We’ve visited Yellowstone National Park many times over the past 30 years and here are some tips from our most recent trip.
We were taking a Yellowstone virgin into the park for the first time, left from Bozeman, entered the park at Gartner/Mammouth and stayed two nights at Canyon and one night in Old Faithful and left via West Yellowstone.
Food, Housing and Gifts In Yellowstone National Park
My group jokes about my fascination with food options but for me a decent meal at the end of the day after walking all day is a welcome time to unwind. And I want to feel like I’m getting my money’s worth.
All the housing, food and gift stores in the park are run by a monopoly. A single hospitality corporation contract is awarded for 20 years or more. The corporation shares proceeds with the park and has to have menus and even gift stores items approved. The prices are suppose to be kept in line and in recent years the gift store items were suppose to have some educational aspect.
As such you’ll find a much more refined selection of gifts and books within the park then say in tacky, t-shirt-world, West Yellowstone. Years ago the National Park gift shops would be filled with tacky t-shirts, toys, plastic tomahawks, rock candy and other junk but now the emphasis is on books about the park, artwork and even Native American made gift items.
Food is a challenge as the concessionaire tries to feed so many people and cater to different tastes. You’ll find buffets, cafeterias, lunch counters, cafes and coffee shops.
Each of the major areas such as Canyon, Old Faithful, Lake etc will have a variety of food options. The cheapest option is going to the grocery stores where you can pick up pre-made sandwiches, snacks and drinks with prices not jacked up too much but it does differ from store to store.
For example an AriZona Ice Tea, which is price fixed at 99 cents nationwide, was $1.69 at the Canyon grocery store but 99 cents at the Old Faithful grocery store.
A can of locally brewed craft beer or cider was $2.75 in the grocery store in Canyon but if you walked a few hundred feet and ordered the same canned beer from the M66 bar, they’d charge you $6.75 plus tip.
PRO TIP: Bring your own cooler or buy the drink in the grocery store and just pour it into a water bottle.
Overall the best way to save money and make your vacation dollar stretch further in National Parks is to have cooler in the car. You can pick up ice at any of the lodges or buy it at the grocery stores. We mostly had picnics for lunch and some breakfasts. Better to pull into a picnic spot or pull out and have some beef jerky and peanut butter crackers than try to hunt down a lunch spot.
Besides the grocery stores, the next cheapest options will be the lunch counters or cafeterias.
At Canyon we skipped the powered scrambled egg line at the cafeteria and had lunch at the lunch counter. Only downside is they had ONE option. A breakfast sandwich with either bacon or sausage and two hashbrowns which required a handful of napkins to soak up the oil. At least the egg was real and freshly grilled. Although you’d think they could offer french toast or a bagel with cream cheese or something. Half of our group went over to the grocery store and picked up a yogurt.
For dinner the options include:
- Smash burger at the M66 bar
- Trout, salisbury steak, meatballs or roasted chicken with two sides at the Cafeteria.
- Stir fry dishes of your choice in the Cafeteria.
I had the trout which was actually excellent and my companions enjoyed the roasted chicken. Canyon doesn’t have a fancier sit down Lodge restaurant like Mammouth, Old Faithful, Lake etc. so if you spend more than two nights here, you’ll probably tire of the options.
Canyon is also more limited by nighttime activities. There is the discovery museum which shows films about Yellowstone NP until 8 pm and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is nearby and less busy around dinner time.
Internet is rather limited in the park. My iPhone refused to connect to the WIFI at any useable speed but my wife’s iPad managed to hook into some Xfinity WIFI connection that was fast enough to watch some HBO streaming. Another night I watched a movie that I had downloaded on my phone.
Canyon lodging is new and the most modern feeling in the park. No lodging in the park has AC or TV. They provide a fan and windows that open. Ice machines in the lobby. Elevators between floors.
The rooms are small but efficient. A larger person might struggle to lift their arms in the tiny shower stalls.
One of the most annoying aspects of the room layout was the rolling barn doors on the tiny bathrooms. This trend of rolling barn doors for bathrooms might save space in the room but they are heavy, don’t seal and are noisy. Plus the toilet ends up being only a few feet away from the person sleeping on the left side of the bed.
Pro Tip: Run the fan no matter what for white noise to block out the sound of noisy people in the hallways and the rolling bathroom doors.
OLD FAITHFUL AREA
The Old Faithful Area has a lot of amenities – gas station, groceries, several lodges, cabins, lunch counters, gift shops, ice cream, cafeteria and a museum.
The Old Faithful area is more expensive than Canyon but offers more “nightlife” as the Old Faithful Inn has a couple of bars, a coffee/hot chocolate stand and music in the main lobby.
We stayed at old rustic cabins which at $222 a night was the cheapest option. They are rather tired but at least they don’t have the dreaded rolling barn doors on the bathroom.
Some of the cabins don’t include a bathroom, so there is a bathhouse nearby as well as a shed containing a vending machine and an ice machine. The cabins are conviently located close to Old Faithful Geyser (we all felt a rumble in the middle of the night) and the Old Faithful Lodge cafeteria – unfortunately not open for breakfast, although there is a “bakery” that offers coffee and plastic wrapped pastiers, muffins and cookies.
We skipped the $50 a person buffet at the Old Faithful Lodge which includes prime Rib, rainbow trout and other offerings. Instead we ate at the cafeteria which had pizza, BBQ sandwiches, Chicken Tika Marsala, Gyros, hot dogs and salads. It was decent and everyone got what they wanted. Also the cafeteria overlooks the gyster so the location is great.
The best thing about the Old Faithful area and it’s collection of lodging is the proximity to one of the best geyser areas in the park. Of course you’ll witness Old Faithful going off approximately every 90 minutes or so but also the walk along geyster hill features several gysters that go off on a regular bases including the long lasting and spectacular Castle geyser and the Sawmill geyser. It was pouring rain the day we were there but it still was spectacular.
West Yellowstone – A Yellowstone Gateway Town
West Yellowstone exists for one purpose. To house, feed and sell trinkets and ice cream to tourists. It’s far tackier than it needs to be!
There have been some improvements over the years – a Grizzly Bear “experience” where you can see live problem bears moved from places like Alaska. You can take in an IMAX movie (or major Hollywood feature) or see a play at the theater. There is a museum. There is even a shooting gallery that advertises “Shot a real machine gun!” just like one would in Las Vegas.
As I said, tackier that it needs to be in 2025. Such a contrast to the more educational, artsy and higher end goods found in the park. In West Yellowstone you have endless tacky t-shirts, sweatshirts and home decor direct from China.
You can also find some photography galleries, rock shops, gas stations and few higher end shops, groceries, bars, BBQ, hamburgers, a McDonalds, a Dairy Queen and a wide range of hotels from known chains to Mom and Pop accomidations.
All an all its not a bad base camp if you are interested in more “nightlife” than the accomidations inside the park offer or need to keep the kids occupied with some fake six shooter cap guns, rock candy or a joy buzzer.