• sugar_in_your_tea
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    3 days ago

    That depends on what you’re looking for. Nothing is exactly the same, but the US has 63 national parks and thousands of state parks.

    If you want to see:

    • a geyser - Soda Springs, ID is easier to get to, way less crowded, and really cheap (it’s in the middle of nowhere); there are others in Wyoming and Nevada as well
    • Buffalo/American Bison - there’s a herd on Antelope island in the Great Salt Lake, and here are some others, but come in spring or fall to avoid the bugs
    • wild animals in general - pretty much any park or BLM land, just go hiking; we saw some at Glacier, but now that’s getting over-crowded
    • hot springs - plenty in Utah, Idaho, and other areas that you can actually go into
    • mountains - Tetons to the south are better, plenty of great options on Colorado, Utah, Washington/Oregon, etc, all with a different feel; I love Bryce Canyon in Utah, for example

    Nothing has the exact mix Yellowstone has, but I could say that about any park. I could show you something similar starting in SLC in about a day of driving (about as long as it takes to get into Yellowstone).

    We took our kids to Yellowstone, and they hated it so we left early. We took them to Glacier and they loved it and want to go back.

    I’m not saying Yellowstone is bad or anything, it’s just overcrowded.

      • sugar_in_your_tea
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        3 days ago

        If you go to Yellowstone, you might have animals cross in front of you, but more likely they’ll cross like a mile ahead and you’ll just be stuck in traffic and not see it.

        A lot of people pull off to the side of the road to look at animals a quarter mile away.

        If you want to see wild animals, hiking anywhere in north eastern Montana is where I’d go. My brother lives near Glacier National Park and sees bears and moose quite a bit. If you don’t want to hike, I recommend Glacier’s Going to the Sun Road, just get there early (a little after sunrise) to beat traffic and you’ll probably see mountain goats, deer, and some gophers or something (and maybe a bear if your eyes are sharp). It gets packed around 9-10am, but it’s gorgeous regardless.

        Yellowstone is super cool, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also incredibly packed with people and everything is far away. Most national parks will have plenty of wild animals, you may need to hike to see them (and go early, they hide more in the middle of the day).