Customer Reviews

Scenic Driving Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is like a great family car trip through Yellowstone and the Tetons. And Butler, at the helm, is the ultimate tourguide/mom. Her descriptions of the area are so vivid you can almost hear her turning around to yell at you to stop all that fighting in the back seat... This book far surpassed my expectations for a driving guide, with excellent tidbits of information on the geography, geology and history of the area. If you are waivering on the idea of a trip to Yellowstone & the Tetons, this book is the convincer. If you're firm in your commitment to the trip, it is an invaluable guide.

...just returned from driving trip to yellowstone/tetons/jackson hole....having bought 5 different guide books from Amazon.com to insure a trip that covered everything and missed nothing... I feel it is important to let potential driving travelers to yellowstone know how valuable this book is. Of all the books I purchased, this is the only book I used as we traveled the park by car. I used it daily as we went from one location to the next. I kept saying to myself as we toured the park using this book, that I wanted to thank the author and let the public know how valuable this book was. In fact. I saw this book for sale in the national park visitor centers. Get yours before you arrive to ensure a knowlegeable trip. Thanks, susan,

We used our copy of this book to plan our main drives around both parks. Except for a very few instances the scenes were exactly as described and exactly where they were supposed to be. The wildlife viewing recommendations for the most part were spot on. We recommend this a an invaluable resource for those planning to drive most of the roads and entrances to both parks. We lent our well beaten copy to other couples since our return and both couples raved about how useful this book was to their planning and daily events.

My kids and I just got back from Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and this book made our trip even better than it would have been without it. The funny thing is that I almost didn't buy this book. I refused to be one of those people who experience Yellowstone from my car, so a book called "Scenic Driving" didn't appeal to me at first. But Yellowstone is so huge that even if you plan to hike every day you still need to drive between trailheads, and as a result, you spend a lot of time in the car. My 13-year-old son narrated the entire drive and we ended up seeing things and doing things that we wouldn't have otherwise done. This book helped us understand what we were seeing and led us down roads I would have passed up if it weren't for this book telling us what was around that corner. (By the way, "A Ranger's Guide to Yellowstone Day Hikes" was a great book too!) I can't recommend this book enough. It's a must!

Amazon is not so great about removing older versions of books and this is one example - if you are going to buy it, get the 2006 version. Now, about the 1999 version....I will agree that it is helpful for driving through the park, but it's only good if you are traveling in the direction she has written it in. For example, if you are traveling a particular leg from north to south but she has written the guide traveling south to north, it is really difficult to follow. The book Yellowstone Treasures by Janet Chapple is written with mile markers regardless of which direction you are traveling in, so I recommend it over this one. Chapple's book is also more comprehensive.

I purchased many books as a reference for our first trip to Yellowstone, this is the one book I decided to take with us and we used it everyday, the information given was interesting and easy to follow. We felt like we had our own personal guide. Would recommend this book to anyone.

This is the best "guide" book I have ever bought. We saw so much thanks to the wonderful mile by mile tours and hikes. It is a must for the Grand Teton's and Yellowstone. I usually review books from the library, but this was well worth purchasing!

This book is an extremely helpful guide for anyone wanting to tour Yellowstone. I highly recommend it.

I love the detailed descriptions she writes mile by mile which will be very helpful to have in the car as I drive through the parks myself. It has also prepared me for what to look for.

As a "map lover" I like the detailed maps of different sections of the park even more. But . . . I have two complaints: 1) Her maps do not include everything she describes. To me, that is the purpose of a zoomed in map of one section of the park! 2) In her written description she talks way too much about the fire of 1988! But overall I have found the book helpful in my preparation for a visit to both parks and plan to carry it with me.

We purchased this book as a precursor to actually taking a vacation to both of these National Parks. I had been to both Teton & Yellowstone 'way back in the 1960's when I was a young man with a sleeping bag & a tent - but now my wife & I want to visit these Parks. I'm sure we'll be doing it in a different style than when I did it back in the dim past.

First, since the emphasis herein is on driving you don't really need this volume much if you are a camper, hiker, or climber. The places and/or sights are all readily accessable from the typical two wheel drive low clearance motor vehicle. However, the driving directions and the coverage of destinations in both parks appear to satisfy the needs of most people. They have allowed us to do our planning simply and easily, and with an eye towards linking several of the given routes/plans. The breakdown of each Park into bite sized chunks allows one to pick and choose what he or she would like to emphasize in a given trip. No "gee-whiz you gotta see/do this" descriptions mar the book.

I have to say too that the lodging data were all very good. That said, the focus was on traditional places to stay for the most part. This, for us, was important as we tend to focus on those kinds of places to stay because they enhance the unique Park experience for us. For example: we stayed at North Rim Grand Canyon this past May in one of the available Park cabins and found we had a wonderful time doing that. So, we plan on trying to replicate that experience somewhat with both Teton and Yellowstone. Thus we've made Park reservations for similar lodging using this book as a guide. It offers plenty of description and data to give one a variety of options in doing this kind of thing.

All in all I would give this book a definite recommendation, and I'm going to pass it on to my eldest son for his future use if & when he & their family go out that way.