Yellowstone Ideas??

I'm planning a family trip to Yellowstone in late august. I've never been there before, so I'm kind of clueless as to what to do and where to stay while I'm there. I will stay for 5-6 days and 4-5 nights. With 1/2 of the first and last days being used for travel. I will take my camp trailer and stay in campgrounds inside the park. I have 5 kids, ages 1 to 12. We like to go on hikes and stay active all day long. So I was wondering what some good family friendly hikes are, and what camp grounds are centrally located between lots of activities. I'm planning on moving from one campsite to another throughout the week so that I can be closer to different sites without having to drive back and forth too much. Thanks for your help!

The place is great. You'll figure out what to do, especially since you'll be hitting different campsites. Make sure you hike the trail to the falls...it's steep, hopefully the kids will make it. Hike near the lake. There is also a nice swimming hole just south of the campground over by the east entrance...you'll probably see cars parked there. The water is heated nicely in that part of the creek. Fill your coolers before you enter the park...$$$!!! Have fun.

It's a good idea to move campsites like you plan to do so you can more efficiently explore different areas of the park. I would highly recommend the Yellowstone Treasures book - it helps with planning. It lists all the attractions, picnic spots, etc. with mileage for the different parts of the park. There are a lot of walks around the different geyser basins - you can easily fill your time that way. When you are around Old Faithful, be sure to stop at the visitor's center, grab a pamphlet, and write down the predicted times for some of the other geysers. One of our highlights was watching Castle Geyser erupt at night with a full moon. We've always had good luck with spotting wildlife in the park, especially around Lamar Valley. Seems like we always see a black bear around Pebble Creek area. If you are in that area of the park, your youngest might like the ground squirrels at the Soda Butte picnic area (my daughter was fascinated).

I'm not sure what you are looking for in hikes, but one that we really enjoyed was Mt. Washburn. It's about 6 miles RT with 1400 feet elevation gain (good trail that is nicely graded). There is an active fire tower at the top, great 360 views, and often there are bighorn sheep up there. That was another highlight of our trip - seeing a herd of bighorn sheep (moms and babies) and their encounter with a coyote. I have pictures from this hike and other areas in this link:

http://www.pbase.com/pudgy_groundhog/yellowstone11

I haven't done it yet (my husband and dad did), but Trout Lake has otters you can often see (they were catching fish while my husband and dad didn't have a bite, lol). It's a short, but steep hike.

I would check the nps site for campground info, which ones take reservations, which are first come, first serve (and if they have estimates at when they fill up). Here's the website:

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisi...ellowstone.htm

You could also check the Yellowstone forums on tripadvisor. Browse the forums and get an idea of how to divide your time up among the campgrounds.

It's a great park - you'll have a fun vacation. :)

Our favorite campground is Slough Creek, reached from a good 3-mile gravel road off the highway near the Lamar Valley. It is right on the creek and feels like a FS campground instead of an industrial NPS campground.

Favorite hikes: Mt. Washburn is scenic and popular. The hikes around Canyon are good. Wander between Upper Falls and brink of Lower Falls and find Crystal Falls in between. Uncle Tom's stairway is also kind of fun. I really like Pelican Creek Nature Trail on the north side of Yellowstone Lake, very easy but lovely especially morning/evening. Storm Point is kind of similar to that one but a bit farther east. For a little more difficult, Avalanche Peak near the east entrance is good.

Near the park, consider: Grand View Point trail near Colter Bay (Tetons). One mile up to a terrific 360 view, little traffic (must be the dirt road access). Crazy Creek Falls and Lake Creek Falls are nearly roadside but very cool, both along the Beartooth Highway northeast of the park.

I also recommend the Yellowstone Treasures book (by Chapple). Lots of geyser info there . . . geysers are worth seeing, but overall the east side of the park is more interesting. Mammoth = less interesting, at least to me.

If you visit the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, you and your kids might enjoy Uncle Tom's trail to Lower Yellowstone Falls. Very cool!

Day hikes at about 3miles oneway: Lone Star Geyser, Fairy Falls, Shoshone Lk via Delacy Crk, Pelican Valley, along trail to Electric Peak, Grebe Lk, Grizzley Lk, hike from Ojo caliente up along Firehole (lots hot pools), Petrified trees on Specimin Ridge, Riddle Lk, Uncle Toms stairs, Washburn from upper parking lot. I usually stay at Madison if in the Park, Norris is nicer if you can get a space there.

Gonna check this topic out, we'll be visiting Yellowstone mid-June. So keep the tips coming.

Thanks for all the input. This will definitely help me out with planning the trip.