If you are looking at the title of this and thinking that’s a lot of places to cover in one trip, you’d be right! If you plan on camping and hiking, you will want to pick one, maybe two, of these destinations for one trip and see the others another time.

If you do plan on visiting several National Parks either in one vacation or over the course of a year, you will want to invest in an Annual Pass. By the time you pay entrance into each different National Park, an annual pass can save you quite a bit of money. Do you have a 4th grader, are you in the military or are you a senior? There are special passes for these individuals.

We started planning for this trip about 6 months ahead of time. You will want to plan at least that to 1 year prior. Places to stay book up quickly and far out. We went the second week of September and the weather was very cool, even cold in some areas. Pack and dress in layers.

We began this trip with an early flight to Bozeman. We picked up our rental car, stopped for groceries and made the 5 hour drive to Glacier National Park. We stayed in a different Air BNB each night and this first one was my favorite. Linking it here - it was located next to an elk reserve in Kalispell.

Glacier National Park is home to the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road. It’s only open a few months out of the year. Depending on your travel dates and times, you will need a reservation.

We spent the first full day driving Going-to-the-Sun Road. This is one of the top scenic drives in the United States and is one of the best ways to see the park in short amount of time. We stopped at waterfalls, lookout points and did a short hike at Two Medicine Lake. We had a picnic lunch at the Rising Sun Picnic Area. You could easily spend a week here if you are in to hiking and camping.

Two Medicine Lake, Glacier National Park

Once we finished our day in Glacier National Park, we started the 8 hour drive toward Grand Teton National Park. Our Air BNB was in Victor, ID for our time at Grand Teton.

Before heading in to the park, we spent the morning grabbing breakfast and walking around Jackson Hole. Jackson Hole is a unique, fun town with lots of shopping and great food. One of our favorite dinner’s was at Gun Barrel Steak & Game House after a day in the park.

Our main drive in this park was the Jenny Lake Scenic Drive. Again, if you plan to hike and camp, you could spend much more time here. Thankfully, our next stop was Yellowstone National Park, which is only about 30 minutes from Grand Teton. For Yellowstone, our Air BNB was in Island Park, ID.

Watching Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park - Make sure you spend time in the Visitor Center and walk through Old Faithful Lodge.

Yellowstone was my favorite of all of the National Parks we visited on this trip. Each loop felt like a completely different place. The North entrance was still closed from flooding while we there so we were only able to drive through a piece of Lamar Valley. There were so many geysers, including Old Faithful. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and the calcium carbonate at Mammoth Hot Springs were breathtakingly beautiful.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone - Yellowstone National Park

Mammoth Hot Springs - Yellowstone National Park

From Yellowstone National Park we drove to Cody, Wyoming. On the drive from Yellowstone to Cody, you will pass Smith Mansion. If you don’t know the story of Smith Mansion, click the link to read a quick history. I love quirky places like this.

If you love history, you will enjoy Cody. From the Old Town Trail and Buffalo Bill’s Irma Hotel & Restaurant, there’s so much to see here. Our most interesting dinner of this trip was at Cassie’s Steakhouse. It used to be a brothel and the License for Prostitution signed by Wyatt Earp is still hanging in the restaurant.

When we left Cody to head back to Bozeman, we took Beartooth Highway. This road is not for the faint of heart. The Beartooth Highway is open from Memorial Day to October 15, depending on the weather. It reaches an elevation of 10,947 feet and has sheer drop offs and hairpin curves.

By driving and hitting the high parts of each area, we were able to see a lot amazing landscapes and wildlife. We aren’t hikers so this worked great for us. If you love to hike, pick any of these National Parks and you won’t be disappointed. My biggest tip is to have binoculars. You will see so much wildlife and some will be a good distance away. Have you been to any of these areas? What was your favorite? Or are you planning a trip, let me know if you have any questions!

Looking for more travel ideas: