we hiked into Petroglyph Canyon. Wow it was really pretty. A fairly short hike but lots of clambering over boulders.

We then did a drive to the Bighorn Canyon Overlook and then back seeing a big herd if horses in the distance. We then saw 1 bighorn sheep and then 4 wild horses at a watering spot.


More storms.

 

[tanglemoose]

We headed back to a campground close to Cooke City and had 1 nights there.

We drove to Cody one day and Red Lodge another where we caught up with Donna and Mark (tanglemoose).

We saw the wolves again and some grizzlies a couple quite close which was good, they were vacuuming up whortleberries! Saw some pikas and marmots and bison, elk, deer and coyotes.

We did a hike with 8 others from our campground to Snyder and Sheepherder Lakes.

We saw many storms during that time but most were later in the day.View attachment 2506836View attachment 2506837View attachment 2506838View attachment 2506839View attachment 2506840View attachment 2506841View attachment 2506842View attachment 2506843View attachment 2506844View attachment 2506845

Sheepherder lake ip on the pass?

 

[Jackiemac]

Sheepherder lake ip on the pass?

Yes. You told us about it last year.