Big Sky & Yellowstone with a Big Family: Our 8-Day Itinerary

In June we took the whole family to Montana: our seven kids, grandparents, and a crew flying in from two different cities. We based ourselves in Big Sky, about an hour from Yellowstone's West Entrance, and spent eight days splitting time between the park and the mountains around the house.

This is the exact plan we used, day by day, with what worked, what we'd change, and the logistics that kept a group this size moving.

Trip at a Glance

We Made Everyone a Travel Book

With this many people and ages, the single most useful thing we did was print a travel book for every family. Each day got one page: what time to be ready, what we were doing, every meal, what to wear, and what to bring. It cut down the "what are we doing today?" questions a lot.

The book opened with a letter from us. Here's part of it:

We also included a page of park safety rules, a wildlife cheat sheet, and a map of both self-drive days. More on those below.

Arrival, Costco, and Settling In

We picked up three rental cars at Bozeman, did a big Costco run, and had lunch in Bozeman before the drive down the Gallatin Canyon to Big Sky. Stock up in Bozeman. Groceries in Big Sky cost noticeably more and the selection is smaller.

Once the house was sorted, we stopped at a fly shop in Big Sky's Town Center for fishing licenses and flies. Montana requires a license for anyone 12 and older, and the shop folks will tell you exactly what's biting that week. Dinner was at Riverhouse BBQ, right on the Gallatin with live music, an easy first-night spot for a big group.

All-Day Wildlife Tour Through Lamar Valley

Lamar Valley is the best wildlife viewing in the park, but from Big Sky it's a long drive each way. Rather than put three cars full of tired people on that road at 5 AM, we booked a private all-day tour with Covered Ground. They picked us up at the house at 6:00 AM and dropped us back around 5:00 PM, with lunch and binoculars included.

The guides know where the animals were yesterday, they carry spotting scopes, and nobody in the family had to drive. The tour covered the northern loop and swung through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and the week's sightings included bison herds with orange calves, black bears, and a grizzly working through the sagebrush.

A Big Sky Day: Hike, Fish, Hang Out

After a long park day, we stayed close to home. The plan was the Beehive Basin hike in the morning, with Ousel Falls (an easy 1.6 miles round trip) or Lava Lake as backups, since Beehive can still be snowed in through early June. Check trail conditions the day before.

The afternoon was open on purpose. Some of us fished the Gallatin, some napped, and some wandered Town Center.

Yellowstone Half Day #1: Geysers

We did the park in two half days instead of one exhausting full day. Both mornings we left the house by 7:00, entered through West Yellowstone around 8:00, and planned to be out of the park by mid-afternoon to beat the worst of the traffic.

The rule for picking which day got which half: save geysers for the clearest, sunniest morning. Grand Prismatic's colors need sun. On a cloudy day it's mostly steam.

Our geyser day route:

• Fairy Falls Trailhead for the short hike up to the Grand Prismatic Overlook. It's a little over a mile round trip and gives you the aerial view in the photo at the top of this post.
• Midway Geyser Basin boardwalk to see Grand Prismatic up close.
• Old Faithful, timed to the eruption prediction (check the NPS app or the visitor center), then the Upper Geyser Basin walk toward Castle Geyser.

Yellowstone Half Day #2, Then Dinner at 320 Ranch

Sunday was the other half of the park. Our canyon-day plan was Norris Geyser Basin (the Porcelain Basin loop) followed by Artist Point and the South Rim Drive for the Lower Falls. Canyon views need a clear day too. Fog or rain flattens the canyon and hides the falls.

We were home by about 4:30 to shower and change, then had a sit-down dinner at 320 Guest Ranch just south of Big Sky. Lay out dinner clothes before you leave in the morning. It makes the turnaround painless.

Free Morning, Then Horseback at Jake's Horses

Monday morning was free for fishing, hiking, or sleeping in. A few of us were out early fishing a small lake near the house.

After lunch at the house (eat a couple of hours before riding, not right before), eight of us drove about 15 minutes to Jake's Horses on Beaver Creek Road for a two-hour trail ride.

Riders need long pants (jeans are perfect), closed-toe shoes, and a long-sleeve shirt for sun. That evening, while one of the boys was fishing a pond, a moose came out to graze on the far bank.

Whitewater on the Gallatin

Our last full day started with a 9:00 AM rafting trip on the Gallatin with Montana Whitewater, through the canyon right outside Big Sky. In June the river is high and fast with snowmelt, so it's a real ride. You just need a swimsuit, sandals, a towel, dry clothes for after, and sunglasses with a strap.

We were nervous about how cold the water would be. They give you full wetsuits, booties, and splash jackets, and we were actually warm. It was super fun.

The afternoon was open for one last round of fishing and hiking, and we closed the trip with a grill cookout at the house.

Departure

Pack up, tidy the house, drive back to Bozeman, and return the cars. With two groups on different flights, we staggered departures so the early-flight crew left at 7:00 AM and the afternoon crew got a slow morning. Give yourself a real buffer at BZN. It's a small airport, but summer lines are long.

The Wildlife We Saw (and Where to Look)

June really is baby-animal season. Here's the cheat sheet we put in the travel book:

• Bison are everywhere, but Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley (between Canyon and Lake) have the big herds. The orange newborn calves are nicknamed "red dogs."
• Elk calves hide in the sagebrush around Mammoth Hot Springs.
• Bears, grizzly and black, are active in early June, often with cubs. Look around Tower-Roosevelt and Dunraven Pass.
• Wolves live on the northern range, especially Lamar Valley and Slough Creek. You'll want a spotting scope, which is one more reason to book a guide.
• Moose like marshy, willow-heavy areas. We spotted ours near Big Sky, along with a fox and mule deer on evening drives.

Wolves (and a guaranteed grizzly) in West Yellowstone

We saw plenty of bears in the park, but no wolves. If you want the kids to see both up close, the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone is a wildlife sanctuary where the bears and wolves live on site. Both photos below were taken there, not in the park.

Safety Rules We Gave the Kids

• Stay at least 100 yards from bears and wolves (a football field) and at least 25 yards from bison, elk, and everything else. Use your zoom. Rangers do write tickets.
• Never feed any animal.
• If wildlife is on the road, pull all the way off. Don't stop in the lane.
• Stay on the boardwalks, and never throw anything into a hot spring.
• Carry bear spray on a hip or chest holster on every hike, not buried in a pack. Make noise on the trail.
• June rivers are snowmelt cold. Nobody wades in without an adult.
• Afternoon thunderstorms build fast. Get off ridges and out of open meadows.
• Cell service is spotty. Pick a meeting spot every time you split up.

What We'd Tell Another Big Family

Spend the money on a guide for at least one day in the park. It was worth it. It took the hardest drive off our plate and put us with people who knew where the animals were. Split the park into half days so nobody melts down by 3:00. And give every family its own printed plan, because a group this size runs on knowing what time to be in the car.