Yellowstone Park Road Trip: Cut your own trail from your home base to the park

And they're off! British guests John and Sue Speight, left and second from right, visited Christene "Cookie" Meyers, Bruce Keller and Nick and Nora recently, for a week of travel through south-central Montana and into Yellowstone National Park.

Thumbs up to Yellowstone Lake and the historic Lake Hotel from our English visitors, John and Sue Speight, of Yorkshire, with Bruce Keller. They enjoyed our "off the beaten path" tour of our corner of Montana to the park and Lake Hotel.

Journey to Lake Yellowstone Hotel delights UK visitors to south-central Montana plus fun for us seeing it through their eyes

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS

PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

"The Carpe Diem Kids"

Editor's Note: This story was researched and updated June 26, 2026, to reflect current information and pricing.

Seeing Yellowstone National Park through the eyes of English friends reminded us how extraordinary this corner of America really is. We showed them geysers, bison and mountain trails in the wide-open landscapes of Yellowstone and south-central Montana.

Yellowstone's wonders are best shared -- especially with chums from another country.

We showed off the nation's oldest national park in a custom made Yellowstone Park road trip from our place near Red Lodge, Montana. John and Sue, cruising friends, were awed by the wildlife and scenery between our rural home to uncrowded corners of Yellowstone.

We tailored our own trip over a week, exploring our mutual love of travel, nature and the outdoors. We all love to watch birds and hike, they from their farm and bed and breakfast in Yorkshire and we from our part-time base in the rural Northern Rockies.

Up the Sioux Charley trail near Nye, Montana, a prelude to several days in Yellowstone National Park.  Here John and Sue Speight and Christene "Cookie" Meyers and her Yorkies.

Yellowstone Park Road Trip: Finding quieter places to share

When we discovered Yellowstone was on their bucket list, with a desire to avoid crowds, we offered ourselves as tour guides to "a quieter Yellowstone approach" from our home. They accepted with pleasure. We'd visited them in England, where they shared Yorkshire's quiet villages, peaceful abbeys, pastures and sheep ranches. We knew they liked calm, serene places with breathing room.

THE TWO flew from London to Denver and spent two days driving through Colorado and Wyoming to our Montana place. We knew they would be tired before tackling the park, so we began our week together with short jaunts to Red Lodge, Roscoe and a hike up the Stillwater Gorge towards Lake Sioux Charley in Custer National Forest.

They were amazed at the vastness of the American West.  They're accustomed to driving through a country or two in a day on the Continent, and can be at their vacation home in southern Spain in hours -- from door to door.

Sue and John Speight joined tourists estimated to reach near 4 million this year, in their visit to Yellowstone National Park, here at the spectacular Lower Falls. We visited early morning to avoid crowds.

SO TAKING into account the expanse of Yellowstone -- and our limited time together -- we decided to tailor a tour to their desires and interests. We recommend this approach.

They'd never seen a wolf or bear outside of the Discovery Channel, and we knew we hadn't much of a chance of spotting either critter on the parks busy summer roads. So we took them to the wonderful Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone. A big hit! 

Stop and smell the roses -- and taste the cappuccino, here at the charming Ox Pasture at Piccola Cucina in Red Lodge.

WE'D WRITTEN about this delightful place before, where birds and animals that cannot be returned to the wilderness are cared for.  Exhibits and demonstrations delighted our friends and the four of us spent a lovely afternoon there after a fun lunch at Bullwinkle's.  That was most of one of three full YP days, which included driving from our Lake Hotel base to places  which we knew would be less crowded. The area around Norris fascinated them with its geysers, hot pots and well designed, uncrowded boardwalk.

Bison in the fields and on the roads were a highlight for our guests from Yorkshire, England.

BECAUSE WE KNOW what high summer season means in terms of crowds, lines and slow-moving traffic, we asked them to prioritize. "You know your park and the highlights -- and we appreciate avoiding crowds as much as possible," said Sue.

We studied Yellowstone's main road, the Grand Loop, and decided we could not tackle the entire loop -- even in the three days we had with them. Our "scenic tour" actually began before the park, with one sidetrip to Red Lodge then a drive to West Yellowstone via Bozeman, Big Sky and the beautiful Gallatin Canyon, on US Highway 191.  After our time exploring Fishtail, Red Lodge, Roscoe and Stillwater areas, our guests had an introduction to the wonders of Montana's back roads. We decided to skip the places we knew would be crowded. That included the most visited attraction of the park, Old Faithful, the Old Faithful Inn and pools on the walking paths. Fine with our crowd-avoiding UK pals.  

A visit to Lake Hotel is a must, even if you're not staying there. The beautiful lobby sometimes features live music and the restaurant is tops. Nearby cabins are a bit cheaper than the main lodge, the park's oldest hotel.

OUR BRITS enjoyed what we chose instead -- the hot pots, petrified sequoia and a colorful exit through Mammoth and Gardiner where they posed by Teddy Roosevelt's arch. We got them to the Lower Falls and Lookout Point in early morning -- but nixed Artist Point, the most crowded stopping off point.  Because it was backed up with cars and campers, we chose Lookout Point, with a stunning vista of the falls, closer to Canyon Village where they loved finding an active osprey nest. We enjoyed a hike into Fountain Pots near day's end, when the crowds thinned. And we saw geysers at Norris Junction, without the crushing Old Faithful crowds. Our early morning and late afternoon drives also yielded many bison.

WE AVERAGED 35 or 40 miles an hour in our guests' car, taking our time, stopping as bison meandered across the roads and into the fields to graze. A few times we were at a standstill.

It's 142 miles around Yellowstone's main loop, which doesn't sound like much, but with stops and starts, it can be five to seven hours. Most people split it into at least two days.

You may not see a grizzly bear in Yellowstone, but you can enjoy friendly service and fine Montana fare at Montasia Restaurant if you take a sidetrip to Fishtail, Montana.

Our best advice for delivering a thumbs-up tour for guests -- foreign or domestic -- is to show them something unusual.  If they want to avoid crowds, as our Brit pals did, and wish to soak up a few spectacular parts of your area, take them to your favorite local places -- blue highways, eateries and hiking paths they won't find at home. Once in the park, there are plenty of mud pots, geysers and pools to explore besides famous, crowded spots. 

OUR GUESTS were thrilled that they got to experience. We took them to a delightful dinner at the friendly Montasia Restaurant near Fishtail. Complete with tasty, grass-fed Montana burgers and surprisingly excellent bar offerings.

More information: www.montasia.ninja

yellowstonenationalparklodges.com

Lake Yellowstone Hotel & Cabins offers lodging ranging from $139 to $555 and more per night, depending on whether you book a historic main lodge room or a cabin.

Four gentlemen decide to give up women and other "distractions" in "Love's Labour's Lost" by Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, a popular traveling endeavor to many cities and towns in several states.

UP NEXT: Montana's beloved Shakespeare in the Parks has been delighting people in five states for 46 years.  We take you on the road with the troupe, presenting two of the Bard's classic works in 61 venues with nearly 80 performances.  We enjoyed "Love's Labour's Lost" this week at the Fishtail Family Park. We'll let you know how to catch the company for "Love's Labour's Lost" and "Othello."  Meanwhile, remember to explore, learn and live and catch us Fridays when we post each week, a fresh twist on the arts, travel, nature, family and more. whereiscookie.com