Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier Itinerary: How Many Days, Plus a Strenuous Yellowstone Plan

If you want Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier on one trip, go between July and mid-September and plan on about eight days plus your trip home. Those are the weeks when all three parks are running at once. The new Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier National Parks Collection puts my guides to all three in one download.

What's in the collection

• Three complete guides: Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier, each a full book with its own maps and photographs.
• 27 itineraries: easy, moderate, and strenuous plans for one, two, and three days in every park, each day with a backup.
• History and highlights, from Old Faithful to Oxbow Bend and Logan Pass.
• Three wildlife chapters with 44 animal profiles, each with a photograph and notes on where and when to look.
• Trip planning for road openings, fees, shuttles, lodging, and bear safety, plus 108 photographs and 19 orientation maps.

It comes as an EPUB and a 354-page PDF with bookmarks.

Three parks, three different calendars

Yellowstone's roads typically all open by Memorial Day weekend. Grand Teton has most roads and facilities running from May through September. Glacier is the late one: the full Going-to-the-Sun Road usually opens in late June or early July, so the road over Logan Pass sets your start date.

The end date comes from services. The park says most of Glacier's businesses and services run from late May through September, and Yellowstone's Roosevelt Lodge closed around Labor Day in 2026. I'd aim to be done by mid-September. Those are also Yellowstone's busiest weeks, so the park suggests entering before 7 a.m. or after noon.

Book the beds first. Glacier's in-park lodges take reservations up to 13 months ahead, Yellowstone's lodges and campgrounds often book well in advance, and Grand Teton's campgrounds are reservation-only, up to six months out. Also check Glacier's Logan Pass rules before you set dates. In 2026 they included a three-hour parking limit and a ticketed shuttle, and they change from year to year.

Don't try this loop right now. Since November 1, the road between the North and Northeast entrances is the only one in Yellowstone open to regular vehicles. Teton Park Road is closed to vehicles from the Taggart Lake trailhead to Signal Mountain, and every campground in the park is closed. Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed from Avalanche Creek to Rising Sun. If you're headed out this month anyway, read what's open at Grand Teton in November and what's open at Glacier first. One 2027 note: Glacier's St. Mary Campground is closed for construction through June 30.

How many days do you need for Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier?

Plan park by park, then add the drive. In Yellowstone, one day gets you one region, because the famous sights sit hours apart. Two days cover the geyser basins and then the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with Norris or the Lamar Valley. Three days fit the geysers and the Lamar without spending the trip in the car. Yellowstone is where I'd put the extra day. If you'd like to camp near the geysers, read how to get a site at Madison Campground.

In Grand Teton, one day covers the south end: Mormon Row, the Snake River turnouts, and the Jenny Lake shore. Two days add Jackson Lake, Oxbow Bend, and Colter Bay. A third day is for a long hike and a slower pace. In Glacier, one day is the drive over Going-to-the-Sun Road with short stops. Two days let you see both sides of the Divide, sleeping one night on each side. A third day leaves room for a big hike, and if that's the Highline Trail, sort out how you'll get back to your car first.

That adds up to three days in Yellowstone and two each in Grand Teton and Glacier, plus a long day's drive between Yellowstone and Glacier. Yellowstone and Grand Teton share a border, so that hop is easy. If you have a week or less, I'd skip Glacier this time, split the days between the other two, and go back for Glacier when you can give it its own trip.

Sample itinerary: two strenuous days in Yellowstone

Here's a shortened version of one of the 27 itineraries in the collection, Yellowstone's strenuous two-day plan: Mount Washburn and the canyon rims on the first day, then the Lamar Valley at dawn, Trout Lake, and the Slough Creek Trail on the second. Day 1 runs about 12 hours with a 6-mile summit hike, and Day 2 about 13 hours with up to 8.6 miles on the trail. Sleep at Canyon the first night and at Roosevelt Lodge, Mammoth, or Gardiner the second.

This is a summer plan. Dunraven Pass, the road over Mount Washburn's shoulder, ran from May 22 to October 12 in 2026, Canyon Campground from May 29 to September 19, and Roosevelt Lodge from June 5 to about Labor Day. The park hadn't posted its 2027 dates when I checked. It does warn that snow is still possible up high in June, and it lists 2026 and 2027 roadwork at two bridges and chip sealing parkwide, so leave room for delays.

Day 1: Mount Washburn and the canyon rims

Leave Canyon at 6 for Dunraven Pass, about 15 minutes away, and be on the trail by 6:30. It's 6 miles round trip with about 1,400 feet of climbing, 4 to 5 hours in all. Carry all your water and bear spray. Eat lunch at Canyon Village around 11:30. Spend the afternoon at the Brink of the Lower Falls and along the North Rim, then give Artist Point an hour around 4. Finish in Hayden Valley at dusk.

Backup plan: start at first light and turn around if clouds build, because Mount Washburn is no place to be in a thunderstorm. You can also swap the climb for the canyon rims and Norris Geyser Basin. If Dunraven Pass is closed, reverse the two days and reach the Lamar Valley the long way, through Norris and Mammoth.

Day 2: The Lamar Valley, Trout Lake, and Slough Creek

Leave Canyon at 5 with breakfast packed. Tower Junction is 50 to 60 minutes away over Dunraven Pass, and the Lamar starts a few miles east of it. Take two hours driving slowly up the valley and stopping at pullouts. Watch for wolves and bears where people with spotting scopes have gathered, and stay 100 yards from both (25 from bison and elk). Walk the 1.2-mile Trout Lake loop, with about 150 feet of climbing, then take the Slough Creek Trail: 1.7 miles to the first meadow, or 8.6 miles round trip to the second. Stop at Tower Fall, go back to the Lamar for the evening, and eat at Roosevelt Lodge or in Mammoth or Gardiner.

Backup plan: in rain or a thunderstorm, skip Slough Creek's long open meadows and watch from the car instead. If Trout Lake or Slough Creek is closed for bears, ask a ranger at Mammoth's Albright Visitor Center for another trail.

The full version in the Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier collection adds maps, meals, and wildlife to watch for, along with the other 26 itineraries.

Sources: NPS pages on Yellowstone's seasons, Yellowstone operating dates, Yellowstone park roads, Grand Teton hours and seasons, and Glacier hours and seasons.

Get the collection: the Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier collection.

Before you go: check the alerts and current conditions page for each park, checked daily, for current closures and what they mean for your trip: Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Conditions change; check the park's current alerts before you go.