🦬10-day Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier Itinerary | with Map and Tips |

10-day Wyoming and Montana Itinerary: Summary Table

In the table below, you’ll find a summary of the itinerary through Wyoming and Montana that we suggest, including each day’s stops, distances, travel times, unmissable tours, and recommended accommodations. Although we’ll break down each leg of the trip in detail throughout this post, we’ll give you a sneak peek: you’ll visit the incredible national parks in both states (Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier), combined with some interesting stops along the way.

💡 The itinerary would be the same whether you rent a car or rent a camper van/motorhome, only the places where you spend the night would change.

10-DAY WYOMING AND MONTANA ITINERARY
	STOPS	DISTANCE	TIME	UNMISSABLE TOURS	WHERE TO STAY
Day 1	Jackson	3 km / 1.9 mi	5 min	🚠 Jackson Hole Aerial Tram	🏨 The Hostel or Cache House
Day 2	Grand Teton	178 km / 110 mi	3 hrs	🐻 Grand Teton wildlife tour	🏨 The Hostel or Cache House
Day 3	Grand Teton	190 km / 118	2.5 hrs	-	🏨 Headwaters Lodge or Yellowstone Lodge
Day 4	Yellowstone (southwest)	124 km / 77 mi	2 hrs	♨️ Yellowstone guided tour	🏨 Yellowstone Lodge or City Center Motel
Day 5	Yellowstone (east)	220 km / 136 mi	4 hrs	🦬 Lamar Valley wildlife tour	🏨 Elk Horn Lodge Motel and Cabins or Silver Gate Lodging
Day 6	Yellowstone (north)	97 km / 60 mi	2 hrs	-	🏨 Absaroka Lodge or Super 8 Gardiner
Day 7	Virginia City, Elkhorn & Helena	470 km / 292 mi	5.5 hrs	-	🏨 Best Western Premier Helena or Best Western Capitol Hotel
Day 8	Missoula & Whitefish	396 km / 246 mi	4 hrs 15 min	-	🏨 Best Western Rocky Mountain Lodge or Whitefish Riverfront Hotel
Day 9	Glacier	180 km / 112 mi	2 hrs	🛶 Rafting in Glacier NP	🏨 St Mary Village
Day 10	Glacier	68 km / 42 mi	1 hr	-	🏨 St Mary Village

Which airport should you fly into for a Wyoming and Montana road trip?

We suggest this road trip from south to north, assuming you arrive by plane at one of these airports:

• Salt Lake City (Utah): international airport in northern Utah, 86 miles (140 km) from the border with Wyoming and 293 miles (470 km) from Jackson. There're many car rental and camper van/motorhome rental options here.
• Jackson Hole (Wyoming): this is the closest airport, located just 5 miles (8 km) from Grand Teton and 70 miles (115 km) from Yellowstone. The downside is that rental options are somewhat limited and it only receives domestic flights, so you'll have to fly first to a main U.S. city such as Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Seattle.

If you want to do this itinerary from north to south, the alternative is to fly to Missoula Airport in Montana, which is about 130 miles (210 km) from Glacier. Direct flights arrive here from cities such as Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles.

10-day Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier road trip

Day 1: Jackson

• 🚗Distance: 3 km / 1.9 mi
• 🕛Time: 5 min
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: The Hostel or Cache House

Since you’ll be arriving at Jackson Airport—which is the most convenient in terms of distance—you won’t have to drive much on this first day, as the city of Jackson is just 3 km (1.9 mi) from the airport.

Jackson is a spectacular spot in Wyoming, surrounded by the Teton Range. Although it was once a true cowboy town, it’s true that today it has become a rather exclusive place where high purchasing power is evident on every corner.

Even so, Jackson has charming shops and bars, such as the legendary Million Dollar Cowboy Bar—a spot where the bar stools are horse saddles and where there’s live music many nights. You’ve got to check it out! Plus, this city is very popular in the summer for its rodeos, which attract visitors from all over the world.

You can't miss the main square here with its four distinctive arches: they're made from the antlers that the local elk naturally shed during the winter. They're huge! Just a few miles from Jackson is the National Elk Refuge, where these animals gather between December and early April.

🚠 You can also take the opportunity to ride the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram, which offers breathtaking views of the surrounding area.

🤠 Recommended: Things to do in Jackson ( + Map and Tips)

🏨 Accommodations in Jackson aren't exactly cheap, no matter when you go. The best value for your money is this hotel located next to the Jackson ski resort, since, in addition to the beautiful surroundings, it has private rooms that are great. If you’re looking for something more central that you can reach on foot, this hostel with private capsule-style rooms is the most affordable option downtown. Here are some other options in Jackson for you to compare:

Day 2: Grand Teton National Park

• 🚗Distance: 178 km / 110 mi
• 🕛Time: 3 hrs
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: The Hostel or Cache House

From Jackson, you only have to drive 5 miles (8 km) to reach the first national park: Grand Teton. Sometimes overlooked in favor of its bigger brother Yellowstone, for us Teton is one of the most impressive natural gems in the United States.

Here, the landscape of rugged mountains (with the Grand Teton towering at 13,775 feet or 4,200 meters) blends with pristine lakes, waterfalls, meadows, and abundant wildlife. A true paradise! Here's our guide on how to visit Grand Teton to help you plan your trip.

💡 Recommended: How to visit Grand Teton | Guide + Tips + Map | 

🐻 There are plenty of places to see in Grand Teton and many hiking trails, even you can join this Grand Teton wildlife guided tour in order to spot animals. For your first day in the park, we recommend you take a route similar to this one:

1. Schwabacher's Landing (🚗 25 min + 🚶🏻 1 hr)
2. Mormon Row Historic District (🚗 15 min + 🚶🏻 1 hr)
3. Oxbow Bend Turnout (🚗 30 min + 🚶🏻 10 min)
4. Signal Mountain (🚗 25 min + 🚶🏻 30 min)
5. Menors Ferry Historic District (🚗 40 min + 🚶🏻 30 min)
6. Phelps Lake (🚗 15 min + 🚶🏻 2 hrs)

🏨 To stay overnight, you can return to the same hotel you chose in Jackson for last night, although there are also options inside the park itself and on the outskirts, such as the Headwaters Lodge & Cabins. You’ll find all the information in our post on where to stay in Grand Teton.

Day 3: Grand Teton National Park

• 🚗Distance: 190 km / 118
• 🕛Time: 2.5 hrs
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: Headwaters Lodge or Yellowstone Lodge

On this second day exploring Grand Teton, you can spend your time visiting some of the park’s most famous and majestic lakes. You’ll find all the information about each one in our post on things to do in Grand Teton, but this is roughly the itinerary we would follow:

1. Jenny Lake Loop Trail (🚗 30 min + 🚶🏻 5 hrs)
   • Moose Pond
   • Hidden Falls
   • Inspiration Point
2. String Lake and walk to Leigh Lake (🚗 10 min + 🚶🏻 1 hr)
3. Jackson Lake Dam (🚗 20 min + 🚶🏻 10 min)
4. Jackson Lake Overlook (🚗 20 min + 🚶🏻 10 min)

🏨 For staying overnight, we suggest two options. One is to stay at the Headwaters Lodge, a lovely hotel with a prime location between Grand Teton and the south entrance to Yellowstone. If you stay here, it’s only a 15-minute drive, but it’s true that the room rates are high.

Another option is to head to West Yellowstone and stay at the Yellowstone Lodge or the City Center Motel. This is a much more affordable option located right by Yellowstone’s west entrance, but it does involve a 2-hour drive.

Day 4: Yellowstone National Park (southwest)

• 🚗Distance: 124 km / 77 mi
• 🕛Time: 2 hrs
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: Yellowstone Lodge or City Center Motel

Continue to the oldest national park in the world and probably the most impressive in the entire country. Yellowstone is unique no matter where you look, a place where the earth boils due to its location on a supervolcano and where fumaroles, geysers, and hot springs intertwine with canyons, waterfalls, valleys, and lakes. Not to mention its wildlife, including the largest herd of wild bison in the United States.

💡 Recommended: How to visit Yellowstone | Guide + Tips + Map | 

Yellowstone is extremely large, so you'll need to plan your three days here carefully to avoid wasting too much time traveling. In our post on best things to do in Yellowstone you have tons of information, but ideally, you should divide your days by area and, if you don't want to stay inside the park due to price or lack of availability, head out each day to one of the towns located near the various entrances.

On this first day, we'll focus on the Southwest Lower Loop (the southwestern part of the park), visiting the following places. For the driving times, we've taken into account that you spent the night before in West Yellowstone:

1. Norris Geyser Basin (🚗 45 min + 🚶🏻 2 hrs)
2. Gibbon Falls (🚗 15 min + 10 min)
3. Midway Geyser Basin (🚗 25 min + 🚶🏻 1.5 hrs)

🏨 Head to West Yellowstone to spend the night at the Yellowstone Lodge—it’s the best value hotel in town. Another option is the City Center Motel, a basic motel that’s a bit more affordable.

💡Keep in mind that you can also stay inside the national park, though it’s a more expensive option. You’ll find all the information in our post on where to stay in Yellowstone!

Day 5: Yellowstone National Park (east)

• 🚗Distance: 220 km / 136 mi
• 🕛Time: 4 hrs
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: Elk Horn Lodge Motel and Cabins or Silver Gate Lodging

This day is packed with incredible things to do in Yellowstone! We recommend spending the day exploring the East Lower & Upper Loop (the eastern part of the park), where several natural wonders are concentrated. Here’s the approximate itinerary we’d follow:

1. Upper Geyser Basin (🚗 50 min + 🚶🏻 3 hrs)
2. West Thumb (🚗 30 min + 🚶🏻 1 hr)
3. Hayden Valley, Mud Volcano and Sulphur Caldron (🚗 50 min + 🚶🏻 2 hrs)
4. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (🚗 30 min + 🚶🏻 3 hrs)
5. Lamar Valley (🚗 1 hr + 🚶🏻 1 hr)

🏨 When you finish your drive through Lamar Valley at sunset (just a heads-up: you’ll be making a million stops because this area is full of wildlife), exit the park through the Northeast Entrance to spend the night in Cooke City. Here, we recommend the Elk Horn Lodge Motel and Cabins or Silver Gate Lodging.

Day 6: Yellowstone National Park (north)

• 🚗Distance: 97 km / 60 mi
• 🕛Time: 2 hrs
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: Absaroka Lodge or Super 8 Gardiner

Spend your last day in Yellowstone exploring the North Upper Loop (the northern part of the park). Since you’ll be passing through Lamar Valley again, take the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful area and its wildlife in the morning and go for a hike. Check out our post on things to do in Yellowstone for all the details!

Here’s the itinerary we’d follow for this day:

1. Lamar Valley (🚗 30 min + 🚶🏻 2 hrs)
2. Tower Fall (🚗 30 min + 🚶🏻 15 min)
3. Mammoth Hot Springs (🚗 40 min + 🚶🏻3 hrs)

🏨 End your trip by exiting through the North Entrance and spending the night in the town of Gardiner. The best value for your money here is the Absaroka Lodge, although the Super 8 Gardiner is a more basic—but also more affordable—option.

Day 7: Virginia City, Elkhorn, and Helena

• 🚗Distance: 470 km / 292 mi
• 🕛Time: 5.5 hrs
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: Best Western Premier Helena or Best Western Capitol Hotel

This road trip continues deeper into Montana to explore one of the most cowboy-like states in the US, where ranches are a true symbol. Let's also add a historical touch to this itinerary!

The first stop is Virginia City, located 146 miles (235 km) from Gardiner and famous for having been one of the most important mining towns during the gold rush in the mid-19th century. Its historic center is very well preserved, and you can see several original wooden buildings both outside and inside.

If you stroll down Main Street, you'll come across old saloons and shops, museums, and lodgings that once served gold prospectors. It's like being on a movie set! Less than 2 miles (3 km) away is Nevada City, another open-air museum with restored buildings.

From here, continue to Elkhorn, located 96 mi (156 km) away. This quiet town surrounded by nature was once built around an important silver mine and had up to 2,500 inhabitants! Although people still live here, several old buildings such as Fraternity Hall and Gillian Hall have been preserved. As part of Elkhorn State Park, there is an $8 vehicle access fee.

End the day in Helena, a city surrounded by mountains and the capital of Montana. If you have time, take a stroll through Reeder's Alley, the oldest part of Helena, and visit the Capitol and the Cathedral.

🏨 As a good city, there're many lodging options in Helena, although our favorites are the Best Western Premier Helena and the Best Western Capitol Hotel.

Day 8: Missoula and Whitefish

• 🚗Distance: 396 km / 246 mi
• 🕛Time: 4 hrs 15 min
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: Best Western Rocky Mountain Lodge or Whitefish Riverfront Hotel

Missoula is 112 miles (180 km) from Helena and is the largest city before you enter the true Rockies. Although it's a pleasant city with lots of nature in the surroundings, it isn't an essential stop unless you are a fan of Yellowstone series and want to see the places Kevin Costner was.

🎬The Missoula County Courthouse appears several times throughout the series, and Ruby's Cafe is the site of a shootout in season 4. Since you're here, stop in for a drink—it's a very authentic spot.

🤠If you're a fan of Yellowstone series, we're sure that visiting the Dutton Ranch is on your list of places to see in Montana, but we have two pieces of bad news and one piece of good news. The bad news is that you have to take a detour of 62 miles (100 km) from Missoula and that you can't go past the entrance, as it's a privately owned ranch. The good news is that the ranch is just as it appears in the series, with its distinctive Y-shaped symbol and the sign: Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.

Whether you've visited the ranch or not, continue north to Whitefish, a town we recommend stopping at. Apart from the high mountains that surround it and the lake of the same name, we think downtown is adorable. It's a mix of tourist and local, with a great atmosphere that we love and lots of shops selling local products.

👢 At SM Bradford Co, you can see and buy traditional Western clothing, such as handmade boots and hats. And if you go into the Bulldog Saloon, you'll be amazed by the atmosphere inside, as well as the dozens of photos of bulldogs 🐶.

🏨 Whitefish is a fantastic place to stay, just 40 minutes from the west entrance to Glacier NP, and in the evenings and nights many bars offer live music. Some options are the Best Western Rocky Mountain Lodge and the Whitefish Riverfront Hotel. Another option is to stay somewhere closer to the park entrance, such as the Wonderstone at Glacier or the unique Under Canvas Glacier, a glamping-style accommodation.

Day 9: Glacier National Park

• 🚗Distance: 180 km / 112 mi
• 🕛Time: 2 hrs
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: St Mary Village

What a better way to end this Wyoming and Montana itinerary than at Glacier National Park, one of the most beautiful spots in the Rocky Mountains.

On your first day at Glacier, you can drive along the legendary Going-to-the-Sun Road, one of the most beautiful scenic roads in the United States (it's very narrow in some sections!). You can stop at its viewpoints, although we wouldn't miss Avalanche Lake (you have to do an easy trek to get there), the Trail of the Cedars (very easy), and the Hidden Lake Trail (the views are some of the best in the park).

🏨Eventually, you'll arrive in the St Mary area, and although there aren't many lodging options to choose from, St. Mary Village is not bad at all. Alternatively, you can stay at one of the campsites and lodges within the park, but you must book well in advance through this specific website managed by the park or the Recreation.gov app.

Day 10: Glacier National Park

• 🚗Distance: 68 km / 42 mi
• 🕛Time: 1 hr
• 🛌🏼Where to stay: St Mary Village

On the second day, if you're a hiking enthusiast, you have to hike the Grinnell Glacier Trail, which for us is the most beautiful in the park. Despite it's long (6 miles or 9 km one way), it's impressive from start to finish.

If you still have energy left on this day, you can head to Fishercap Lake in the afternoon to try your luck at spotting moose. It's pretty easy to see them here cooling off and drinking, although we weren't so lucky.

🏨 On your last night (unless your return flight is on that day), it’s best to stay at St Mary Village again. Otherwise, you can head to one of Montana’s major airports to return your rental car, such as Missoula (closer to Glacier) or Bozeman. Both offer direct connections to other major cities in the United States.

10-day Wyoming and Montana road trip map

On this map, you can see the itinerary we've suggested:

FAQs about traveling to Wyoming and Montana

Is 10 days enough time to explore Wyoming and Montana?

Yes, 10 days is enough time to take a fairly tour of the main attractions, although you’ll need to prioritize and plan your schedule carefully. If you have more days, even better.

Is it necessary to rent a car for this itinerary?

Yes, a car is essential since public transportation is practically nonexistent in these areas.

What are the main places to visit on this road trip?

Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks are the must-see destinations.

Is it possible to travel to Wyoming and Montana in winter?

Yes, but with limitations, as several roads in the national parks are closed due to snow, which may prevent you from visiting certain areas.

Is it necessary to book accommodations in advance?

Yes, especially in the national parks, as they are very popular destinations and availability is limited.

Can you see wildlife on a Wyoming and Montana road trip?

Yes, it’s common to see bears, bison, moose, and deer, among other animals, specially in national parks.

We hope you've enjoyed this Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks road trip (together with the other cool stops along the way)!