West Yellowstone Montana is adjacent to the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park. In fact, the town abuts the park boundary. West Yellowstone, also known as West, is the closest gateway community to most of Yellowstone's major attractions. It is about 30 miles from West to Old Faithful or to Norris Geyser Basin and about 45 miles to Canyon.

West makes an excellent base of operations for day trips into the park. West is a tourist town. It reportedly has over 50 motels. It also has many tourist shops. I have heard West described as "Jackson Wyoming without the scenery or the class." This is a little harsh. It is true that West's scenery and architecture are not as inspiring as Jackson or even some of the other gateway communities but West does provide a myriad of lodging options and for those after park evenings it provides restaurants, shopping and a few other diversions.

One of these diversions is the Grizzly Discovery Center. At this quasi-zoo you can not only see grizzly bears but also a wolf pack. Also in the complex is an Imax theater which shows a movie about Yellowstone. Personally, I would not spend Yellowstone sight-seeing time to go to the Grizzly discovery center or the Imax theater but in the evening or in bad weather they are an option.

For more information about West Yellowstone, see this WWW Page.

Chamber of Commerce and Lodging

Jackson Wyoming is the most trendy of the gateway communities. Jackson is actually located at the south end of Grand Teton National Park. It is about 80 miles from Jackson to the south end of the Grand loop road in Yellowstone, about 100 miles from Jackson to Old Faithful.

Jackson is a resort town. Summer tourists go to Jackson to tour the National Parks, while winter tourists go to Jackson to ski. Many people like Jackson. The shops are nice. The town has a small town atmosphere that, although somewhat perverted, is still nice. You can not actually see the Tetons from the town but the area is still scenic. There are many nice galleries in the town and I have heard good things about the National Museum of Wildlife Art , just north of town and over looking the Elk Refuge. The Jackson Hole Areal Tram provides excellent views of the Tetons and is probably the easiest way to get high into the mountains. The Elk Refuge is really only an attraction in the winter when the Elk are present.

For more about Jackson see the official Jackson Hole Chamber of CommerceWWW page or the Jackson Summer page or the Jackson Hole Magazine.

Chamber of Commerce and Lodging

Cody Wyoming is 78 miles from Yellowstone's Grand Loop Road, about 120 miles from Old Faithful and 95 miles from Canyon. The road from Cody to Yellowstone is mountainous and scenic. You would not want to use Cody as a base of operations for day trips to Yellowstone but you might want to stop there on your way to or from Yellowstone. Cody is the home of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. This set of four large museums contains one of the best, if not the best, displays of western art and artifacts in the United States. Even avowed museum haters have said they enjoyed the Historical Center.

For more on Cody see their WWW page.

Chamber of Commerce and Lodging

Gardiner Montana is located just outside the north entrance to Yellowstone. Gardiner has a number of nice motels and some bed and breakfasts. Gardiner is less than 10 miles from the park headquarters at Mammoth and is the only entrance open to cars all year around. Unfortunately, Gardiner is a long drive from the major attractions located along the southern portion of the Grand loop road. You can use Gardiner as a base of operations for day trips into Yellowstone but you would be better off only touring the northern end of the park from Gardiner and then moving your base of operations further south for the rest of your stay.

Chamber of Commerce and Lodging

Silver Gate and Cooke City Montana are the two small towns located just outside the northeast entrance. These are the least touristy of all the Yellowstone gateway communities. They are a nice place to stay if you are mainly interested in wildlife watching in the Lamar Valley area or if you want to explore the Beartooth wilderness but they are too far from Yellowstone's major attractions to use as a base of operations for day trips into the rest of the park.

Chamber of Commerce and Lodging

Comments and Questions are Welcome.

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