Like we did on our previous trips we thought it would be interesting to do a round-up of our highlights. We haven’t discussed these either, so these are our own personal favourites.

Lucy’s Pics

Best Stop

It’s hard to pick a favourite stop as they were all fab and unique in their own way, especially Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, but as these feature in some of my other “favourites” I’m going for Rapid City as this was home to Mount Rushmore and included two very different National Parks (Badlands and Wind Cave). It was also the only stop where I felt we could’ve done with an extra few days as there was more to see in the form of state parks, lakes, monuments etc.

Best National Park

I’ve picked Yellowstone for this as it’s probably one of the most unique parks we have ever been too and we got to see things we’d never seen before such as geysers, hot springs, steam vents etc. Plus, as it’s so vast there was a lot to see.

Best Hike

I have chosen the hike at Jenny Lake hike in Grand Teton NP. Not only did it hug the lake in parts as you walked around, but when you got to the other side you could hike on further to a hidden waterfall, and then if you wanted to climb higher you could hike onto Inspiration Point which had panoramic views of the lake. It had a bit of everything therefore it’s my pick.

Best accommodation

We’ve had some really nice ones on this trip but on balance the Airbnb in Victor, Idaho (our base for the Grand Tetons), has the edge. It was super spacious, comfortable and quiet, and had everything you could possibly need for your stay.

Best Brewery / drink

I’ve picked Grand Teton Brewery. Not only was there an Oktoberfest event going on when we rocked up, but it also had great beers and it was in a great setting – you could see the mountains when you were sat outside.

Best Food

I’ve selected the waffles at the top of the cable car ride in Jackson Hole. And the location was fun too as it was a ski cabin at the top of the mountain. It was fairly brisk when we got up there as it was so high up therefore the combination of hot coffee and waffles really hit the spot.

That’s it from me, now onto Si’s…

Si’s picks

Lucy was insistent I didn’t read hers before I wrote mine, so sorry if there’s any duplicates here, but here goes…

Best stop

I’m going to go with our stop in Rapid City towards the end of our trip. The actual town itself wasn’t anything special, although we did have a nice Airbnb there, but it was a great location to cover 3 very different places on 3 consecutive days – Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore and then Wind Cave National Park. These were all so different to one another and all really interesting to visit.

Best park

Overall I think my favourite National Park was Yellowstone. It’s a really tough call, but this one was just so different to any other park we’ve been to in the past. The hiking wasn’t quite as scenic or varied as other mountain parks we’ve been to, but seeing all the different thermal features was really interesting and unusual. There were some good waterfalls, an impressive ‘Grand Canyon of Yellowstone’ and of course, the Old Faithful geyser.

There was loads of ground to cover as well in different areas, the Old Faithful Inn was a great place to sit and have a coffee (and dry off after a wet first day), and the little town we stayed in at West Yellowstone was really good too. Everything walkable, some nice places to eat and drink, a nice Airbnb, and the cheapest pints of the trip as well ($2!!)

Best hike

I’m going to pick the Deer Mountain hike in the Rocky Mountains, a 6.4 mile round-trip with a steep climb of 1400 ft, but reaching a 10,000 ft elevation for some amazing views from the top. The weather was great and it was a nice hike through the forest to get there too.

Best accomodation

I’m going to go with our massive house in Victor when we stayed in the Grand Teton National Park area. It was really nice and comfy, massive, quiet, well-stocked and really felt like home very quickly. One of the nicest Airbnb’s we’ve stayed in I think.

Best beer / brewery

This is a very tough call but I’m going to go with Grand Teton Brewing in Victor. It was a short 15 min or so walk from our Airbnb and we only went for a couple of quiet drinks on our arrival day, but found they had an Oktoberfest event going on! Live music, loads of nice drinks (including my favourite beer of the trip, their Huckleberry Wheat beer), decent prices ($5/pint) and a nice burger food truck too. An unexpected surprise!

Honourable mention goes to Yellowstone Brewing in West Yellowstone which was a really nice place, did good food and had the cheapest drinks of the trip in happy hour ($4 for most beers, $2 for their special!) Can’t beat that!

Best food

We had loads of nice food on the trip, some great BBQ, pizzas, steak…but I’m going to go with an unusual one, and that’s the cinnamon bun we had at the 12,000 foot peak of the park at the Alpine Visitor Center. It was a lovely cinnamon bun, a well-needed mid-morning snack and break from the cold mountain top, and had an amazing view sitting in the window of the cafe.

Si

[Right, having written mine and then been allowed to read Lucy’s, I realise we’ve largely picked the same things – oops, sorry about that, but I suppose it shows we are in agreement on the trip highlights!]