Yellowstone National Park

You would easily enjoy at least 4 days in Yellowstone; 1-2 days in the Tetons and at least another 4 days in Glacier...all can easily take lots more days to enjoy; but to see the minimal and hike a little; visit museums and visitors centers, I'd say at least the amounts I listed above. All are absolutely gorgeous parks by themselves!! Enjoy! I am jealous!

I would allow at least 2 full days for each park, probably 3 days to be on the safe side. There's so much to see at these parks that anything less than 2 days simply isn't enough, depending on what you want to do. If it's worth the time going to each place, it's sure worth it to spend enough time to see it all. Don't try to rush through everything because you'll miss out on lots of things. It's also a good idea to have a lantern on hand powered with batteries in case you run out of daylight hours.

Camping sites in the Absarokas follow Leave No Trace prinicpals, there aren't many defined spots so you just have to pick the place that works best. As for fishing, you'll need a Montana fishing license since the park license doesn't carry over outside the park like it does in some places. Bill Schnieder's book "Hiking the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness" has some great information on this hike. 

There are many fantastic things to see in Yellowstone, and there is no "right amount" of time to spend there.  I am not exactly sure what you mean by "four areas", since there are many separate geologic and ecologic features within Yellowstone. 


To give you some ideas, a day should be more than enough time to explore the geyser basins between West Thumb and Madison Junction.  This is the area of highest concentration of geysers and thermal features, including Old Faithful and the Grand Prismatic Spring.  The total driving time is an hour, depending on traffic, but you could spend a full day walking through at least five major geyser basins. 

Many sections of the park could be explored in this way on a leisurely schedule over the course of a week.  If you like to go boating, you can pick up a boat permit at several locations around the park, or you can rent a rowboat or outboard at Bridge Bay Marina.  For more on boating in Yellowstone, click here.

Whatever amount of time you spend in Yellowstone, there are some fantastic sights to see.  Different times of year will also lend to different activities.  If you are planning a Winter trip, you will be seeing the park differently than in the summer. Point being, there is no perfect amount of time that will allow you to see everything, or enough of the park to be satisfied. 

Every time I go to Yellowstone, I am stuck wanting to see more!

My family of six- (four kids ages 17, 14, 10, and 7) were able to see all of yellowstones major attractions in a week without a problem at all.  In fact we only spent three whole days in the park and had a great time.  However, we went in June and it snowed the whole time.  We were in tents but luckily on a last minute whim I had the kids all throw in their snow gear.  The benefit was there was not any traffic at all to speak of and we saw every animal we wanted including Bears, moose, elk, wolves, buffolo and more. 

Absolutely! I spent four days (one day on each loop) and then three days in the Tetons. The pass covers 7 days. You could do any combination. Spend 5 days in Yellowstone and hit 2 days in Tetons or spend all 7 in Yellowstone (although it would be sad to be that close to the Grand Tetons and not see them). One variable is that I went in May when the park was not at its busiest. Enjoy!