Overview
Five days is the practical minimum to give both Yellowstone and Grand Teton a fair look without turning every drive into a race. This route runs June through September, when the Teton Park Road is open to cars, the South and East Entrances to Yellowstone are clear, and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway connecting the two parks is passable. You fly into Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), the only commercial airport inside a U.S. national park, pick up your rental car, and base in or near the town of Jackson for the first two nights. Days three and four move you north into Yellowstone, where you work from Old Faithful east to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and then into the Lamar Valley. Day five exits through Yellowstone's East Entrance to Cody, 52 miles east, and you catch the Cody Nite Rodeo that evening before flying home from Yellowstone Regional Airport (COD) or making the 3.5-hour return drive to JAC via Dubois on US-26/US-287. For full regional planning, the Jackson Hole & the Tetons guide covers lodging, outfitters, and seasonal timing in depth, and the National Parks page has a broader look at what both parks offer across the year.
Day 1: Arrive in Jackson
Most flights into JAC arrive mid-morning or early afternoon. The airport sits inside Grand Teton National Park, so your first views of the Teton Range come through the terminal windows before baggage claim. Collect your rental car and drive 12 miles south to the town of Jackson. The Town Square elk-antler arches are genuinely made from shed antlers collected each spring off the National Elk Refuge, not a theme-park prop. After dropping your bags, drive east on Broadway to the National Elk Refuge road for a quick orientation to the landscape: in summer it is a wetland and meadow, but you can pick up maps and get a feel for the valley's scale. Dinner in Jackson runs $18-45 per person at sit-down restaurants, so plan accordingly. A few local bars on the square close early on weeknights in shoulder season, but the main strip stays active through summer. Get to bed early. Day two starts at the park.
Day 2: Grand Teton National Park
Drive north from Jackson on US-26/US-89 into Grand Teton National Park. Your America the Beautiful pass (if you have one) or a $35 vehicle entry pass covers both parks for seven days, so buy one here at the Moose Entrance Station. Turn west onto the Teton Park Road and stop at the Chapel of the Transfiguration near Menor's Ferry: the building dates to 1925, and the east window frames the Cathedral Group of peaks directly. Continue north to Jenny Lake. Arrive by 8 a.m. in July and August, because the parking lot is consistently full by 9 a.m. Take the 8-minute shuttle ferry across the lake (roughly $20 round trip per adult, cash or card, estimate) instead of walking the 2-mile lakeshore trail, and hike the round trip up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point above it, about 2 miles from the ferry dock. In the afternoon, drive south to Mormon Row near Moose Junction and walk to the T.A. Moulton Barn, a homestead structure from the early 1910s and one of the most-photographed buildings in Wyoming. If you want to add a float, several outfitters based in Moose and Jackson run 3-hour scenic Snake River floats through the park for roughly $65-90 per adult (estimate); book a few weeks out. End the day at the Oxbow Bend pullout on US-89/191 north of Moose for golden-hour reflections of Mount Moran in the Snake River's slow curve.
Day 3: Into Yellowstone, Old Faithful and the Geyser Basins
Today you move north into Yellowstone. From your Jackson area lodging, drive north through Grand Teton on US-89 to the South Entrance of Yellowstone, about 57 miles from Jackson town (roughly 1.5 hours without stops). Your first major stop is West Thumb Geyser Basin on the western shore of Yellowstone Lake, a compact boardwalk loop where you can see hot springs venting directly into the lake and smell the sulfur rolling off the blue pools. Most visitors skip it to get to Old Faithful faster; do not skip it. The lake view with the Absaroka Range on the far shore and the steam rising off the thermal features is one of the quieter rewards on this drive. From West Thumb, head north and then west toward Old Faithful, another 45 miles (roughly 1.5 hours, more with bison traffic). Old Faithful erupts every 90 minutes on average, reaching roughly 130 feet, and the posted prediction on the visitor center board is accurate within about 10 minutes. After watching an eruption, walk the Upper Geyser Basin loop, a 3-mile paved path past Castle Geyser, Riverside Geyser on the Firehole River, and Grand Geyser, which erupts less frequently but taller. Check into your Yellowstone lodging in the Old Faithful area by late afternoon.
Day 4: Hayden Valley and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Drive north from Old Faithful to Canyon Village, about 38 miles (roughly 1.5 hours). The road crosses the Central Plateau and drops into Hayden Valley, a wide grassland and wetland corridor along the Yellowstone River between Mud Volcano and Canyon. Bison are reliably here in numbers, sometimes hundreds crossing the road at once, which means stopping and waiting. Grizzly bears and coyotes work the valley edges in early morning, and wolves from the Wapiti Lake pack move through periodically. Pull off at every signed turnout and scan the sage and willow edges with binoculars. Past Hayden Valley, stop at Mud Volcano for a 0.7-mile loop past Dragon's Mouth Spring and Black Dragon's Caldron, two of Yellowstone's noisier and more visually active features. At Canyon Village, park and walk the South Rim Trail to Artist Point, where the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone drops 1,200 feet below you and the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River fall 308 feet to the canyon floor, taller than Niagara. The North Rim's Brink of the Lower Falls overlook gives a different angle looking straight down the plunge. Stay overnight at Canyon Village.
Day 5: Lamar Valley and the East Exit to Cody
Set an alarm for 5 a.m. Drive northeast from Canyon Village through Tower Junction to Lamar Valley, about 47 miles (roughly 1.5 hours). Be parked along the Lamar River pullouts by 6:30 a.m. This is the best wildlife corridor in Wyoming's northwest corner. Bison herds in the hundreds are common in June through September, and pronghorn graze the sagebrush on the valley's south side. The Junction Butte wolf pack, one of the most closely monitored packs in North America, hunts Lamar Valley regularly, and Yellowstone Wolf Project volunteers post up at the Slough Creek and Confluence pullouts most mornings with spotting scopes you can use for free. Even if wolves do not show, the valley's scale and the number of animals visible at once is unlike anywhere else in the contiguous United States. By late morning, drive northeast through the Lamar Valley to the East Entrance, about 29 miles from the main viewing pullouts. Exit the park and continue east on US-14/US-16/US-20 through the Wapiti Valley, past Buffalo Bill Reservoir, and into Cody, 52 miles from the East Entrance (about 1 hour). Arrive in Cody by early afternoon to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West on Sheridan Avenue, five connected museums covering Western art, Plains Indian culture, natural history, firearms, and Buffalo Bill's life, for around $20-25 per adult (estimate). The Cody Nite Rodeo runs every evening June through August starting at 8 p.m. for roughly $18-30 per adult (estimate), and it has been running nightly for decades. From Cody, fly home from Yellowstone Regional (COD) the next morning, or retrace to JAC via Dubois on US-26/US-287, a 3.5-hour drive through the Wind River front that is worth the time.
Where to Stay
In Jackson, budget motels on the south end of town along US-89 run roughly $120-200 per night in peak summer (estimate); properties around the Town Square run $250-500 per night (estimate). For Grand Teton, Jackson Lake Lodge sits at the park's north end with wide window views of the Willow Flats and the Teton Range, with rooms and cottages from $350-600 per night (estimate). Jenny Lake Lodge, closer to the climbing area, is the park's most exclusive property at $650 per night and up (estimate) and covers some meals in the rate. Inside Yellowstone, the Old Faithful Inn is the most iconic place to stay in either park, a massive log-and-stone lodge built in 1903 and 1904, with rooms from $175-350 per night depending on type (estimate). Book it in January or February for a summer stay. Canyon Village's hotel-style rooms are slightly easier to book and run $200-300 per night (estimate). The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel on the park's north end is open year-round and often has more summer availability than Old Faithful. In Cody, plan on $120-200 per night at chain hotels and Western-themed lodges near the rodeo grounds (estimate). For a full overview of Wyoming lodging options by region, the Wyoming Travel Guide covers the range from park campgrounds to dude ranches.
Book These Ahead
In-park lodging for Yellowstone books through Xanterra and fills 6-12 months in advance for July and August stays. Grand Teton lodging through Forever Resorts books at a similar pace. Campgrounds at both parks that require reservations open on recreation.gov at set dates in winter and fill within minutes. Snake River float trips in Jackson book out 4-6 weeks ahead in summer, so lock in your Day 2 float before you leave home. If you want a guided wolf-watching excursion in Lamar Valley with a naturalist driver, Yellowstone-based guide companies fill their spring and fall departures earliest. Neither park currently requires a timed-entry reservation to drive in, but that policy has shifted before, so check the current-year rules at each park's National Park Service website before you arrive. If you have more time to give to the Jackson Hole end of the trip, the A Week in Jackson Hole itinerary builds out the town, the resort, and the valley in more detail. If your schedule only allows a long weekend, the 3 Days in Wyoming route covers the core of Grand Teton and Old Faithful in three days from JAC.