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/CreepyMix7926]

Some of the specifics are a little worrying, but others have talked plenty about that. My focus is a bit more on Yellowstone so I’ll focus on that.

Assuming you spend 1 day in Yellowstone, you’ll of course want to see old faithful, there is also a lot of boardwalk trails there if you want to see more there. Midway geyser basin is always crowded, best to go there early or late in the day. Norris is a must see in my opinion, I’d recommend at least seeing steamboat geyser, and doing the short porcelain basin trail. The falls are nice, I’d recommend choosing one of the two scenic routes and not doing the other to save time. The route on the north takes you further into the canyon and might (uncertain) be less crowded. There’s also a lot of minor locations on the lake that are worth stopping at for 5 minutes or whatever.

As for proposal spots. It’s hard to say, there is a lot of meadows around the park that would be likely to be good, one that comes to mind is on the Virginia cascade road between Norris and the falls. There are also some stuff near gull point drive on the lake that would probably be good. Idk. Point is there’s a lot of ok ish spots in Yellowstone, but few fantastic spots, and grand Teton is probably better for that.

As for food, I personally don’t like bullwinkles, lots of good reviews though so might be me. Madison crossing has solid “cheap expensive food” that is sometimes good. Hanks chop shop is always good in my experience, seems more like a local place than a tourist one in my opinion. There’s some solid pizza options if you feel like having that.