What an endearing and adorable tourist town. hehe… But really – Gardiner was a super cute town to stay in RIGHT at the North Entrance of Yellowstone. Yellowstone National Park was our big beacon all along on this trip to make our way towards and back from slowly and at a gentle, yet fun pace.
We shopped and ate our way through the downtown area and also enjoyed some relaxing hot springs nearby.
Let’s talk eats:
There is a wide range of junk food + bars to neat little coffee shops and gourmet food trucks in the small downtown area (if you can call it that). We probably tried around 5 different eateries etc. in Gardiner, but be prepared by the prices. A dive bar lunch with a river view (Iron Horse Bar and Grill) was $20 per person for a meal. Here were places we liked and even frequented:
Bear’s Brew: Coffee Food Truck
We found a yummy coffee truck that also had breakfast burritos and bagel sandwiches for breakfast. They were open early when we were heading into the North entrance, around 7ish and just consistently offered good items. They also had some interesting red bull “chargers” and other specialty flavored drinks I had not see before. Christian fell in love with their local brown sugar donut holes… 😀 I wish I had a picture of the food, but we inhaled it too fast! haha We FREQUENTED this place, stopping by 3 times in our 5 day stay.
Wonderland Cafe and Lodge
We happened upon this place on the second street back from the main view of the entrance. It is easy to find and parking wasn’t too bad on the street. It is a lodge as well, but this cafe has the most gourmet food in Gardiner in my opinion. The wine and beer selection was unique but offered a little of everything. We grabbed some snacky foods and yummy beverages while we popped in quickly one afternoon.
Yellowstone Ice Cream: Ice Cream Truck
This is an honorable mention because although the ice cream wasn’t particularly anything different than most ice cream, they did have PUP CUPS! 🙂 Like doggy ice cream, not whipped cream. The girls felt entitled to at least 2 servings of these during our stay! haha
Yellowstone Pizza Company
I am starting to think we over did it on the eating out but after 7 days in the Badlands with hardly anything around I was craving meals I did not have to cook in my own kitchen hahahaa! Yellowstone Pizza Company was our first stop after parking the camper and settling in, and it was really good! Its all thin crust, but it features pizzas that are Yellowstone themed. Stop in and you’ll see what I mean. 🙂
Let’s talk shops:
Luckily unlike Badlands, this town has a small grocery store and cute shops to browse! The grocery store is Gardiner Market and it has the basics and then some. Most of the shops on the main strip across from the Roosevelt Arch are dog friendly, too! And the girls loved that part of course.
Let’s talk things to do (other than Yellowstone, of course.):
Yellowstone Hot Springs
While the hot springs at this “resort” are fed from the earth, they are laid out for hot, medium, and cold pool usage! Yep, they have a cold plunge. We stopped in here three times – it is $15 per adult and it made our bodies feel so good after traveling for the last 25 days. There is an RV and tent camp here, but we did not camp here. It is well worth your time and money to stop in here at least once!
Riverside Trail
I really have no idea what this trail was called, but from our campsite by the river, I would see people biking, walking their dogs, etc. along a trail right across the river. We set out to find it one day, because the girls love going, going, going! If you head through the Roosevelt Arch, you can go left towards a dirt road that used to originally bring guests into the park, or right to head back to the shops. We went left, and as soon as it turns to dirt, there is a small pull-off on the right. You can see the trail sign from there, and that is how we accessed the trail. We walked down far enough to see our camper from across the river, collected a couple rocks for our niece, and even saw a peaceful bull snake right off the trail. The doggos were happy to have a little taste of Yellowstone.
Spots We Liked IN the Park:
*First off, get into the gates at Yellowstone (NO MATTER WHICH ONE) between 6-7am if visiting in the Summer. By 8 am the people begin pouring in, and… it gets crazy by 10am. 🙂 We really hate crowds. Like REALLY. A cool resource I found to give detailed descriptions of all the stops and trails was this interactive map!
- Mammoth Hot Springs: It was the closest area after entering the North entrance. The top is the best part! The main spring at the top here is different from others you will see at the park.
- Norris Geyser Basin: Seriously, my FAVORITE part of Yellowstone. I know it’s not the popular vote, but… we went early morning, it took about an hour to drive there, and if you want good parking, I would not get there after 8am. It was magical, and the pictures do NOT do it justice. Even videos don’t. Go see it for yourself!
- Wraith Falls Trail: A super cute, super short trail with a flight of stairs up to Wraith Falls. It reminded me of “The Sound of Music” where she runs across the field with long grasses and flowers. There were lots of flowers and beautiful scenery of course!
Last but not least… where we stayed:
We stayed at a very simple RV park here called Yellowstone RV Park. It has tent and RV sites, pull thru and back in. We chose a back in river site, and really lucked out to get site 22. Request it if you are in a camper and comfy with 30 amp! While this park had minimal amenities (no pool or dog park), site 22 is a river back in, so if you have a back window like we do, you get a 180 degree+ view of the river from your rig! *cue happy tears… This park also had elk walking through often, even a mother/baby pair who were very vocal. 🙂 I would camp here again, just for the view! 😀
If you are doing Yellowstone, we highly suggest staying in Gardiner, M.T.! 9/10 would visit again!
PS: Check out our VLOG post on North Yellowstone here!