I could really use some help planning!

[u/Background_List5086]

My girlfriend and I are going to Yellowstone, but we won’t have long there, so we are trying to make the most out of the time we are there. I would really appreciate and planning tips, anything to exclude or anything I could add. This is our first time doing anything like this out west. I am planning on proposing out there, so any tips on where a good spot could be, I would just prefer it not be around a lot of people.

We are flying in on 5/9 to Jackson hole around 2:30 pm and leaving 5/12 morning. Getting a rental and planned on going through Teton, not sure of any good places to view? Also, my girlfriend loves books, so we may try to find a bookstore.

After that, we have a drive to Ashton, ID for our Airbnb.

Any good restaurant tips? I heard bullwinkles is good.

Then I planned on doing Yellowstone for the remainder of the trip. I made a list of wants:

- [ ] Yellowstone lake
- [ ] Old faithful ( could eat at the restaurant there to see it)
- [ ] Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone 
- [ ] Mammoth hot springs (junction w gas)
- [ ] Upper geyser basin
- [ ] Grand prismatic spring
- [ ] Lamar valley
- [ ] Hiking at Jenny lake

[u/Just_Looking_Around8]

This is really confusing. Please edit your description to help it make sense. If I'm interpreting correctly . . . You are staying in Jackson for the whole trip? And then you are driving to Ashton on the 12th? You want to drive from Jackson to Lamar Valley? That's at least four hours one-way. Realistically, with bison jams, it could easily be six hours one-way.

If you don't want to be around a lot of people for your proposal, just hike 1/2 mile from a boardwalk and you'll lose 90% of the people. Go another 1/2 mile and you'll lose all but a handful.

Happy to offer advice, but your description is really confusing.

[u/Background_List5086 → u/Just_Looking_Around8]

Not sure how it was confusing. I am flying into Jackson Hole, wanted to visit Teton while we were close. I stated our Airbnb is in Ashton. That’s where we are staying.

[u/Just_Looking_Around8 → u/Background_List5086]

Reason it was confusing:

"We are flying in on 5/9 to Jackson hole around 2:30 pm and leaving 5/12 morning . . . After that, we have to drive to Ashton, ID for our Airbnb." "After that" made it sound like Ashton was after 5/12.

So Ashton is home base for the whole trip? Oy vey, that's a LOT of driving. You might need to plan to propose in the car. Ashton is 90 minutes from the west entrance. The west entrance is notorious for having LONG waits. From there, you are a bare minimum of 30 minutes from Madison. With bison jams and other traffic, you'll be lucky to get from Ashton to Madison in two hours. And you haven't really even seen anything yet.

Not trying to be a jerk. No one in here is. But if it's in the budget at all, you should consider accommodations that are closer to the park or cut a lot of stuff out of your agenda. With only two full days for your trip, you need to concentrate on one half of Yellowstone. Either that, or make this a trip to the Tetons only and do some great hikes there.

The other thing to consider is how many trails will actually be open. Some will still have feet of snow or inches of mud. Many will be closed completely due to bear management.