Home Base For Learning: Budget Yellowstone and Grand Teton Trip with Kids

Our big trip this year was Yellowstone and the Tetons. I'll be honest, if you want to do a budget trip with a large family, your two biggest ways to save money are going to be tent camping and bringing all your own food. If you do that, just be prepared for your vehicle to be packed to the brim.

There's a child in this blurry picture somewhere

Yes, our camp site had bears passing through it everyday- but not when we were there. Our loud kids took care of that. All the food had to be locked up unless we were eating and we kept the site extra clean. Which can be hard to do with kids, but bears were a great motivation for tidiness. At our site, there were no showers and the only temperature that came out of the faucets was ice cold. So, no, this budget part of the trip was not my favorite, but we didn't spend a whole lot of time at camp and the money we saved allowed us to do some other fun activities. Plus, by camping, we were right in the park which saved us a lot of time. That was important to us as it gave us ability to see more of the parks. We decided that was a bigger priority than more comfortable accommodations.

We also kept all our food simple. No cooking required. This saved space in the mini van- no stove needed- and by having only grab an go meals, it saved time, which in turn allowed us to see more of the parks. Once again, time in the parks was our top priority. We ate things like muffins, sandwiches, yogurt, meat and cheese trays, apples, blueberries, grapes, etc. We also brought along a lot of fun snacks we normally don't buy, like Chex mix and m&m's.

I guess I should back up and mention, since we live so far from Yellowstone, we did stay at one AirBnB while traveling. It was amazing. If time wasn't such a pressing issue, and you're not on such a tight budget, I'd highly recommend AirBnb's. Since our family is large, we like them better than getting two separate hotel rooms. This AirBnB cabin had a grill, so we were able to cook hotdogs and s'mores here before camping.

It also had a beautiful creek the kids had fun playing in

Sunrise

We woke up early and made the long drive to Yellowstone. We stopped at Old Faithful just in time to see it erupt. We then walked the board walk, watching other geysers erupt and got back to Old Faithful in time to watch it erupt again.

Grand Geyser

Old Faithful from the trail

We were going to go to the Grand Prismatic Spring, but found a large traffic jam instead. So we decided to skip it and head to the mud pots. We also stopped at other clear blue springs, more geysers, waterfalls, and the iconic Artist Point.

Gibbon Falls

The highlight for my kids was the mud volcano area, especially Dragon's Mouth Spring. My dragon loving kids were convinced there were dragons below the surface causing all the bubbling turmoil. They also insisted they saw a dragon in the Dragon Mouth Spring. So if your headed to the mud volcano area, keep an eye out. 🐉

Also, keep an eye out for wildlife. We were trying to get to our campsite before dark (remember the bears) but other animals are also more active in the evening. Many buffalo decided they wanted to cross the road to get to the other side. This caused quite a traffic jam. As a reminder, please keep your distance from the wildlife. We saw tourist getting out of their cars and following the herd.

Taken from our car

The next day we spent in Teton National Park. I should mention if you don't have an annual pass, each park cost $35 dollars to get into. A one year annual pass to unlimited national parks and federal lands is $80. So it may be worth getting that. If you happen to have a 4th grader, they also get a free, one year, pass starting Sept 1st of their 4th grade year. Military and their dependents, seniors, and those with disabilities can also get free passes.

The Tetons is where we decided to splurge. We began our Teton trip with a one hour horseback ride. This ride is for 8+. Our younger kids stayed back with Dad and got pony rides.

We were then off on our next hiking adventure. We did the Lakeshore trail at Colter Bay, as well as the Heron and Swan Lake loop. In all, it was just over 5 miles of hiking.

Stopped to skip rock on the shore of Jackson Lake

We took the rest of the day to hang out at camp.

Sleeping Chipmunk

It rained in the middle of the night.

Tent floor under our pads. Since we set up in the dark, we didn't realize the tent site was in a depression.

While the tent and sleeping pads got soaked, it also cleared off the smoke from nearby wild fires so we were able to get a clear view of the Tetons. After spending the morning tending to camping gear and playing at camp, we headed to Jenny Lake. We were fortunate to get a parking spot, as this place was crowded. Although there were a lot of people around, there wasn't a long wait to get on the boat ride that took us across Jenny Lake. Round trip it cost $20 per adult and $12 per child. This was paid for with our school transportation funding for those that were in school and we made up the difference for the rest of the family.