Joe’s Tips The Cities and Towns The National Parks Hotels Restaurants
This is a report of a trip to several US national parks from 27 Aug 07 to 23 Sept by myself (Joe, 64) and my wife Bev (now receiving bus pass).
We drove nearly 4,000 miles, visited 5 states (Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah) and 8 national parks (Rocky Mountain, Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands).
It was a great trip, though it was a bit tiring. We saw a huge range of amazing scenery and had generally very good weather. We had some rain in RMNP, Yellowstone, Montana and Glacier, but mostly it was clear and sunny. Some cold, but not freezing, nights in Yellowstone, Glacier, Salmon and Stanley. It was hotter than normal in the last two weeks; SLC and Utah and Colorado were over 80F.
We
flew from London (LHR) to Denver. Our route took us through Boulder to
RMNP,
then Grand Lake, Rock Springs, Jackson, Lake Yellowstone, Great Falls,
Glacier
Park Lodge, Lake McDonald, Missoula, Stanley, Salmon, Twin Falls, Salt
Lake
City, Bryce, Moab, Aspen, Colorado Springs, and then flew back from
Denver.
The
Cities and Towns
As this
was a trip to see the national parks, we didn’t spend much time in
cities. A
day in Denver was pleasant, it has
a
nice central area around the state capitol, a good pedestrian mall, and
an
excellent local history museum showing the spread of development in
Colorado,
and other local interest including the training of specialist mountain
troops
in WWII who spent months enduring hardships in freezing weather only to
be
found unwanted and sent to milder climes.
We found Salt Lake City a bit disappointing. The temple area has its interests, but limited unless you are a Mormon. I was sad to learn that the golden tablets from which Joseph Smith ‘wrote’ the book of Mormon had been taken back by the angel Moroni. I would have liked to see them. Maybe then I would believe some of this. Best thing in SLC were the flowers around the temple area.
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Denver Capitol
Area |
Bev and Flowers
in SLC |
Grand Lake from
our hotel |
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Jackson Centre |
Aspen |
Quiet main
street, Grand Lake |
Our
favourite small towns were Grand Lake,
Jackson and Aspen. Grand Lake has the advantage of being a
dead end, so the
streets are wonderfully quiet and pedestrian friendly, and there are
superb
views across the lake. It is a typical wooden western town (well, to us
Brits
it was) with a deal of charm. Jackson is a bit hokum, but again it has
charm
and though the traffic goes through the town, it’s not too bad. It is
also
close to the Tetons, and you can easily drive the park and be back in
Jackson
for a good choice of eating (try Bubba’s BBQ). Aspen is trendy and
expensive,
but it also has a great location and a pedestrian area with designer
shops,
restaurants and bars. We only spent one night here, but could have
enjoyed longer.
Missoula
looked quite a pleasant place, but we didn’t stop for long, likewise we
hardly
saw Rock Springs, Great Falls and Twin Falls, though we did see the Snake River Canyon and Shoshone Falls there
– worth looking at if you are anywhere near. Colorado Springs was a
mistake, it
is a large busy urban area dominated by the USAF, and is best avoided
(one of
the only two places we were stuck in traffic jams; the other being road
works
approaching SLC). The nearby Garden of the Gods seemed very tame after
Arches
NP. We didn’t have time to try the railway up Pike’s Peak.
Moab was OK, but not as nice as I hoped. The main road cuts the town in two and carries quite a lot of traffic. Its OK to stay for visiting Arches and Canyonlands, but I wouldn’t go there otherwise. Though if you are into action sports it could be worth it.
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Shoshone Falls |
Snake River
Canyon |
Canyon Bridge |
The
National Parks
The
National Parks are the crowning glory of the United States. If you
haven’t been
to any then go. Go now. Take my car (apologies to Bill Bryson). They
are
scenically beautiful, and wonderfully organised, with mainly easy
roads, lots
of free parking and great visitor centres. They are also an absolute
steal. We
bought an annual ‘America the Beautiful’ pass, which takes the two of
us into
any park for a year. Cost $80, or £40. It would be cheap at twice the
price.
Prices of souvenirs in the visitor centres are also very reasonable,
and you
should spend money there as some of it helps to fund the parks.
It
is impossible to pick a favourite, as all the parks were excellent and
offered
different things. RMNP is mainly just a drive through along the Trail Ridge Road, which does have
splendid views, going over 12,000 feet. Walking (hiking) is limited
unless you
are into serious mountain walks. There is a nice short flat walk round
Bear
Lake; sadly it rained heavily on us half way round, which made it less
enjoyable.
We
also just drove through Capitol Reef
(along scenic byway Hwy 12); there isn’t an entrance, so you would not
have to
pay. Once again, amazing scenery with high sheer red rock cliffs
changing to
grey waves with cream mounds (sounds edible). You could spend a few
days here
exploring and walking, though there is virtually no civilisation.
Capitol Reef
extends nearly 100 miles to the south – we just drove across it, and is
a
geological fault called the Waterpocket fold.
The
drive along Hwy 12 is
justly famous, taking
you through a desert of ‘Slick Rock’ which looks like the bottom of the
sea (it
was along time ago), then along a narrow and precipitous hogs back,
dropping
down into suddenly green Boulder (pop 200), up into alpine like meadows
and
mountains and lakes, then down again into Capitol Reef NP. Quite a
drive, it
even has its own web page -
www.utah.com/byways/highway_12.htm
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Slick rock on
Hwy 12 |
Capitol Reef |
More Capitol
Reef |
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Canyon Visitor
Centre, Yellowstone |
One of many in
Yellowstone |
Old Faithful |
Yellowstone needs hardly an introduction. Huge with endless geysers and hot springs and many visitor centres, it also has great scenery with Lake Yellowstone and its own Grand Canyon with upper and lower waterfalls. The only down side is the sulphur smell, which can be a bit overpowering at times. We saw lots of Bison, but no Moose. You really need quite a bit of time here as the driving can get tiring. We found the northern loop with Mammoth less impressive than the south loop with the geyser basins. We must havetaken well over a hundred photos, here is just a very small sample.
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Yellowstone Canyon and falls |
Don’t get too close |
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Jenny
Lake,
Tetons |
Tetons |
Rain
over
Jackson Lake and Tetons |
I think
maybe I liked the Tetons best of
all. The park is flat and easy to drive round, and you can access it
easily
from Jackson. There are also some super lodges in the park (which we
didn’t
stay in) – Jenny Lodge and Lake Jackson Lodge. The mountains are always
in
view, rising sheer up from the plain with no foothills. The new visitor
centre
is splendid and worth a couple of hours on its own, and the walk round
Jenny
Lake is wonderful (though Bev found it a bit hard going as it wasn’t
completely
flat, and it was quite hot). We took the boat back from the half way
point but
I would have like to walk it all. I could happily spend several days
walking
round this park.
The
drive from Yellowstone through the Gallatin
river valley is lovely, though it was cloudy and raining
when we drove it.
I could spend some time just exploring this valley if I ever get back
to
Montana.
The scenery in Glacier NP is spectacular, with view after view of high mountain peaks and glacial lakes, and the GTTS (going to the sun) road lives up to its reputation. It was raining and cloudy in Two Medicine, so we did not see the best of it, but it was still very scenic. We had more luck at Many Glacier, with another flat walk around Swift current Lake. Half way round we actually came very close to a bear – so close that Bev walked back while I walked forward past the bear. I have this on camcorder, so may get round to posting it on the net somehow. The scenery on the west side at Lake McDonald is still lovely, but not so impressive as the east. The best breakfast we had on the whole trip was in West Glacier Restaurant – hash browns to die for.
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Glacier Park
Lodge |
Starting on the
GTTS road |
Swiftcurrent
Lake, Glacier |
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Lake McDonald
Lodge |
Around Many
Glacier |
More mountains |
Though
not a national park, the drive along Idaho’s Snake
and Salmon river valleys is very scenic, and worth doing if
you get the chance. Like many of the areas we drove through it is very
lightly
populated.
Bryce is like nothing else on earth. We spent a day driving and walking along the canyon rim (more complaints from Bev about the walk not being as flat as she likes – to be fair, some of this was at nearly 9,000 feet). The whole canyon is full of weird shaped and coloured ‘hoodoos’, with views across the valleys stretching over 30 miles away. It would have been good to walk along the canyon floor as well, but we had not the time or the energy.
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Smoke haze in
Salmon |
Salmon river
valley |
Ain’t it pretty |
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Bryce – we have
a lot of photos |
Like these |
And these |
Arches
NP has lots of arches
(2,000 apparently), but
only a few visible close to the roads. But there are lots of other
fascinating
rock formations like ‘Park Avenue’, and ‘The Three Gossips’. You can
see why
they got their names. It was very different from any scenery you get in
Europe,
like Bryce, and good fun; but you can ‘do’ it in a few hours (though I
expect
serious walkers could spend a lot longer). We spent a morning, and then
moved
on to Canyonlands. This
is a huge area;
we had time only to stop at the visitor center, drive to ‘Grand View’
point,
and stop at some of the other view points along the way. It certainly
is a
grand view, with the land falling away on all sides down 1,000 foot
sheer
cliffs to a very flat plateau which itself has 1,000 foot canyons cut
into it
by the Colorado and Green rivers. Again, you can see across the valley
over 30
miles to more cliffs in the distance. In the geological past, these
cliffs were
joined together; the 30 mile plateau was caused by massive upheavals.
In fact,
the whole of Utah seems to be riven with faults, folds and erosions,
which is
why there are so many national parks there.
Not
a national park, but the drive from Aspen east towards Colorado Springs
over Independence Pass was
spectacular, and
the country the other side around Twin
Lakes was lovely, with the fall colours showing golden on the
surrounding
mountains. Worth a return visit.
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Balanced Rock,
Arches |
Three Gossips |
Park Avenue |
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Grand View,
Canyonlands |
Green River,
Canyonlands |
Bev at Twin
Lakes, CO |
Hotels
Standards
of the hotels we used were mainly very good. The best was probably the
Marriott
City Centre in SLC, though we didn’t eat there. The Hamptons in
Missoula and
Colorado Springs were the best of the rest, slightly above the Wingate
in Rock
Springs, Fairfield Marriott in Great Falls, Comfort in Denver (room a
bit
small), and La Quinta in Moab.
These
places were all well equipped, with often 2 queen beds, fridge,
microwave,
coffee maker, hair dryer, iron and ironing board. They had business
centres
with free internet access, and WiFi in the rooms if you had a laptop.
And the
beds were all comfortable too (very important), and complimentary
breakfast
included.
The
Elk Country Inn in Jackson was also OK, with a very large room, and a
good
position. The Western Riviera in Grand Lake had the best view, with an
access
balcony looking out over the lake. Redfish Lake lodge in Stanley was
worth
staying at for the location, and the cabin was fine; we ate in the
dining room
and found it OK, though our next door neighbours didn’t like it.
Syringa Lodge
in Salmon was a different experience, somewhat outside the town; but it
was the
best value of all - $70 for a King size bed and generous breakfast for
two. The
Aspen hotel in (guess) was enjoyable, with a decent breakfast. The Best
America
in Twin Falls had changed to Best Western; the room was comfortable,
and the
indoor pool was the best we found (but the aircon was noisy).
Places
in or near the National Parks were not quite so good (and more
expensive) – to
be expected, I suppose. Ruby’s at Bryce was just about acceptable, but
very
busy even in late season, and the food was pretty basic (there’s not a
lot of
choice round about, maybe better in Tropic). Lake Yellowstone Hotel is
of
course in a great location, and the room was OK, but food in the dining
room
was disappointing. After the first night we ate in the nearby lodge
cafeteria,
which was at least cheaper, and an impressive room. Glacier Park Lodge
is an
amazing building, worth seeing even if you don’t stay, but the service
in the
dining room was dreadful. You can’t book a table, just have to wait
(about an
hour and a half). Lake McDonald Lodge has the same problem, so we ate
in the
bar (you can get the same food). The rooms here are nothing special,
though OK.
If
(when?) I go back, I think I would stay outside the parks (maybe West
Yellowstone and West Glacier). True,
you
get the experience of being in the park overnight, but you pay a lot
for it,
and the rooms and food service are sub standard compared with what you
can get
outside. And in Yellowstone you end up doing a lot of driving wherever
you
stay.
Another
thing – if you do stay in the park lodges, do not use the Xanterra web
site.
They charge about an extra $20 per night booking fee. Book direct with
each
hotel or lodge, but that can be difficult as Google will take you to
Xanterra.
Restaurants
One
of the most enjoyable (and best value) meals we had was in a Japanese/
Chinese
place called Bonsai near the Wingate in Rock Springs; two huge plates
of
Chicken and Cashew nuts and Sizzling meats, a tureen of rice, washed
down with
a very good Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Sauvignon Blanc for $38. As often
the
case, we could not eat it all.
In
Grand Lake, the best bet is the Sagebrush (a bit rough – peanut shells
on the
floor, but nice) – Salmon, ribs, half carafe of house wine $45; comes
with
excellent corn bread.
In
Jackson we moved up market to the Cadillac – a nice comfortable art
deco
interior, though the food was only average ($68 for pizza, salad, steak
and
wine).
We
were in Missoula for Bev’s birthday, so we splashed out on the nearby
Blue
Canyon restaurant at the Hilton. The starters (seafood bisque and
salad) were
very good, my grouper was good, but Bev wasn’t so keen on her lobster
risotto.
With a bottle of decent chardonnay we paid $105.
Another
enjoyable cheap and cheerful meal was at the Brewery in Salmon, with
salad,
soup, good ribeye steak and Cabernet Sauvignon we only paid about $30.
In
Twin Falls we walked to the nearby ‘Tomatos’ where large helpings (again) of
lasagne spaghetti bolognese
with chianti and salad cost $40, quite enjoyable.
In SLC we chose not to walk far, and tried the local Cindy Lee Chinese café where we paid a mere $26 for hot sour soup, cold spring rolls, chicken with lemon grass and red pepper, seafood in pot, rice and tea. Good food, good value. Next night we ate close by at Kabob - baba ghanouz, dolme and yogurt, beef kabob with 3 big glasses of yellowtail shiraz was $43. They don’t serve a lot of wine here (SLC still has strange liquor laws), and the waitress poured it out in large quantities.
In Moab we were directed to the Brewery where a good steak, fish & chips, fair beer and a couple of yellowtail shiraz was $49.
Aspen is a tad expensive, but we had a good meal (one of the best) in the Steak pit where we ate (guess) a ribeye and a kabob with salad bar and a bottle of good Zinfandel for $105.
Finally,
near the (airforce) Hampton outside Colorado Springs, we had to drive a
couple
of miles to a plaza where Ted’s Montana Grill provided a decent meal of
grilled
salmon, burger and 2 glasses of wine for $40.
Joe’s
Tips
Keep
your gas tank topped up. It can be a long way between gas stations in
these
wild areas.
Visitor stations will often have a road map of the state (or adjacent ones) if you ask, as well as town maps.
Supermarket
delis will provide sandwiches and salads which make a good picnic lunch.
Don’t
rely on your mobile phone. In many places we could not get a signal.
Order one main course between two people. If you are hungry, order a starter to share as well. Or even one each.
If
your room doesn’t have a fridge, it will almost certainly have ice, so
use your
ice bucket to chill drinks.
If
you are going to visit more than a couple of parks, get an annual pass
– you
can buy them at any entrance station.
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