Yellowstone National Park is where it all started. America’s first National Park. When visiting the park you can tell why people fought so hard to preserve this place. It’s such a unique landscape. Geysers spit steam high in the air misting the landscape like smoke from a wildfire. Giant Bison roam the park like they own the place (which you can argue they actually do.)

Yellowstone has plenty to see and requires minimal effort to explore. Yellowstone is a must for anyone who enjoys wildlife and nature but the park has large crowds year-round, so if your searching for solitude look elsewhere.

You could technically drive the whole park in a day, but take some time to admire the landscape. We suggest spending 3 days in the park to really appreciate the experience.

Day One

Lower and Middle Geyser Basins

Yellowstone seems to have an endless array of geyser basins. What is a geyser basin, you ask? A geyser basin is a geothermal area riddled with hot springs, bubbling mud pots, and of course, erupting geysers. We don’t recommend visiting all of them, because they start to all look the same after the 4th one you’ve seen. Here are the ones that are worth visiting in the Lower and Middle Geyser Basins:

Fountain Paint Pots

Looks exactly like a boiling bucket of paint. It’s a strange sight and the sound is even weirder.  This is something you’ll likely never see anywhere else in the United States.

Grand Prismatic Spring

There are two things that everyone visits when they come to Yellowstone; The Grand Prismatic Spring and Old Faithful. You may not recognize the name right away but you see the Grand Prismatic on just about every postcard that comes out of Wyoming. The rainbow of colors that ripple through this spring are incredible. The deep, dark blues in the center transitions to green, yellow, orange then red as the pool spreads. It’s like nothing you have ever seen.

Hot Tip: Skip the boardwalk altogether.  The walking paths are level with the spring so you can’t see all the colors. Instead of turning at the sign for the Grand Prismatic Spring, follow the Firehole River as it bends to the right. Look for the Fairy Falls Trailhead. Park here and hike less than a quarter mile to an unmarked fork. Go left up the hill and travel another quarter mile to a viewing platform that overlooks the Grand Prismatic.

Day Two

Black Sand Basin

Start Day Two with a short walk around Black Sand Basin. The dark soil looks like it has been scorched by the hot geysers that dot this area. While that’s not actually what happened, I don’t know enough about science to tell you what really caused the black sand. But I can tell you that it looks cool.

Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Trail

Old Faithful is the face of Yellowstone National Park. In my humble opinion, the face isn’t quite worth the cover shot. It is still deserving of a visit but keep your expectations in check.  On average the geyser erupts every 74 minutes, but the amount of water that shoots out of Old Faithful is variable. On a good day, the eruption of water reaches almost 200 feet, but on it’s off day it could be half that height and last only about 2 minutes.

As I said, it’s still an impressive sight worth visiting but don’t let the hype get the better of your expectations. While waiting for the steam to build take a walk around on the Upper Geyser Basin boardwalk and check out a few of the smaller geysers in the area.

Get High: There are benches that half circle around the base of Old Faithful for your viewing pleasure. However, these are not the best seats in the house. For the best view, you need to get high above the trees for an aerial view. Walk to the right of Old Faithful and continue along the sidewalk until you get to a dirt path and see a trail sign. Take the trail up to Observation Point. The trail is about a mile long and loops around to bring you back on the Upper Geyser Basin boardwalk. The view from Observation Point gives you an amazing perspective on how large the eruption is when you compare it to the people and buildings below. You just can’t wrap your mind around its immensity from ground level.

West Thumb Basin and Yellowstone Lake

I know what your thinking, “another basin?” Well, the basin isn’t the main attraction on this stop. Did you know Yellowstone has a lake? Without looking at a map you, probably wouldn’t have known because it is seldom talked about. Yellowstone Lake is the largest freshwater lake above 7,000 ft in North America.  The boardwalk in the West Thumb Basin provides you with amazing views of it.

Mud Volcano

I’m going to rip the band-aid of quickly on this one. The Mud Volcano smells like a hot fart. There I said it. The sulfur from the volcano creates a horrible smell but it is worth plugging your nose to walk through this hellish environment. One of my favorite spots in the park is the Dragon’s Mouth which is along the boardwalk at Mud Volcano. Hidden within a small cave is a thermal spring that blows steam out of the entrance of the cavern. You don’t need much of an imagination to see it looks just like a dragon breathing smoke out of its lair.

Day Three

Upper Falls, Lower Falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Take a break from the hot water to view the gorgeous waterfalls within the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Created by the Yellowstone River this canyon stretches 24 miles. While that may pale in comparison to the actual Grand Canyon (it is, however, bigger than the Grand Canyon of the Pacific in Kauai), the combination of the light stone walls and huge waterfalls makes it a majestic sight to behold.

There are plenty of viewpoints that overlook the Upper and Lower Falls. Some of the best views of the Upper Falls are along the North Rim. Walk the paved trail along North Rim or take the stairs to hike down to Red Rock Point. The Red Rock Trail trail branches off the Lookout Point Pathway which can be accessed from the North Rim Drive Parking Lot.

The best view of the Lower Falls is at Artist’s Point. This is the most popular lookout in the park. Be prepared to fight crowds. As much as I despise people, the view was worth it.

Mammoth Springs

Mammoth Springs is unlike any other feature in Yellowstone Park. The white giant can be seen as soon as you enter the town of Mammoth. It’s a bit strange to have a town inside of the park but is not the only city that can be found within a National Park. There is also a community in Capitol Reef National Park. Mammoth serves as parks headquarter and is also the location of Fort Yellowstone. Take a few minutes to look around the tiny town before heading to Mammoth Springs.

Mammoth Springs is like a giant melting candle. The limestone seems to liquify as the boiling water runs down its sides. There is a path will take you around the backside of the rock formation but the best views are in the front.

Animal Watch: The highest population of elk in the park is near Mammoth. Always remain 25 yards away from the wildlife. Stay farther away in the Fall when the elk are in rutting season. The males tend to turn off commonsense during mating season and become a bit more aggressive.

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Have questions or need more help planning your trip? Feel free to reach out to us in the comments, email or social media!