TRAVEL GUIDE: YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

The last of my travel guides from my trip out west is here – my Yellowstone travel guide! In conjunction with my trip to Grand Teton National Park, I spent 3 days in Yellowstone. This post details where I stayed, places I visited and the must-see spots.

As I mentioned, we visited Yellowstone in conjunction with our trip to Grand Teton National Park (see my travel guide here). Yellowstone and Grand Teton are both located in Wyoming and are only 30 miles apart. It is amazing that two beautiful national parks are in such close proximity to each other and you are able to visit both parks in one trip. Despite being so close, each park is very different from the other. Grand Teton’s claim to fame is its stunning Teton mountain range, and Yellostone’s claim to fame is its hydrothermal features due to being on top of an active volcano. We started our week in Grand Teton and then drove to Yellowstone.

Things to Do (Day 1)

Since we were driving north to Yellowstone from Grand Teton, we entered the park at the south entrance. This entrance is close to the geysers so that is how we spent our first day. Our first stop on day 1 was Thumb Geyser Basin and Yellowstone Lake. Thumb Geyser Basin is right on Yellowstone Lake and features many different hot springs and pools. There is a boardwalk that weaves in and out of the springs and along the lake, so you can look at all of the springs.

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Our next stop was Old Faithful. Old Faithful is one of the most popular spots within Yellowstone so it has a very big tourist draw. Given it is so popular, it is one of the areas in the park that features restaurants, shops, and lodging. Old Faithful is a large geyser that erupts approximately every hour. The park monitors the eruptions, so you are able to look up the estimated eruption times to plan out your visit. The geyser has a large viewing area with many benches and draws a large crowd. When Old Faithful does erupt, it reaches over 100 feet and lasts for a few minutes.

It is certainly interesting to see a large geyser erupt, but since this area is so touristy it becomes very crowded. If I went to Yellowstone again in the future I would skip Old Faithful. If you are going for your first time, it probably is worth seeing. After we watched the eruption, we stopped at the Geyser Grill and got lunch to-go. After we ate we then drove to our next stop, Grand Prismatic Spring.

Grand Prismatic Spring is another popular spot in Yellowstone. It is the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest hot spring in the world. The spring is so popular because of its size but also because of its color. The rich blue of the center of the pool is beautiful and accented by the multiple colors on the edges. There are two ways to see the Grand Prismatic Spring, up close or from the Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook. We first went to the overlook, which is a small hike on the Fairy Falls trailhead. You can continue on this trail to reach Fairy Falls, but it also veers off to the overlook. The overlook gives you a great total view of the spring and is a great spot for photos.

We hiked back down the trail to the parking lot and drove a few minutes to the Grand Prismatic Spring parking lot. Here you can walk the boardwalk around the spring and see it up close and personal, and also see a few other springs. It is nice to be able to see the colors of the springs and the bacterial mats so closely.

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Our next stop was Fountain Paint Pots. This is another hydrothermal area within the Lower Geyser Basin and due to its lack of water, it features mud pots instead of geysers and hot springs. This area features a long boardwalk and wraps around all of the mud pots, giving plenty of photo opportunities.

Our last stop of the day was the Harlequin Lake Trail. This is a short 1 mile round trip trail to Harlequin Lake. The trail is not a popular one and we did not see any other people on the trail while we were on it. The trail leads you to the lake which is a great view and a very peaceful spot to hang out at for a bit. Despite being a very short trail, I recommend having bear spray with you on this trail since it is in a wooded area and isn’t heavily trafficked.

At this point of the day, it was time to head to our hotel to check in. The time was about 6:00 PM so dusk was setting in, which means animals and wildlife start to come out. As we drove to our hotel in West Yellowstone, we witnessed a large herd of bison near a lake so we stopped to watch them. There was about 30-40 bison all grouped together, grazing. We were able to pull up right next to them and really see them up-close. We stayed in the car to be safe, because while it may seem that bison are minding their own business and don’t even notice you are there, if you get too close to them they could become agitated and turn aggressive quickly. A park ranger was also parked at the lake to make sure that everyone stayed in their cars and no one got too close to the bison. At this point we reached the end of our first day in Yellowstone, and continued driving to our hotel.

Hotel

For our duration in Yellowstone, we stayed in West Yellowstone at Gray Wolf Inn & Suites. West Yellowstone has plenty of restaurants and shops so it is a cute little small town. Gray Wolf Inn & Suites was a nice, clean hotel with plenty of space. Our room had two queen beds and was fairly large, which is great for suitcases. The hotel has free parking, free wi-fi, along with an indoor pool.

Things to Do (Day 2)

On our second day in Yellowstone, we drove from our hotel in West Yellowstone to Artists Paint Pots. This is another hydrothermal area featuring multiple different hot springs. This area is neat because there is a boardwalk trail that goes up and around the springs, so you can see them at eye level but you can also view them from above. We arrived here fairly early in the morning when it was still rather foggy, so our view wasn’t really clear.

Our next stop was Norris Geyser Basin. This is a large area with more geothermal features. There is a variety of paths you can take to walk around the hot springs and also one to take you to Steamboat Geyser. Steamboat Geyser erupts way less often than Old Faithful, usually once a week or so, and it isn’t predicted. If you are lucky enough to see Steamboat Geyser erupt, it shoots 300 feet in the air and is the world’s tallest currently-active geyser. Unfortunately, we did not get to see it erupt but enjoyed seeing the area steam. We looped around the basin area and looked at plenty of brightly colored hot springs. Norris Geyser Basin was one of my favorite areas of Yellowstone!

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Next we drove to Mammoth Hot Springs, one of Yellowstone’s most popular attractions. This of course is another geothermal area, but it is different than any other spots within Yellowstone. There is a long boardwalk that weaves through the hill where you can see large rock formations. The formations almost look like inside-out caves and have a variety of colors. There are multiple different formations to view along the boardwalk, which is about 2 miles long. Since this area is on a hill, be prepared for plenty of steps as you make your way around.

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After Mammoth Hot Springs we headed to the Wraith Falls trailhead. This is a very short and easy hike on a well-maintained trail. The trail is only half of a mile each way and has plenty of wildflowers and other pretty scenery. The last part of the hike is up a set of steps which takes you to a viewing point where you can see the falls. The falls are off in the distance and honestly are a bit underwhelming. If you pass the trailhead while driving it is worth stopping since the trail is so short, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to stop at Wraith Falls.

After our hike we took a break and ate our packed lunch before heading to Lamar Valley. Lamar Valley is a large area that runs along the Lamar River and is exactly as it sounds, a large valley. This is one of the best places in Yellowstone to view wildlife. You will see bison all over the fields, but this is also a popular area to spot elk, bears, and wolves. We went in the afternoon so we did not see any animals besides bison. It is recommended to visit Lamar Valley either at dawn or dusk when wildlife is most active. You should also take a pair of good binoculars with you so you are able to view animals, particularly wolves, because they will likely be off in the distance. After driving around and stopping at a few turn outs, we wrapped up our day and headed back to our hotel in West Yellowstone.

Things to Do (Day 3)

On our last day in Yellowstone, we checked out of our hotel and drove to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is another popular attraction in the park and in my opinion the most beautiful. There are a few view points in the area so you can either hike along the trails, or drive and park at each lookout point. The points are at both the Upper Falls and Lower Falls so you get a view at every angle.

First we stopped at The Brink of the Lower Falls. The Brink of the Lower Falls is a popular trail that takes you to the edge of the top of the falls. The trail goes down a very steep hill to the lookout point which gets you up close to the falls. This lookout also gives you a great view of the canyon and river. The walk back up is a little rough with its steep incline and 252 foot elevation gain, but it’s a good little workout.

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Next we stopped at Lookout Point along the Lower Falls, which are the largest falls in the park. This area gives you a panoramic overlook view of the 308 foot falls. Next was Grandview Point. Grandview Point is a great area to view at the Grand Canyon which is breathtakingly beautiful and interesting looking at the same time. The canyon has many sharp peaks and trees along the top. The last stop on the North Rim Drive is Inspiration Point. This is another great viewing area to see the canyon and the Yellowstone River running through.

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Over on the South Rim Drive the main attraction is Artist Point. Artist Point gives you the most famous view of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which is the lowers falls and the river running through the canyon. This is a gorgeous spot and makes for a stunning photo. Uncle Tom’s trail is another popular spot along the South Rim, but it was closed when we went, so we didn’t get a chance to do that hike, which I hear is amazing. Artist Point wrapped up our visit to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

Our last stop within Yellowstone was Hayden Valley. Like Lamar Valley, Hayden Valley is a large valley within the park that straddles the Yellowstone River between Yellowstone Falls and Yellowstone Lake. This is another great place to view wildlife such as grizzly bears and wolves but again, they are most active at dusk or dawn. Since we were there in the afternoon we did not see much in terms of wild life.

This concluded our trip to Yellowstone. It was a great 3 days with perfect weather and so many beautiful sights of nature and wildlife. The geothermal aspects of Yellowstone are what make it such a unique place, so if have an interest in science then it probably is a great place for you to visit. As much as I loved Yellowstone, I think Grand Teton slightly edges it out for me personally because, well those mountains are gorgeous. All in all it was an amazing trip spending so much time outdoors and seeing sights that I can’t see here in Pittsburgh. If you ever are planning a vacation and want to check out a national park, absolutely put Yellowstone on your list. I hope you found my Yellowstone travel guide useful!

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