Check availability for sites NOW. Yellowstone is insanely crowded, even at that time. School may be out but foreign tourism is nearly all season.
Best spray, mandatory of you are going to hike back trails.
Hydrate well if you do the Norris loop. While most geothermal trails can be excessively hoot, the basin in the Norris is really tough.
Spend a night in red lodge, and drive the bearish into Yellowstone. The bakery is some of the best wildlife spotting.

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Jim
"In dog beers, I've only had one"
http://www.shakercolonial.com/
Creating custom made furnishing to your requirements

Evidently a free solo of El Cap is no longer the path less travelled, so don't bother with that.

The end of August is better than June or July but still far busier than May or September.

Hiking is amazing there. I'd think through the plan to deal with bears backpacking and camping with kids. Bear spray is a must. Camping is doable with a plan... but without a good plan and bear canister you'd better be lucky.

We were there last summer with our much older kid for just over a week. Lots of time in the car to get around the park, but we were rewarded most in the early mornings and early evenings.- before the bulk of the crowds were up and moving and after many packed it in for the day- those are the best time for animals too. We did our daily hikes during the middle of the day and enjoyed some less crowded areas. We hit every mile of road and spent a day in Grand Teton. We didn't camp- too difficult for us logistically as we flew into Bozeman.

I'd recommend Mt Washburn as a quick hike- the view from the peak is unreal if the weather is clear. Lots of trails and hikes... every one we did was rewarding.

Grand Canyon, Gesyers, Lamar Valley to watch all the animals (grizzlies, bison, bears, wolves, elk, antelope etc) and Mammoth are all must do's in my opinion.

It's an amazing place- too bad the two legged animals seem to f it up. The amount of stupid stuff we saw people do because a bear was near the road was disgusting. The dude who tried to get a selfie with a bear cub took the cake.

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Suffer Well.

Okay I enjoyed this... whatever it meant.

We camped for a week there in one of the main campgrounds with two kids a few years older than yours. No issues, the rangers are pretty anal about people not leaving food around so that bears are not attracted to the campgrounds.

Go early and walk a bit and crowds won't be an issue. Plus you'll see more wildlife. We did a fair amount of hiking and never came across any bears on the trails.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/...ignited-11186636.php

Grizzly bears, bison, elk and moose are emerging in huge numbers this week as spring arrives with unlimited greenery for eats after a winter with 600 inches of snow in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

It is REALLY hard to go wrong in Yellowstone. I have been there probably 8 - 10 times. Each time is cool beyond words.

Get off the road and out of the main attractions at least part of the time. On most trails, once you go around the second bend, the people go away.

Plan your days so you aren't spending it all driving around. The park is huge and you can easily spend hours in the car.

If you have camped all week go to the Best Western in Gardiner, get steak. It will be good.

There are spots to swim in the Yellowstone around Gardiner on the north side if that is your thing.

I've never hiked with 5 and 7 years olds so YMMV. It is pretty hilly, so ...

Some of the non-geyser often missed places. And you don't have to go the full route to get the flavor.

There is a trail that goes out of the Slough Creek campground in the northeast corner, it has a climb at the beginning then goes in to a really beautiful valley. Really quite cool. This campground is nice too, but not central. Indian Creek and Mammoth campgrounds are nice but somewhere like Bridge Bay is much more central to reduce drive times.

The Specimen Ridge trail. It is on the east side of the grand canyon. Opposite where everyone walks. No people. Very wild.

There is a trail/road that goes around Bunsen Peak in the northwest corner. Wide and flat. If your kids were mountain goats I'd say go up and over and down to Sheepeater Falls. But since they aren't you can take the trail off of the loop road and go to the top of the canyon. The trail goes right to the edge, hold on to the kids.

Blacktail Deer Plateau Dr is a stone road kind of thing. You go 3 mph and drive. Makes it an easy hike.

Spend an evening watching it get dark in the Hayden Valley or the Lamar Valley.

The popular places are popular for a reason. Walk the boardwalks at the geyser basins. Don't fuck with the bison and don't swim in the springs, you should be fine.

Mammoth Hot Springs probably won't have a ton of water that time of year, but the geysers aren't really seasonal. Norris basin, Old Faithful area, Mud Volcano, ... If it has a name it is probably worth stopping and getting out of your car.

With little kids the only place I would say don't bother is Mount Washburn. But if you walk up from the north side, run the 5k trail down the south side to the parking lot and have your wife meet you there. It is an old road so it is wide and flat. And at 10k feet so every little rise has you gasping and people will think you are nuts. But don't run trails in less populated areas, bears like to chase juicy slow moving hairless beach apes.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

My only tip would be to keep a close eye on your picanic basket.

not to throw a wrench into the mix I do enjoy time in Yellowstone and Tetons but when I really want to enjoy the backcountry I go to the Wind River Range like out of Pinedale . . . for one thing the bears are more 'beareque' meaning they avoid people and there's much fewer people and traffic all times of the year - and one can do all sorts of camping all with much more freedom than a National park

If you have time to spend 2-3 days in Yellowstone and 1-2 days in Grand Teton, try to make it down there, you won't be sorry. Day 1 in Teton is better than Day 3 in Yellowstone unless you are doing backcountry stuff. Teton also seemed a lot less crowded to us.

We tent camped with 2 kids similar in age to yours. We are avid car campers and backpackers, but really if I went there again I'd probably do a hotel. The campgrounds are ok but always full and weather can be a problem, so it's just a place to sleep that is a bit cheaper than the hotels. Hotels will be more convenient and give you a better total experience I think. Well, actually if I went there again I'd probably do a backcountry kayak trip - but my advice for 1st timer's is to hotel.

Bring good binoculars or even a telescope. Bring your longest camera lens.

Prioritize what you must see and what you will get to if you have the time/energy but can leave for "next time". Chose your base based on that...drive times are long so you will probably only head out from your base in 1 direction per day.

Definitely start as early as possible on any sites that are common tourist draws, they are good in the morning but a zoo by mid-morning. Spend the mid-days hiking or exploring more remote areas. I disagree that bear spray is a "requirement" on well trafficked trails. Most people don't carry it. 99.9% that do carry it never see a bear. But, you never know, and if it makes you feel better then it can be worth it (not cheap) for that.

I agree, if you're going to Yellowstone I would hit grand Teton at least for a day. It isn't far from the old faithful basin and the Tetons are beyond amazing. Feels a lot less congested too.

Ynp campgrounds do fill pretty early but you can get unreserved spots day of if you arrive early. I usually camp just outside the park in Montana run forest service campgrounds. There are tons of nice ones and they always have room. 10-20 min drive into the park.

I would say camping would really give you the full experience but would add a lot more packing and logistics.

Bear spray if you do any hiking that isn't a main trail. With a 5 year old you will probably stick to short and popular hikes. There are tons of trails where you won't see anyone and there are a ton of bears in ynp.

I read today about a nightly rodeo in Jackson for kids where they try roping and chasing sheep. That would be cute as hell.

Just changed back to Swype from.Samsung keyboard. Their autocorrect was killing me.

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Jim
"In dog beers, I've only had one"
http://www.shakercolonial.com/
Creating custom made furnishing to your requirements

Yeah, that sounds like really great educational advice...teaching kids that it is ok to scare animals to death by chasing them down in an enclosure and restraining them for no reason.

Cute as hell!

And then you can go on a trail and practice that with some bear cubs

Hope you enjoy!

And yes, I do eat meat and hunt for food..but stress hormones in meat taste really bad.

I read about sheep chasing at the JH Rodeo on page 68 of the June, 2017 edition of Parents magazine. It was listed under "fun activities for kids on summer road trips". Perhaps you should write a letter to the editor of Parents lamenting the fact that they are promoting the murder of sheep by toddlers.

Sheep, (even free range) are herded all the time by dogs.