Yellowstone & Grand Teton Nati (Lonely Planet)

NOTE : this is included in my review of Yellowstone Sources "Yellowstone Library Resources Evaluated"http://yellowstone2015.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-yellowstone-library-resources.html which is designed to serve as an annotted guide to Yellowstone titles.This is my first experience with Lonely Planet and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact of all the “Guides” I looked at this is perhaps the best introduction with enough meat on the bone to plan a first time trip.LPY>NP begins with a list of ten top experiences. They pick wildlife in Lamar, followed by the Upper Geyser Basin, Jackson Lake, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Climbing Grand Teton (way above my skill level) and ends with the Beartooth. The “If You Like” features is a ten thousand foot view of Wildlife, Thermal Features, Scenic Drives, Backcountry Trips, The Good Life, Winter, Learning, The Wild West and the Adrenaline Rush – clinging, white-water rafting, paragliding zip lines (all above my skill level).For those who prefer a calendar approach LPY>NP accommodates. Little did I know admission to the reenactment of Custer’s Last Stand in June 25th was free?The itineraries section, to steal a line from Claude Raines, “rounds up the usual suspects’ not that the “grand loop” can be avoided . They suggest a one day loop for Yellowstone South, Yellowstone North, four days Jackson Hole &Tetons, Teton in a Day, One week Yellowstone to Paradise (includes the Beartooth) and a four day Yellowstone “Big Loop”.The activities section covers hiking, cycling, rafting, canoeing, fishing, wildlife watching, horseback riding, nature walks, snowboarding and skiing arranged by season. our interests are hiking (easy day hiking or as I call it “strolling”) and nature watching. They do a nice job of linking to individual hikes. These descriptions include duration, distance, difficulty, elevation change, start and finish, nearest junction and a summary. The information in the other sections seems as robust, but I can only remember Father fly fishing on the Gallatin 45 years ago – falling over and stripping to his skivvies to stay warm.A section for “Travel with Children (something I haven’t had experience with for thirty years) provides interesting advice and tips. The highly touted “Junior Ranger” program is highlighted along with the Grand Adventure, Yellowstone Wildlife Olympics and Young Scientist Program. The Children’s Highlight list includes Adventure, Entertainment, Dining, Rainy Day Refuges and Coolest Camps and a section on safety. Travel with Pets, something total virgin to me, is covered. A list of accommodations for pets is provided.The “On The Road” section is split between the parks. The usual suspects are covered but they include something I had not heard of the Bechler region. LPY>NP organizes this section into Sights, Driving , Day Hikes, Overnight Hikes, Cycling, Other Activities. Further sections are provide for Sleeping, Eating & Drinking, Shipping and Getting Around.Each section starts off with a brief overview. Some regions receive considerably more detail than others. Lake has three paragraphs Canyon has six – including a very nice map. My knowledge of GTNP is significantly less than the northern big brother I ended up learning a lot.There is a section on “Understand Yellowstone and Grand Teton” discuss the history, geology, wildlife and conservation efforts in the parks. There is a lot of detail though not to the extent of the complete tomes of Haines History or Bryan’s Geysers.The “Survival Guide” section is basic A-Z reference from accommodations to work. The Transportation section covers air and land (including my preference Amtrak) with bicycle and bus. Clothing & Equipment ranges from clothing to footwear and socks through tents, tarps and sleeping bags. I intend to use none of the latterNicely linked to complete and thorough details.It is a nice feature that many of the maps are pre-loaded so you need not have a connection to view them. There are some good checklists, which un-seasoned travelers may find very helpful. A list of local outfitters for gear and boats is included. I would thought they might use more hyperlinks, but understanding the fluidity of the web I have some sympathy why there were not included.Perhaps the biggest limitation is the lack of an index and perhaps that is the librarian coming out in me although the Kindle search works well. It has a table of contents, but the old librarian has habits that are hard to break.If I were to purchase a single “travel guide” I would purchase this one.

I was glad I got this as no one else in my party bothered to get a guide. If you've been to these parks, I think the guide might disappoint, because the information isn't as in depth as it could be. But, if you're like me, and basically planned the transportation and lodging a year ago and didn't plan anything else before leaving, then this is a good overview. It gave a bunch of sites to see by region and a few tidbits of interest about each. There are definitely things I wouldn't have seen without it. Combine this with the park maps they give you at the gate for maximum knowledge. There is a selection of hikes for each...but I didn't really use those. I agree with some other commenters that the organization could be better...but part of that has to do with how you decide to approach your touring. I found I was going the opposite way of how the book was written at times. But, overall, I'm glad I spent the money...and would buy it again!

This is an indispensable guide to Yellowstone and Tetons, filled with lots of information. It is particularly helpful for those who want to get away from the crowds, which there are plenty of in both parks. Lots of great tips about hiking and camping and other outdoors topics. Excellent reviews for places to stay, including campgrounds, as well as towns around the park and places to eat. Great background information.Frustrating however was the organization. Even though there were some detailed maps, it was difficult to figure out where each section of Yellowstone was -- not shown on an overview map. Equally maddening was finding information about eating options. After hours of reviewing the contents I started to understand the authors' twisted organizational logic. But I got a good chuckle after handing the book to someone else, asking her to find information about eating options in the Old Faithful area. She practically gave up trying to find the right page!

Just got back and used this book for both Yellowstone Park and Grand Teton Park. Many good helpful descriptions of sites to see and things to do. I navigated in the car using the book while my wife drove the rental car. Note:They actually gave us a Town and County van and it worked out better than a car. If you get the chance for a free upgrade to this type of van, don't pass it up. Hugs the mountain roads, climbs the hills, good MPG, plenty of room (only two of us on this trip) and the many windows helped a spotting wildlife. Back to the book. Page Maps in the book were also helpful for reference. I had to dog ear so many pages so I could open a section quickly to read what was coming up on our drives. We both worked in Y.P. many years ago while in college, and this book was still very helpful to us during our May 2014 trip back to the parks (just got back this past weekend). Hope ya enjoy both parks as much as we did. Both are worth seeing.

Being a digital book, I found it hard to "flip" through as I normally would a travel guide. I was able to mitigate some of that with bookmarks, highlighting and note-taking, but that doesn't completely compensate for the lack of physical pages. This also makes it simultaneously easier to CARRY with you but harder to USE when "out there" trying to re-plan a day that just got uprooted.That said, the information in the book was superb at deciding ahead of time how long to stay and where to go and what to see (and what would probably be the best order to do everything in). There is so much to see, it's important to have a plan ahead of time to maximize the experience without having to rush anywhere. Book did a great job of highlighting how busy the park roads are and the frequent long lines waiting for wildlife to move.

An excellent book, which shows so many additional places to visit - would not be without this type of book when planning a trip.You obviously have to work at it, but it is sectioned so well that you only need to read the area's that you are visiting.Delivery was very quick.

Great

Excellent as expected of Lonely Planet. Plenty of walks and exploring options to try

Prima

Bought for a road trip and extremely useful.