Here Are A Few Money Saving Tips To Visit Yellowstone
Families all over the world save money for years to be able to travel to Wyoming to visit Yellowstone National Park. For many, it's a once in a lifetime trip because it's not cheap, but it's worth every penny you'll spend.
If you're traveling from a long distance, you may have to buy airline tickets, a rental car, hotel rooms, food at restaurants, entrance to the park, souvenirs, and other more than likely have other travel expenses. The average family of 4 will spend somewhere around $5,500 for their trip.
Living in Wyoming, we have the advantage of driving in a couple of hours, driving through the park and home in the same day, if you want to push it.
Even with the close distance advantage, it still can be a pricey trip.
- Gas
- Hotel
- Food
- Park Entrance
How can you save a little money, you ask?
Good question.
Here are a few ideas from The Broke Backpacker.com that will help relieve the strain on your bank account.
- Get all your supplies before entering the park - stocking up on snacks, sunscreen, water/drinks
- Camp Outside Yellowstone - Wyoming has lots of campgrounds and even places to disperse camp for free. Inside the park, you may run into a shortage of campsites and higher nightly fees.
- Purchase the 'America the Beautiful' Parks Pass - for $80 you can buy the pass that will cover your vehicle at any National Park across the country. Having this pass will allow you to make trips back to the park on a regular basis without having to pay the entry fee every time.
- Only Visit Free Attractions - Once you enter the park it's full of free things to do, Old Faithful, the fishing bridge, wildlife lookout areas and hiking are all free options. You can visit the parks headquarters in Mammoth to find more free options
- Bring Your Own Food - a quick trip to Rocky Mountain Discount Sports or another store with outdoor supplies, you can purchase a camp stove (even if you're not camping) and propane. Then a trip to a grocery store to pick up items to eat and drink, will automatically save you money. Even figuring in the price of the camp stove. There are picnic areas all over the park where you can prepare your food, relax and eat, before heading out for more sightseeing.
- Planning ahead - You're going to be able to cut down on many of those costs if you know the likely places you'll find a free campsite, where the gas is cheapest, which attractions are free to visit.
If you play your cards right, do proper planning and budgeting, you could make the trip for just a few hundred bucks.