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Don't forget the dinosaurs; depending on the kids' age it could be a draw. The museum in Bozeman would probably be a better bet, though.

If one stops at Old Faithful, far better to bring your own food from somewhere else.

The food in the restaurant near the Visitor Center is quite possibly the worst I've had, the others I ate at inside Yellowstone not a whole lot better.

If you buy a fishing license your kids under 14 do not need one, the creel limit applies to all of your kids on your license.
Panther Martins spinners work great for all trout.
Some areas will be barbless hooks only, just pinch down the barb with pliers.

In Jackson, stop by at the visitor center,north side of town. They can answer any questions about spots to fish, etc. Lots of trout to be caught in almost any stream or lake. Take a drive up into the forest and find one. Watch out for bears , grizzlies in that part of the state.

'Nother thing in Yellowstone... NO PHONE SERVICE..... I mean you'll have bars, but the way I heard it the one tower they have is overwhelmed by the volume.

This is something that must be planned for if you were needing to communicate while on a trip.

Sounds like you are coming across I 80 and returning back across northern Wyoming?

If so, another little side excursion to consider is Laramie, Wy to Rawlins via the Snowy Range and Saratoga. The scenery is gorgeous, the extra time is minimal, and Saratoga is a neat little town on the upper North Platte River in a beautiful valley. It has some public hot springs for soaking and a neat old historic hotel. The fishing in the North Platte is pretty good but would require a local guide for a float.

Salt Lake City is fine if you have never been there and want to see Temple Square, some of the LDS church or Utah pioneer museums locally. Traffic can be bad and there is currently construction/renovation going on on the Temple/Temple Square site in certain areas so be aware. Park City is close for dining and some other outdoor activities. 1 1/2-2 hours west on I 80 are the Bonneville Salt Flats and Wendover, Nevada for gaming and entertainment. Salt Lake City/ Wasatch Front area has other activities... it just depends how much "urban" experiences you want to have at zoos, planetariums, amusement parks, aviation museums, etc. Another option is to skip SLC and turn north at Rock Springs or Evanston and going up through Pinedale or Star Valley/Afton to access the Jackson Hole area from the south. The Jackson area is a crowded tourist trap inhabited by the wealthy elite but the scenery is something everyone should see at least once (Tetons from the east side) Getting back over the hill to Tetons "west"/Driggs/Ashton is a nice little drive, too! It's pretty hard to make a bad choice!!!

I'm glad you are spending a few days "based" out of Ashton. It is a neat little town where the potato fields meet the Yellowstone Plateau. PJ65 and Burleyboy gave you some great ideas for places to see and visit around Island Park. I would add Ennis, Montana on the Madison River and Virginia City (partially restored ghost town) as a nice day trip as well. Fishing in the area is superb but I still like a guide for a first time visit, especially if you don't have trout tackle, are not a fly fisherman, or don't have a boat. Yellowstone is beautiful and unique but 'loved to death" in the summer. Be ready for crowds. If you have never been there though, you have to see the Old Faithful Geyser and Lodge, Hot pots, etc. The Northeast Entrance and Lamar Valley always get rave reviews and are still on my list of things I need to see! This whole area is a "magnet" for all kinds of weather in the summer... be ready!!! I have been snowed on in July on at least two occasions.

Someone earlier mentioned not planning too much for your trip and driving all the time... sage advice! This is a huge area and busy this time of year. Make sure you slow down and enjoy it, even if you miss a few things; quality rather than quantity! You can always come back or maybe retire out this way when that time comes.

Hopefully the whole Covid experience will not hamper or take away from your trip. Not sure yet how these areas/businesses might still be affected when you come.

Highly recommend a visit on another trip to Southern Utah, Southwestern Colorado, Northern Arizona for all of the National Parks, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, the San Juans, and Mesa Verde. It is another area where you could easily spend a month and never come close to getting bored.

Good Luck!!!

Sounds like SLC may be best saved for another trip

June 25th is the Little Big Horn anniversary.... will be a good day to attend. After dark on the 26th they do a night blast on the Crazy Horse Memorial...I've never been there for it but it's on my list.

One thing that I never hear anyone mention when they discuss Yellowstone, is the memorial for the campers that are buried under the landslide from when the earthquake brought the mountainside down on them during the night. That slide formed Quake Lake.

If you're going to take Interstate 80 across Neb., Court House Rock, Chimney Rock and Fort Laramie were important points along the Oregon Trail and along the same highway( the Fort is a couple of miles off on another road at the town of Fort Laramie). Just a fairly quick loop off 80 and then back on.

If you go to Wall Drug on your return leg, go to the back building and wait for the T-Rex to do his thing... if they've got him tuned up the kids are going to enjoy it.

If you're planning on taking Interstate 29 north to Council Bluff to reach I-80, I'd recommend taking highway 2 over to Nebraska City and then on to I-80 at Lincoln. It's at the I-29 IA ten mile marker and will save you 45 minutes or so and is a good road. Look at a map and compare the routes going to Council to get on I-80 vs highway 2 to Lincoln... you'll see what I mean.

You know, we've traveled through these states, over and over, since 1970. Montana , itself, has a lot to see. If one is at all interested in western history, it is just neat to see the locations of so much of it. Little Bighorn, Big Hole battlefield. Same thing for Wyoming and South Dakota.
In Mitchell, SD., we truly enjoyed a visit to the prehistoric Indian village. The archeological dig going on there is fascinating to those who are interested in such things. The people who lived there, predated the Lakota by thousands of years.
Cody, Wyoming, Thermopolis, Shell Pass, Wind River canyon, buffalo, antelope, and huge mule deer bucks.
Honestly, you can pick any state, build two weeks worth of memories, and want to come back for more. GD

The nightly rodeo in Cody is a fun evening if you like rodeo. Kids would probably like it. If you are looking for serious rodeo, the Snake River Stampede in the Idaho Center in Nampa is good. Indoors and air conditioning, which is needed the third week of July in the Boise area. Speaking of which, get your ac checked before you leave and have good tires. The hot roads you will encounter are tough on both. Happy Trails

There's some fun stuff to see in South west montana too. Lundtroller mentioned Ennis and Virginia city. They're not too far from Ashton and Virginia city is worth seeing. I like the area on the other side of Dillon around the ghost town of Bannock too. Its definitely worth seeing and there's a place called crystal park near by where you can dig for crystals on a mountain side in the forest. My kids loved digging for crystals, we found several. I can loan you shovels and screen boxes.

If you get up near butte out towards anaconda is a place called Fairmont hot springs. It's a hotel with big swimming pools and an old school hydro tube. My kids love that place too. There's some cool mining museums in butte too.

Bb

This sounds like a pretty epic trip, but I'm with Rocky, the distances are not to be trifled with. If you go from Rock Springs to Ashton via Salt Lake, that's not three hours extra, more like eight. SLC Provo Ogden are a full-house "metroplex" with multi multiple lane freeways and worse drivers than the East Bay or even Pugetopia.
Maybe you could choke off at Echo and turn for Ogden and THEN go north, but honestly, that's boring freeway. It's better to go north out of the Rock on 191, then crank a right, through Jackson, then over the next pass into Ashton.

There's another factor about Salt Lake. I don't know what the heck it is, but road signage in metro Utah is really confusing. You'd think on a temple grid square, it would be easy, but I swear I made more wrong turns, or got trapped in the wrong lane, more times in Ogden than I have in years. Don't count on your navigation system, either. My Dad and I had to turn off Bitching Betty 40 miles north of Ogden because SHE was lost. Honestly, I'd pass on Salt Lake, it's just a busy city.

And the Snowies in south central Wyoming should be nice. But that's not a simple route.
It's actually 130 out of Laramie west over a pass then into the Encampment Valley and a junction, north on 130 goes to Saratoga and then Walcott on the freeway, south on 230 goes to Encampment. West from Encampment goes 70, that goes up high and crooked and drops you into the Little Snake country at Baggs just north of the Colorado line. There you turn north on 789 up to the freeway at Wamsutter, west of Rawlins.

Taking the quickie to Walcott Junction on 130 only will save you miles and a couple of hours versus Wamsutter and backtracking to Rawlins to turn north for the Togwotee route to Ashton via Lander and Jeffrey City. Overall, I think that's better than Salt Lake. Both ways better than Salt Lake, the freeway north from there is pretty darn boring and kind of rough. Oh, I already said boring.


I like trains so from Laramie to Rawlins I go on 30 through Medicine Bow, that's a good highway with light traffic.

100% spot on

You could do a week in the Black Hills area alone.

Skip SLC.

You can easily cut down to Devils tower from HWY 212 cutting across SE Montana. Then on into Sundance and over to Spearfish. If you are in to motorcycles, Sturgis is worth checking out as is Bear Butte. I would skip Wall Drug and cut south into the Badlands from Wall.

Grew up in Mitchell, not a fan of the Corn Palace, but you could certainly do a drive by. The corn murals are interesting and have no idea what the inside is like anymore as I have not been inside for over 25 years. The Indian village is very interesting if you like that kind of stuff.

Really enjoyed Island Park, Beartooth Hwy and Lamar valley. Jackson Hole and Tetons the same. The museum in Cody is at least a full day in itself.

Fairmont Hot Springs is a big thumbs up. Have stayed there a few times and really enjoy it. Going to the Sun road is incredible.

When crossing southern Idaho, there are several options. 20, 26, 84, 15, 93.

If you can figure Hiway 20 into your route, it will take you right through Craters of the Moon National Monument. As far as I know, there is nothing like it anywhere else in the Continental US. Take a couple minutes to Google it and consider if it would make a worthwhile addition to your trip.

I have spent an afternoon there on three different occasions, usually accompanying 4'th to 6'th grade school kids on field trips. I found something new to see each time. Cinder cones which look like they might have just quit spewing in the last week. Lava tube tunnels twenty feet in diameter where the outside of a lave flow cooled and hardened while the interior remained molten and flowed away.

About 1000 sq miles of naked lava flows just about like it was 2000 to 15000 years ago when it had barely cooled.

If you like that volcanic stuff, I'd recommend you hit Oregon's Newberry Crater / monument for a day trip or one-nighter. There's a freaking obsidian flow you can hike on.... I decent cave trek and a bunch of other stuff.

IMHO The Mammoth sight in Hot springs is worth the stop YMMV https://www.hotsprings-sd.com/directory/mammoth-site/

If you like to drive... LOL SLC head west, see the salt flats, Donner Pass, over to the coast, see the Redwoods, up the coast, east up the Columbia Gorge, Lewiston/Clarkston, Lolo Pass to Missoula then head for Glacier. I laugh as it's about how I've done some road trips. So damned worn out that by the time we got to Glacier, we're like, Yah Yah pretty mountains, let's go home.....

Interesting

I ain't never been here.......

but if you like classic one of a kind Land Cruisers

https://landcruiserhm.com/

ya , the tendency is to try and do too much on one trip , then all you get done is driving


really , the Hills and Wyoming/Yellowstone is more than enough on one trip , specially starting all the way from Alabama