May 2017 – In May I decided to take a road trip up to Wyoming to visit Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks since I had never explored that part of the country. My dogs, Coco and Gigi, were my companions on the trip so I also made it a point to find dog-friendly trails along the way.

Zion National Park

I made it to Zion National Park in Utah at the end of my first day. I entered at the East entrance and drove through the park before heading to my hotel. The town of Springdale is right outside of the South entrance, but hotel costs are very high here. I stayed in the town of La Verkin, which is only 20 miles from the South entrance.

The next day I drove back into the park, starting at the South entrance visitor center, which has a nice outdoor museum that tells you all about the park. From here I walked the dog-friendly Pa’rus Trail next to the North Fork Virgin River, where we spotted a couple of mule deer on the trail. Luckily, Coco and Gigi kept their cool and didn’t bark at the deer. 🙂

One of the most interesting points of interest in the park is the mile-long tunnel  cut into the mountain along Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. But overall, this park is a little too crowded for me.

Bryce Canyon National Park

After leaving Zion I drove to Bryce Canyon National Park, which is about one and a half hours away. I enjoyed Bryce much more than Zion because it is less crowded and I had never seen anything like the unique hoodoo rock formations they are known for. The trail from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point is dog-friendly and has beautiful views of Bryce Canyon and the hoodoos.

Wyoming

I made it to Wyoming on my third day of the trip, ending up in Jackson. The drive along this part of Wyoming was beautiful, filled with mountains and ranches and meadows. For the first time in my life I saw pronghorn, which look like they belong in Africa.

I made it to Jackson at the end of the day and found the cutest, dog-friendly cabin to stay at for the next few days. They were called the Cowboy Village Resort and they have great grounds for walking the dogs, nice clean cabins and very friendly staff.

One of the things that stood out to me about Jackson is it didn’t feel too touristy and commercial, even though they have tons of tourists come through every year. There were no neon signs or ridiculous fun-houses like you see outside of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, which I feel cheapens the experience. Jackson felt like a small town filled with locals that really care about nature and the environment, which is important to me.

Grand Teton National Park

The highlight of this trip was my time spent in Grand Teton National Park. I came on this trip in mid-May in order to avoid the crowds the occur in Grand Teton and Yellowstone in the summer months (once kids are out of school). And I truly did feel like I had the park to myself at times. I didn’t mind the cooler weather and snow, which I felt added to the experience.

There was an abundance of wildlife in Grand Teton, including bison, elk, moose and bears. On my first day in the park I was driving back in the evening when I came upon a few cars stopped in the road. It was a grizzly bear and two cubs running in a meadow next to the road! They crossed the road not too far ahead of me and ran past my car. I spoke to a ranger the next morning about the location of the sighting and he told me that is was grizzly 399. She is 21 years old and they didn’t expect her to have cubs again this year, but were very surprised when she emerged with the two babies.

The next day, Yellowstone was closed due to a snow storm, so I spent the entire day exploring Grand Teton. I was on a mission to find a moose, which I had never seen before. I spoke to a ranger and other park visitors to get tips on where I may find one. After stalking multiple water sources for hours I finally found one eating next to the river along Gros Ventre Road.

Yellowstone National Park

I wasn’t able to explore Yellowstone National Park as much as I had hoped due to snow. Some roads in the park still hadn’t been cleared from the winter. It snowed so much on the day I was in the park that the south entrance into the park was closed the next day so I couldn’t get in. However, I was able to make it to the most famous landmark in Yellowstone – Old Faithful. It erupted about 5 minutes past their predicted time. I believe visiting while snow was still on the ground made this steamy landscape even more interesting.

I only explored the West side of the park, but I saw lots of bison and elk along this route, as well as beautiful landscapes of mountains, waterfalls and geysers. On my next visit to Yellowstone I will probably use Montana as my base instead of Wyoming so I have more time to explore.