Life of Riley Lodge
Yellowstone's Finest Luxury Waterfront Log Cabin
What to do, what to do? We have a few ideas for you...
Outside of Yellowstone National Park, there is actually quite a bit of fun to be had close by. Here are our tried and true recommendations.
In West Yellowstone, just 15 minutes away, a great day of activities would be:
The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, just outside the entrance of the Park that both kids and adults will love, where you can not only stare eye to eye with wolves (truly amazing!) but also the kids can sign up to hide food in the bear enclosure before they let them out to feed them. There are also birds of prey and other creatures on display there. It is a truly amazing place and I highly recommend it. It is an educational center and sanctuary for the animals, not a zoo or a "for profit" private entertainment. They do great work there. http://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.org/
Yellowstone Giant Screen Theater shares the same parking lot with the Discovery Center. During the day, it plays Yellowstone IMAX nature movies and at night it plays regular popular movies. It also features probably the best local souvenir gift shop in it's lobby! http://www.yellowstonegiantscreen.com/
Yellowstone Park Aerial Adventures is a zip lining park just down the street from The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center and IMAX so those three activities can be combined into a single day. It's pretty tame and they serve all ages of kids (and grown ups). http://www.yellowstoneparkzipline.com/
Just a half hour drive from our lodge are three outstanding day trip ideas.
Quake Lake http://www.visitmt.com/listings/general/lake/quake-lake.html is neat too. It is on the Montana side of the border and would be ideal combined with a trip to Virginia City.
Further afield but worth the drive:
The Museum of the Rockies https://www.museumoftherockies.org/ is always a huge hit with it's amazing dinosaur bone collection and kids programs. Bozeman is about a 90-minute drive.
St. Anthony Sand Dunes, about 90 minutes away, is a ton of fun for those who enjoy motorsport adventures. Here is a resource for ATV and dune buggy rentals: http://www.duneexcursions.com/ or http://www.pmsdunerentals.com/
And drive a bit further and you will get to enjoy:
Grand Teton National Park, just 2h 20m drive from the lodge is a great trip to combine two National Parks into one trip. https://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm. You can see an excellent day trip itinerary of a "perfect day in Grand Teton National Park" that captures all the best photo spots and gives you time to relax in Jackson as well here: https://www.earthtrekkers.com/one-day-in-grand-teton-itinerary/
But (we think) the best way to spend the day is relaxing at home, having a waterfront BBQ with friends and family, losing ourselves to the swaying of the hammocks, and spending an evening roasting marshmallows and counting stars.