Winter at Yellowstone National Park. All photography is ours.
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Wyoming with Kids
If you want Yellowstone without the crowds, go in winter. We’ve always said visiting national parks in winter is a great way to ditch the crowds, and Yellowstone proved it. You get snowcoaches, bison steaming in the cold, and Old Faithful with a handful of people instead of a thousand. The logistics take some work, and we’d recommend it to anyone.
Summer Yellowstone is a different park, and it’s still on our list along with Cody’s rodeo. Wyoming is a lot more than one park, though, from Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons to Fort Laramie and Devils Tower on the eastern prairie.
Destination guide · Updated November 2026 · Last visited July 2025
Best months
June–Sept, plus winter in Yellowstone
National parks
2 + 10 NPS sites
Fly into
JAC · BZN · COD · DEN
How long
5 days, a week with the Tetons
Book ahead
Old Faithful Inn · Yellowstone lodges · winter snowcoach tours
We love recommending off-season national park trips, so we decided to try Yellowstone in winter in 2021. It was SOOO cold but SOOO awesome! In winter the interior roads close to cars, so a snowcoach or guided trip is the only way in. We booked a tour with Teton Science Schools out of Jackson, through the south entrance. It was one of the coolest (literally) park visits we’ve had. Wildlife was sparse due to blowing snow, but the geysers are more dramatic in the cold, and the park is quiet.
We went back in the summer of 2025 for the eastern side of the state, with stops at Fort Laramie on the Oregon Trail and Devils Tower. Our winter trip only gave us a quick look at the Tetons, so keep reading for summer ideas in both parks and the routes that connect them.
Your Wyoming guide
Enjoy exploring Wyoming with kids!
Keep scrolling for the essentials, three road trips, and where to stay.
Essential Wyoming
Why we love Wyoming
We think you’ll love it too.
Wyoming is where we’d send a family that wants the West at its biggest. Yellowstone in winter, with steam pouring off the geysers and hardly another person around, felt like having the park to ourselves. On the other side of the state, Devils Tower rises straight out of the prairie, and kids can walk all the way around its base. Scroll down for the Wyoming essentials.
Yellowstone in winter Guide
We took a guided tour from Jackson through the south entrance, and it was one of the coolest park visits we’ve ever had. Our winter trip in pictures shows what it looks like.
Old Faithful in the snow Guide
Old Faithful goes off on schedule no matter the season. In January you watch it with a dozen people instead of a thousand.
The snowcoach Guide
The interior roads close to cars in winter, so a snowcoach or a guided trip is how you get in. It’s heated and slow, and it stops for wildlife.
Devils Tower AftT Visit
Devils Tower was the first national monument in the country, and we visited in the summer of 2025. The paved Tower Trail is a 1.3-mile loop, and there are usually climbers to watch.
And the rest we’d cross the state for
Jackson Hole Guide
The town of Jackson, in the valley under the Grand Tetons, was our base for the winter trip and where the Teton Science Schools tours leave from. Don’t miss the elk antler arches on the town square.
Yellowstone in summer
Summer in the world’s first national park brings the geyser basins, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and the Lamar Valley at dawn. Give it five days minimum, and it’s on our list. Are you looking for more national park sites? See our guide to Wyoming national parks.
Grand Teton National Park AftT Visit
We only saw the Tetons briefly in winter, with the peaks buried in snow. In summer this national park is all about Jenny Lake by boat, the Taggart Lake trail, and the Mormon Row barns at sunrise. Want more NPS sites nearby? Check out our Wyoming national parks guide.
Lamar Valley
The Lamar Valley is the Serengeti of North America. Look for bison and pronghorn, and it’s your best chance at wolves and bears.
Cody
Cody has the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and a nightly summer rodeo. Yellowstone’s east entrance is about an hour away.
Thermopolis
Thermopolis has the biggest mineral hot spring in the world, with a free state bathhouse. The Wyoming Dinosaur Center even has a real dig site.
Fort Laramie AftT Visit
Fort Laramie started as a fur trading post and became an Army fort on the Oregon Trail. The restored buildings leave a lot of room for kids to run. Our Wyoming national parks guide covers every NPS site in the state.
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AftT #ParkPics: Winter in Yellowstone National Park
Winter in Yellowstone National Park We’ve always said that visiting National Parks in the winter is a great way to…
Routes
Three Wyoming road trip itineraries
One state gives you three very different trips. Pick Yellowstone in winter, Yellowstone and the Tetons in summer, or the eastern prairie with Fort Laramie and Devils Tower. See all the best stops on a map.
Home base
Jackson
Fly into JAC. We booked with Teton Science Schools, which runs guided trips from Jackson through the south entrance. Our winter trip started here.
Then head to
Old Faithful
Ride through the park by snowcoach. Explore the geyser basin on foot, see Old Faithful with almost nobody around, and watch for bison on the road.
Add on
Mammoth & Lamar
The north road from Gardiner to Cooke City is the only one plowed all winter. Wolves are easiest to spot against the snow. We’d add it next time.
Home base
Old Faithful & Canyon
Split Yellowstone between the Old Faithful area and Canyon Village to cut the driving. Book the in-park lodges thirteen months ahead.
Then head to
Lamar Valley
Plan a dawn drive from Canyon or a night in Cooke City. Bring binoculars and be patient.
Finish
Grand Teton & Jackson
It’s an hour south. Plan on the Jenny Lake boat, Taggart Lake, and a float on the Snake River.
Start
Cheyenne
Fly into DEN and drive ninety minutes, or into CYS. Cheyenne has Frontier Days in July and the Depot Museum.
Then head to
Fort Laramie
It’s ninety minutes north. See the fort, the Oregon Trail ruts at Guernsey, and Register Cliff.
Finish
Devils Tower
It’s three hours north. Walk the loop, watch the climbers, and see the prairie dog town on the way in.
When to go
Time your visits with the weather and the region
We did Yellowstone in January and would tell anyone to try it. The interior roads are open to cars from late April to early November, then only by snowcoach and snowmobile until spring. Summer highs are in the 70s at the parks and snow can fall in any month. Match your visit to the road status.
Swipe the chart sideways to see the full year.
June – September
Every road is open, the wildlife is out, and the days are long. July and August are crowded. Early June and September are the sweet spot.
October – November
The park empties out. Elk bugle, and the interior roads close for the season in early November. Lodges close in stages through October.
December – March
When we went. Snowcoach and snowmobile only past Mammoth, and the wildlife stands out against the snow. The logistics take planning and it’s worth it. Here’s our trip.
April – May
Mud and melt. Roads open in stages from mid-April, bears come out hungry, and bison calves arrive in late April. Cheap and quiet, but many services are still closed.
Where to stay
Pick a good base to start your Wyoming adventure
Wyoming is easier when you pick one park and stay put. Here’s where we’ve stayed and where we’d stay next.
Yellowstone and Teton trips
Jackson
Our base for the winter trip, and it works just as well in summer. Grand Teton is right outside town and Yellowstone’s south entrance is about an hour north. The airport is minutes away, and there are hotels and lodges at every price.
- How we did Yellowstone from Jackson
- Teton Village on points
- Old Faithful Snow Lodge if you want a night inside the park
- Jackson Lake Lodge or Colter Bay cabins for a night inside Grand Teton
Summer Yellowstone
In-park lodges
Yellowstone’s lodges open for booking thirteen months ahead and Old Faithful Inn goes first. Canyon Lodge has the most rooms. Book the day reservations open and adjust later.
- Old Faithful Inn if you can get it
- Canyon Lodge for the most availability
- West Yellowstone or Gardiner as the fallback
Eastern prairie trips
Newcastle
There’s no town right between Fort Laramie and Devils Tower, but Newcastle comes close. Devils Tower is about an hour and a half north, and Fort Laramie is a little over two hours south. The Black Hills of South Dakota are right next door, too.
- Devils Tower and the prairie dog town as a day trip
- Fort Laramie and the Oregon Trail ruts at Guernsey
- Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore across the state line
Good to know
Questions families ask us about Wyoming
Yes, it is. Dress for well below zero and keep the days short. The tours are heated and stop for wildlife, so kids stay warm between sightings. You’ll see Old Faithful with only a handful of people around. We went with Teton Science Schools through the south entrance. Here’s how ours went.
Only the north road from Gardiner to Cooke City stays plowed. Everything else is snowcoach and snowmobile from West Yellowstone, Mammoth, or the south entrance near Jackson. Guided tours handle the permits and the driving. Book them months ahead, and book them before your hotel.
Fly into JAC for Jackson and the south entrance, which is what we did. It’s the closest and the most expensive. BZN (Bozeman) serves the north and west entrances and has the best fares. Salt Lake City and Denver are five to eight hours away and often much cheaper.
Five days, or a week if you add the Tetons. The park is bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. The loop road is 140 miles at 45 miles an hour, plus bison jams. Split your stay between two areas to cut down on time in the car with kids. Summer Yellowstone is on our list.
Carry bear spray on every trail in summer, hike in a group, and make noise. Keep 100 yards from bears and wolves and 25 from everything else, including bison, which injure more people than bears do. In winter the bison walk the roads and the snowcoach stops for them.
Yes, if you hold hands. The ground off the boardwalk is thin crust over boiling water. Strollers work on most of the geyser basin boardwalks in summer. In winter you’re on foot in the snow, so plan short walks.
Map
Essential Wyoming, mapped
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