Yellowstone National Park was the first national park to open in the US, and is one of the
most popular destinations in the county.
It’s a place that’s known for its wildlife and geothermal landmarks, and is even designated
as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Hey, how’s it going everyone?
It’s Ernest from Trip Astute.
In this video, we’re doing a destination review of Yellowstone National Park, a place
that should be on your bucket list, if you haven’t been there already.
A lot of you know that we are huge fans of the National Parks, so it only seemed fitting
that we went on a National Parks road trip for our Honeymoon last September.
Our trip covered six national parks in two weeks and in this video we’re focusing on
our Yellowstone adventures.
Yellowstone National Park is one of the largest National Parks at around 2.2 million acres,
and spans across three states; Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
It was also the US’s first national park, established in 1872, and is a place that draws
about four million visitors every year.
There are five entrances to the park.
We entered through the West Yellowstone entrance which is about a five hour drive north of
Salt Lake City.
If you’re coming from another direction, you have the option of entering through one
of the other four entrances.
In fact, even though we came in through the west entrance, we left the park using the
South Entrance which connects to Jackson Hole through Grand Teton National Park.
In this video, I’ll be reviewing our itinerary for visiting the park, as well as some tips
in case you’re planning a visit.
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So, let’s start with a rundown of our itinerary and favorite sights.
Keep in mind that we had five days, four nights to explore the park.
This was enough time for our trip, although we definitely could have squeezed in an additional
day of hiking.
Also, we visited in mid-September of 2019, which is considered off-peak season for the
park.
After our five-hour drive from Salt Lake City we stopped in West Yellowstone for a night
before heading into the park first thing the next morning.
We stayed at the 1872 Inn, which was just outside the West entrance.
Before entering the park, I highly recommend that you stop at one of the visitor’s centers
for a park map to help you plan your trip.
We opted for the West Yellowstone Visitor Center, located not far from the park entrance.
West Yellowstone has a variety of restaurants and stores to visit.
It was good launching point to start our adventures in the park.
Day 1 We entered the park using the West Entrance,
which was busier than we expected, given that it was September.
After clearing the entrance, we drove a short distance and found our first hot springs.
Terrace Springs is one of the more modest springs in the park, however it was still
exciting to see, especially since it’s one of the first landmarks to check out when entering
the park.
Since we were staying at Canyon Village for our first two nights we continued westward
into the park.
There were plenty of stops along the way.
For example, we stopped at Gibbon Falls to see the beautiful waterfalls which flow into
the Gibbon river below.
Not too far north of Gibbon Falls is Beryl Spring, a steamy hot spring located along
the side of the road.
The amount of steam generated by the spring was incredible to see, though be warned that
it also means that the area has a strong odor of sulfur.
A little further up and we reached Artists Paintpots, and were glad to be able to stretch
our legs with a short 1 mile hike.
The hike loops around a basin of bubbling springs, geysers and mud pots.
The trail elevates above the basin so you get a spectacular view of the artists paintpots
and the over 50 thermal features surrounding the area.
Our last stop of the day before heading to our hotel was the Norris Geyser Basin.
This is more of a substantial stop and I’d recommend putting aside a couple of hours
to explore here.
There are two sides of the basin, and we started off with the back basin area.
Here we were able to see the Steamboat Geyser, which unfortunately didn’t erupt while we
were there but we could still see the steam billowing from its base which was pretty cool.
As with many of the geysers in Yellowstone, the timing of eruptions can be sporadic and
difficult to predict so it’s best to check in with the park rangers at the visitor centers
if there is a specific eruption you’re hoping to see.
After exploring the back basin, we walked around the main basin which was our favorite
sight of the day.
There were so many spectacular colors, steaming hot springs and more bubbling thermal pools
which made it a really beautiful environment to explore.
After finishing up at the Norris Geyser basin, we made our way to Canyon Village to check
into our hotel, the Canyon Lodge hotel.
The hotel was pretty basic especially for the price.
You’re definitely paying a premium to stay in the park but it’s worth the cost being
so close to many of Yellowstone’s landmarks.
Given the vast size of the park, you could waste a lot of time driving in and out each
day, so if you can plan in advance it’s well worth securing your accommodation inside
the park.
It’s also worth noting that there are campsites available for more reasonable lodging options.
Canyon Village offered many amenities including a gas station, restaurants, general store
and a visitors center, along with comfortable lodging at the Canyon Lodge hotel.
We did have to book in advance.
In fact, we made our booking in January for a September visit.
For dinner on day one, we drove through the Hayen Valley to the Lake Yellowstone hotel
restaurant.
We made reservations in advance, which we highly recommend as there was a long line
of people waiting for a table without reservations.
We were spotted a bison spotting right outside the restaurant and had some beautiful views
of the lake.
It’s worth leaving some time for a slow drive through the Hayden Valley for possible
wildlife spotting.
We saw bison and wolves, albeit from a very far distance on the drive.
Definitely bring binoculars!
Day 2 We started day two with a drive to Artist’s
Point (via South Rim Drive), which has awesome views of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and
the lower falls.
There are a few stopping points in this area, including Uncle Tom’s overlook and Upper
Falls View, which all offer spectacular views of the falls and canyons.
We then headed to North Rim Drive and parked up at the “Brink of the Lower Falls” trailhead.
We hiked the short but steep path to the top of the falls.
We took the scenic drive to Inspiration Point, for a different perspective on the canyons.
From here, we took Norris Canyon road through the park and turned north at Grand Loop road
towards Mammoth Hot Springs.
This was a really scenic drive and offered a couple of stopping points along the way,
including the “roaring mountain”, which bellowed steam from cracks in the ridge.
We reached Mammoth Hot Springs, which is another popular area of the park to stay.
There is a nice hotel with many amenities here, and the main attraction of the area
- the hot springs.
We stretched our legs with a loop around the hot springs and made a stop for coffee in
one of the many cafes in the area.
From Mammoth Hot Springs, we continued along the main road towards Tower Junction.
A few miles before reaching the junction, we took “Blacktail Plateau Drive”, a scenic
unpaved road suitable for most vehicles.
This ended up being a hidden gem of the day, as we spotted a herd of charging bison along
the side of the road.
At Tower Junction, we took the North East Entrance road to explore the Lamar Valley.
This was definitely the area where we saw the most wildlife in the park, and it helped
that we visited late afternoon / early evening.
We saw hundreds of bison in the fields, elk, and there were even some spectators with binoculars
on the lookout for Yellowstone’s famous wolves.
This was the highlight of the day, and it was such an experience to be able to get so
close to the wildlife.
After visiting the Lamar Valley, we drove through Dunraven Pass back to Canyon Village,
and we managed to spot a black bear from the side of the road.
For dinner, we were able to grab a quick bite at Canyon Village.
We noticed most places closed early, so make sure you plan accordingly when visiting the
park.
Day 3 After checking out from our two night stay
at Canyon Village, our next stop was the Old Faithful Inn for our last two nights in the
park.
We made our way to the US highway 191, which loops down past many geysers towards Old Faithful.
In fact, this is the area of Yellowstone that is most well known for its geysers.
There were many stopping points and plenty of geysers to explore in this area, it’s
worth picking up a map to help guide you through this area although we found it easy to just
stop each time we saw an interesting sign.
One of the most popular and iconic landmarks in Yellowstone is the Grand Prismatic Spring.
Our first attempt at seeing the famous spring from ground level didn’t go very well.
It was very misty in the area and we weren’t able to get that postcard view that we’d
been hoping for.
However, we came back the following day and hiked to a viewing point from the Fairy Falls
trailhead.
The hike was less than two miles and was a fairly easy hike.
This is definitely worth the effort to get a better view of the Grand Prismatic Spring.
After exploring some of the geysers in the area, we stopped for lunch at the Old Faithful
General Store and walked over to watch Old Faithful erupt at around 3pm.
Old Faithful gets its name due to the regularity of its eruptions.
If you visit one of the nearby visitor centers you’ll be able to get an approximation of
the next eruption.
It’s typically every 90 minutes, making it a lot more frequent than some of the other
geysers in Yellowstone.
We checked in to the Old Faithful Inn, a historic and beautiful hotel nestled right next to
the Old Faithful geyser.
The inn was built in 1904 and is the largest log structure in the world.
It has multiple levels that overlook the lobby, giving it a very magical feeling.
We loved the charm of this hotel, and enjoyed listening to live music while relaxing with
a drink on the balcony.
It’s worth noting that there are a couple of different styles of room, most of which
have a shared bathroom.
Since we visited during our honeymoon, we splurged on a room with a bathroom which gave
us a little more space.
However, if having your own bathroom is a priority, you’ll want to reserve your room
way in advance.
We had dinner at the Old Faithful formal dining room and also it’s more casual counterpart,
the Bear Pit.
Both offered good dining options and were very convenient when staying at the Inn.
Day 4 On day 4, we drove to the Fairy Falls trailhead
for our second attempt at viewing the Grand Prismatic Spring.
As I mentioned earlier in the video, it was much clearer on our second try, and was definitely
worth the short hike to the viewpoint overlooking the Spring.
It really is as spectacular as the postcards!
We also explored Biscuit Basin and the Sapphire Pool, where we saw geysers erupting as we
walked around the basin.
We then made our way back to the Old Faithful Visitor Center to check out eruption times
before exploring Geyser basin by foot.
Just a short walk from the Old Faithful Inn is a geyser basin with accessible broad walks
to explore the many geysers and springs in the area, including one of our favorites,
the colorful “Morning Glory Pool”.
Day 5 On our last day, we checked out of the Old
Faithful Inn and drove south to West Thumb to explore our last geyser basin before leaving
the park.
This is one of the few geyser basins next to water, and it looks out across the huge
Lake Yellowstone.
We explored the area and spotted Elk grazing near the warm geysers.
We then drove to Grand Teton National Park where we spent the next couple of days.
During this trip, we did come back to Lake Yellowstone for a Kayaking tour with Rendezvous
River Sports.
This was one of our highlights of the trip.
We were able to get a completely different perspective of the park from the water, and
enjoyed kayaking past West Thumb geyser from the water.
Overall, Yellowstone completely exceeded my expectations.
The things you’ll see in the park are truly unique, and the abundance of wildlife is hard
to believe.
I went into this trip thinking that Yellowstone wouldn’t live up to the hype, but I was
glad to be proven wrong.
And one thing that impressed me about Yellowstone National Park is its accessibility.
Most of the major attractions are easily accessible by all ages and levels of mobility.
Since there is so much geothermal activity in the area, many of the paths are restricted
by a boardwalk or defined trail.
This means that it’s important for parents to watch little ones who might try to walk
off the path.
However, it also means that folks with mobility challenges can enjoy all the sights and sounds
of the park.
If you’re planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park, here are a few tips to keep
in mind.
1.
Make dinner reservations in advance: We had to settle for an early reservation and a late
reservation as we didn’t book until the week of our stay.
I highly recommend making dinner reservations as soon as you’ve booked your trip as the
dining rooms have limited seating and fill up quickly.
Also, If you’re planning on eating around Old Faithful, you may want to time your reservation
around the time of an eruption since it tends to be quieter before all the crowds come in
2.
Get a room charge card: When you check into the park hotels, you often are given the option
of placing charges to your room.
You can charge meals and even some gift store purchases on this card.
This is particularly useful if you’re a points and miles enthusiast.
The final bill will charge everything into your room which codes as lodging, meaning
that you earn extra points if you’re using a card with a travel bonus category.
3.
Join the Yellowstone Forever Foundation: There is a one off charge of $35, and membership
comes with a free gift and 15% off purchases around the park.
Not only are you contributing to a great cause, but it’s also tax deductible.
4.
Bring reusable water bottles: The park does have water stations at the visitor centers.
Rather than paying money for bottled water, I highly recommend refilling bottles at the
stations to save money and reduce plastic waste.
5.
Use cruise control when driving through the park: It’s easy to get distracted with all
the sights and wildlife, and I often lost track of the speed limit while driving though
the park.
To help keep you at the right driving speed, I recommend using cruise control.
6.
Bring binoculars: It’s hard to not to have a close encounter with wildlife while visiting
Yellowstone.
However, many of the most sought after wildlife like bears and wolves are usually further
away.
I highly recommend packing a pair of binoculars so you can get a better look at the wildlife
from afar.
7.
Download offline maps and any other entertainment before entering the park: Expect limited to
no connectivity while in the park.
Even when connected to WiFi, we struggled downloading pictures.
We liked this aspect of the visit, as it was nice to disconnect during our honeymoon.
Though I did notice a lot of grumpy teenagers who couldn’t load their Instagram feed over
wifi.
8.
Prepare for temperature and weather variations: The temperature can vary significantly from
day to day, so pack with this in mind.
One day it was in the 60s and two days later temperatures were in the 30s!
We had to buy extra hats and gloves at the visitors center to keep us warm.
9.
Pack polarized sunglasses: Polarized lenses filter much of the glare, especially when
looking at water.
Since you’ll be visiting many geysers, having polarized lenses can help you see more of
the contrasting colors and improve the visibility.
And finally, 10.
Be prepared for bear sightings: While we didn’t have any up close encounters with bears, we
did listen carefully to the rangers warnings and rented bear spray while in the park.
We rented ours from the Canyon Lodge visitors center, which worked out at $28 for 3-7 days,
and we could drop it off at a location near Old Faithful on our last day in the park.
This was cheaper than purchasing a can, especially given you can’t take it home on a plane.
We also purchased a bear bell for $4, and followed the guidance to stay 25 feet away
from bison and 100 feet from bears.
The guidance from the rangers was to hike with no less than three people.
Since it was just the two of us, we thought the bell might be handy to create more noise
while walking along some of the less busy trails and paths.
Unfortunately, we did see some people getting dangerously close to some of the bison in
the area, which is a terrible idea.
Visitors are injured every year because they get too close to the animals.
It’s not worth risking your life for a photo!
Have you been to Yellowstone National Park?
If so, what are your recommendations?
Let us know in the comment section below.
And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
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Until next time, travel safe and travel smart.