I can’t imagine visiting a national park without my audio tour app. The night we arrived at West Yellowstone, my RV neighbor was so convincing when talking about his GuideAlong app that I downloaded the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park bundle based on his excitement. It was $19.99, but he said it was just like having a local tour guide in my back seat. That conversation forever changed how I visit parks and other well-known destinations.
Last year alone I used GuideAlong to visit ten national parks. First, I will share my Yellowstone experience.
The app showed the map of Yellowstone and had a different driving recommendation based on the number of days we had to spend there, which was three days for us. I followed their advice and looked at the highlights of Day 1. Since I already used my phone to play music through my car speakers, all I had to do was open the app and start driving toward the park entrance.
As we approached the entrance, I was startled to hear this happy voice announce, “Hey! I see we’re entering the west entrance to Yellowstone. Once we get through the gate, I’ll tell you all about it!” My wife and I looked at each other. In a few minutes our music faded out and “Henry,” a name we gave him, started telling us all about the history and creation of the park.
The music would come back on until later when that voice would come back and say things such as, “There are three waterfalls up ahead, all nice, but if you are pressed for time, I recommend the third one.” It’s uncanny how he knows this stuff. “Up ahead, there is an unmarked single-lane road that turns to the left between two boulders. It’s only 200 yards long but worth it.” No one in our line of traffic turned there. We were rewarded with an incredible but short curved drive through tall boulders. We were special—we knew something they didn’t. Also, we learned all about the wolves and where we could find them, which we did.
I added Glacier National Park then Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore/Badlands, then started adding bundles. I now have 23 tours on my phone and tell everyone, “You don’t know what you don’t know!”
It’s important to download the app before going to the park while you have an internet connection. Once it is on your phone, GuideAlong uses your built-in GPS to follow your location, even with no cell coverage. You own it and there are frequent updates on each park. I use it to plan my days, learn while I am driving, and then as a reference when talking or writing about these visits.
My great experience has been with GuideAlong, but there are several other audio tours that have similar planning solutions you may want to check out, as well. Just Ahead appears to be very similar in approach. Their tour price for Yellowstone is $19.99, but they offer a Season Pass for all their tours for a year for $29.99. Shaka Guide is $18.99 for the Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Park tours and they offer bundles as well.
If you are planning to visit any national parks or epic areas, review available tours and get one of these in advance to try. You will be glad you did!
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Gypsy Guide is the one I used years ago for Yellowstone/Tetons. It was $9.99 back then.
Gypsy Guide changed their name to GuideAlong, so it is the same tour. Your app will update to the latest version should you go back in the future!
We enjoy Guide Along! We learned so much about the national parks we visited and the Guide’s voice is very pleasant to listen to.
Thank you for sharing. Look forward to trying this out.
We used Shaka Guide while we were in Hawaii once and even though we had been there before, “he” took us places we had never seen! I agree with you, GREAT service in information! Even though you think you know the place, you have the brochure, the route, these people give you insider stuff that not only takes you places that you may never would have known, but gives you fun and interesting information. Well worth the money.
Never heard of these, thanks for the tip!
I can’t imagine using a prompter going thru Yellowstone. Say there is a bear on the left side of your vehicle, 25 yards up in the brush, and you “have three falls ahead of you” Thanks but no thanks.
After paying $500 for a Grand Circle Tour of Oahu, we discovered Shaka Guide on our next trip. We used it to see the sights at our own pace, stopping for as long as we wanted, skipping places we weren’t interested in, eating when and where we wanted. We’ve used it on several trips in Hawaii on the four major islands, and look forward to using it here on the mainland when we go on our National Park tour, which has been delayed again due to job requirements.
Thank you, Steve! 🙂 Great advice! 🙂 Thank you! I’ll try to remember to search for such applications should we ever visit a national park! 🙂 Thanks again, have a great week, and safe travels! 🙂
Thank you! We are visiting Utah NPs this fall and I was agonizing over how to get the most out of our trip. You just made my trip planning much easier!
So, you want to talk about just in time information! We are on a 7-week trek around the high plains, Glacier, Yellowstone, Bad Lands, Black Hills, etc. I read “Must-have audio tour app for RVers changes the way you travel” By Steve Blume and after gathering information regarding the 3 tour info apps and looking for others online, I decided to give Guide Along a try. I decided that I would purchase the Western US bundle and was pleased to find a 15% discount at checkout. So far, we have used the Blacks Hills, Mt Rushmore, and Badlands tour over the past 3 days, using Rapid City as a hub. I am so glad that we found this app. The information provided has truly enhanced our trip. Awesome app.