Yellowstone National Park - Summer

Yellowstone National Park is the undisputed 'gem' of the National Parks System. It is 3,600 square miles of magnificent vistas, steaming pools, mud volcanoes, erupting geysers and, of course, the iconic wildlife.

Wyoming

1970, 2002, 2005, 2013

About The Park

We now know that Yellowstone is situated on a giant super volcano. All of the 10,000 thermal features are a result of a giant pool of molten rock (magma) that sits but 2 miles beneath the Earth’s crust which is typically about 10 miles thick. The volcanic action resulting from this causes earthquakes on an almost daily basis and sometimes swarms of thousands of them over the space of a few months. Most are relatively minor registering less than three on the Richter scale. For the past 2 million years there have been eruptions of the super volcano at roughly about every 600,000 to 650,000 years. The last one was about 630,000-640,000 years ago so it’s easy to conclude that one could happen any day… and one could. Currently some volcanologists believe that the amount of magma in the magma chamber is small enough to make such a super eruption unlikely. If they’re wrong and you are in the park and there is a super eruption…

WARNING! The parks thermal features can be extremely dangerous and you should never leave the boardwalks around them. What looks like solid ground may just be a cryptobiotic crust that will crumble under your feet and plunge you into boiling water that can reach 250°F. People have been severely injured and others have died trying to cross these features or even swim in them. Bodies have been unrecoverable having dissolved in the acidic water. The stories are gruesome and, while I have provided a link below to some of these stories, you might not want to read about them. Definitely heed what I have said and keep your hands on small children at all times.

For years Yellowstone scientists had struggled to find the remnants of the caldera created by the last eruption. Out of nowhere NASA, not knowing the volcanologists were looking for the caldera, sent the people at Yellowstone a picture of the park taken from space which they thought was interesting. The scientists took one look at the picture and immediately saw the outlines of the caldera that they had been seeking for so long. They just hadn’t realized it was that large.

The problem with visiting Yellowstone is the sheer size of the park. It occupies an area in the northwest corner of Wyoming that is roughly 63 miles by 54 miles. How can one possibly do justice to something that is about 3,600 square miles (9,324 km²) in any reasonable length of time? You basically need about a week to really see most of what this park has to offer.

In 2005 we went with a group of friends and spent three days staying in Mammoth Hot Springs and three days at the Old Faithful Inn. That enabled us to drive all of the parks roads and see many of the sights and take a bunch of hikes.

If your time to see the park is constrained to a one night stay, or just passing through, you’d want to stay at, or stop in to see, the Old Faithful Inn, see Old Faithful erupt and take a walk around the Upper Geyser Basin. You’ll then have tasted one of the famous national parks lodges, seen the most famous icon of the park and will understand why early explorers saw this as such a hellish place.

Obviously if you have more time there is much, much more that you can see.

The road inside the park is roughly a figure 8 with roads leading into it from the north, south, east and west. Driving from one corner of the figure 8 up to the opposite corner can take two hours or more. With over 4 million visitors, traffic in the summer vacation months, combined with roads that are one lane in each direction, sights to stop and see along the way and strictly enforced speed limits, make travel slow-going. If you can visit Yellowstone in the spring or late August into early September you’ll find it much more manageable and enjoyable. You’ll enjoy Yellowstone anytime, make no mistake about that, it’s just that much more enjoyable without the summer vacation crowds.

I’ve broken up the descriptions of many of the features in the park into the upper loop and the lower loop of the figure 8. The places mentioned aren’t meant to be a route to travel. They are just a description of what is there and it is up to the individual the plan one’s visit based on what one finds interesting or has time to stop and see.

When driving the park roads you might encounter a ‘buffalo jam’ or a ‘bear jam’. Since the road is one lane in each direction if there’s buffalo crossing the road, or if there’s a bear close to the road, all traffic stops and everyone behind these cars has to wait especially for a buffalo jam. When a herd crosses the road you have no choice but to sit in your car and wait until they all cross. Buffalo are extremely ornery creatures and if you invade their space they may charge you. More people get gored by buffalo than attacked by bears in the park. If you move your car they may put a nice dent in it or break a window so it is in your best interest to just sit and enjoy the spectacle.

The irritating part of this is when you are stopped far from the jam you don’t know what the reason for the stoppage is and have no choice but to sit and wait for what will be gone by the time you get to it.

The photo gallery has a picture of the buffalo jam that I got caught in on my way out of the park in 2002. At that time it was the end of the season and the road toward the northeast entrance was closing at 10 AM and I kind of cut it close and got stuck in the buffalo jam. Getting antsy I saw this big bull crossing the road and decided to get out of my car to get a better picture. I got the picture but when the buffalo stopped and slowly bent his head in my direction I realized I was in his space and quickly backed up and got back into my car. Fortunately he just moved on.

Wildlife

Yellowstone is famous for its wildlife. There’s buffalo herds, elk herds, moose, grizzly bears, black bears, coyotes, foxes, martens,otters, bald eagles, wolf packs and mountain lions. The last two are rare sights to see but the others, if you spend a few days in the park, you’re virtually guaranteed to see.

Lodging

When it comes to lodging no national park can compare with Yellowstone. Yellowstone has over 2,000 rooms and cabins in various villages spread around the park.

Lodging - Old Faithful Inn

If you can get a room at the Old Faithful Inn that would be number one on my list. It is one of the old iconic national parks lodges. You are on the edge of the geyser basin and Old Faithful so you walk to both. The rooms are nice and the ambiance is excellent. A giant fireplace in the lobby with plenty of chairs to sit and visit with the other guests. There’s a roof deck looking out on the geyser basin which is a nice place to sit and relax after a day of hiking and touring. There are some rooms that have a view of Old Faithful but they won’t guarantee that view in those rooms due to the possibility of a tree obscuring some room’s view. Ours had a beautiful view.

Canyon Village

My second choice would be Canyon Village because it’s centrally located and on the rim of the magnificent Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River and its lower falls. The path along the canyon rim is paved and the views magnificent. It has modern rooms and more rustic cabins.

Mammoth Hot Springs

This is at the northernmost entrance to the park near Gardiner, Montana. It is on the edge of the Mammoth Hot Springs which is a must see. The rooms are more rustic than other lodging in the park but adequate given where you are.

After that it’s a tossup between Tower Roosevelt, Grant Village and Lake Village on Yellowstone Lake. If you’re going to be here for four days or more then I would recommend splitting your time between something in the north and something in the southern part of the park. As I pointed out traveling between northern and southern points in the park can take hours especially when combined with stops to see sites and hikes.

Touring Yellowstone - Lower Loop

The most spectacular part of the lower loop of Yellowstone is the Old Faithful area. The rustic Old Faithful Inn is one of those iconic national parks lodges that, if you can get a reservation, you definitely want to stay at. The inn is situated just feet from the Old Faithful geyser and certain rooms at the end of the building even have views of it. There are trees in front of some of the windows and because of that they won’t claim that the room has a view of Old Faithful but, in 2005, we had four rooms that all had a clear view of the geyser. At the time those rooms were just over $200 a night.

These days Old Faithful is erupting about once every 90 minutes. When I was there in 1970 it was about every 55 to 60 minutes. Nature is constantly altering the underlying plumbing. This is true for all of the geysers. Earthquakes play a major role in this.

Other things have changed too. Until 1970 the Rangers gave a nightly talk at the garbage dump because that was where the bears congregated. Today the motto is ‘a fed bear is a dead bear’ because bears that get used to human food become nuisance bears and, if they are relocated to the back country and return, they are euthanized. There are also stiff fines if you get caught feeding bears.

Once you’ve seen Old Faithful you can take a walk on the boardwalk around the Upper Geyser Basin. There’s lots of different thermal pools, hot springs, smaller geysers and steaming fumaroles. The boardwalk criss-crosses the area, circling around various thermal features, and you can hike as long or as short as you want creating your own loop hike back to the Inn.

Up the road from the Old Faithful area is the Midway Geyser Basin in which resides the Grand Prismatic Spring - the largest hot spring in the United States and a gorgeous sight.

There’s two nice side roads in this area, Fountain Flat Drive and Firehole Lake Drive. Both are graded, generally well maintained, and suitable for street vehicles. Another nice one-way graded road is the Virginia Cascade road just east of Norris which leads to the 60’ high Virginia Cascade.

Just north of Yellowstone Lake is the Mud Volcano and the Sulfur Cauldron which is across the road from it. These areas are places you may not stay very long. While the sight of bubbling mud is interesting enough, if the wind is blowing the sulfurous odor into your face, you can’t get away from it fast enough. The Sulfur Cauldron is almost as acidic as battery acid. They certainly are worth a visit but you need favorable winds or perhaps none at all. These two features are in the Hayden Valley which is an excellent place for seeing wildlife especially grizzly bears.

The West Thumb Geyser Basin is right at the edge of Yellowstone Lake. Depending on how many geyser basins you visited you might not want to spend much time walking around this one but you certainly do want to take a look at beautiful Yellowstone Lake.

Lower Loop Hiking

There are hundreds of hikes in Yellowstone, from short walks to long backpacking ones, and books that describe them in detail. I am only commenting on the ones that I hiked which were chosen from the book that I had based on their not being considered too strenuous or difficult for family hiking.

There’s some real nice hikes in the Old Faithful area. You can visit the National Parks Service website (link below) under Plan Your Visit/Things To Do/Hike A Trail or click here. If you are planning any of these hikes I would recommend searching the web for additional descriptions as they may contain details lacking or differing from that on the NPS site that may cause you to decide that the hike is not suitable for you or your family.

Fairy Falls hike

The Fairy Falls hike is about a 5-6 mile out-and-back hike depending on which trailhead you start from, and which leads to a 200’ waterfall.

Mystic Falls hike

The Mystic Falls hike is a 2.4 mile hike to a 70’ waterfall. You can make this into a 4-mile loop hike by climbing switchbacks to an overlook of the Upper Geyser Basin where, if you are lucky or hang out a while, and it is a beautiful view, you can see Old Faithful erupting in the distance. I have that picture in the photo gallery. My preference was to climb to the overlook first and then descend to Mystic Falls. I’d rather go downhill at the end of a hike.

Observation Point Trail

The Observation Point Trail is a short 1.6 mile out-and-back hike that takes you up switchbacks to an overlook of the Upper Geyser Basin.

Both the Mystic Falls hike and Observation Point hikes can be reached from the far end of the Upper Geyser Basin (away from the Old Faithful Inn). Although the route through the basin is a flat boardwalk this will add mileage to each hike.

Touring Yellowstone - Upper Loop

If you enter Yellowstone from the Northwest the entry to the park will bring you through the famed Roosevelt Arch. It's a beautiful stone structure whose cornerstone was laid by Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. The top of the arch has the quote "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People" which was from the 1872 act that created Yellowstone.

A few miles south of the arch is Mammoth Hot Springs and the Albright Visitor Center. The hot springs are a series of terraces made of calcium carbonate that bubbles up from the springs. There’s a network of boardwalks that allow you to get close-up to these beautiful formations.

There’s a nice drive off the main park road between Mammoth and Tower Roosevelt, the Blacktail Plateau Drive, that’s a graded road and one-way in each direction, suitable for your average sedan. You will be in violation of your rental car contract but if you travel it slowly you shouldn’t have a problem.

The Norris Geyser Basin is home to the Steamboat Geyser which had eruptions as high as 300 feet. For most of its known existence eruptions have been extremely irregular, with a frequency of four days to 10 years, with one dormant period extending 50 years. However, it has become fairly active again and in 2018–2019 there were 40 eruptions.

Roaring Mountain is another interesting stop along the road between Norris and Mammoth Hot Springs. The side of the mountain is smoking in many places. This is just a quick stop at a parking area by the side of the road.

Upper Loop Hiking

From Mammoth Hot Springs, driving the road east toward Tower Roosevelt, you pass beautiful wide open scenic vistas with some hiking trails and waterfalls along the way. The road toward the Northeast entrance travels through the Lamar Valley which is known for its buffalo herds and other wildlife. If you continue on this road, US Highway 212, it becomes the Beartooth Highway and is one of the most scenic roads in the country. If you have time it’s worth the trip driving this for a while for the high mountain scenery and views. With an elevation exceeding 10,000 feet it is the highest mountain highway in both Wyoming and Montana. An interesting feature here that can be hiked to is Grasshopper Glacier.

Yellowstone River Trail

A beautiful hike in the northern part of the park is the Yellowstone River Trail. This is a little tricky to figure out the trail head and route and you may need to consult a ranger at the visitor center or the link I provided. After a gradual climb to the canyon edge it’s a beautiful and fairly level walk out to a nob where you are looking down the canyon. It’s about a 4 mile round-trip. The next day while driving the same park road we could see the trail from the road and how dramatic it looks seeing the steep canyon walls. We even saw the knob where we sat under a tree and rested. From the other side it looked a whole lot steeper and, just a few feet down from where we sat, there was a very steep drop-off. Fortunately we couldn’t see that from where we were sitting and just enjoyed the view. Truly, ignorance was bliss.

South of Tower Roosevelt there’s the 132 foot high Tower Falls.

Mount Washburn

About 10-12 miles south of Tower Falls is the highest peak in the park, the 10,243’ (3,122m) Mount Washburn. There’s a 5-mile round trip trail up to a fire lookout tower where you can get some of the best views in the park. This ‘trail’ is just a graded road to the tower that only park vehicles are allowed on for the purpose of manning the tower. The tower can also be reached via a 6.2 mile round trip hike from the Dunraven Pass trail head.

Further south is Canyon Village where you can get terrific views of one of the park’s most stunning features, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. There’s a beautiful paved path that you can hike along the canyon rim. In 1970 we stayed in one of the (then very inexpensive) rustic cabins just feet from the rim.

The Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls are two of the most spectacular waterfalls in the park. The canyon itself, with its steep yellowish walls, beautifully frame the torrents of water. The best view of the 309 foot high Lower Falls is from Artist’s Point. As one might expect there is no shortage of people but, with the falls a good distance away down the canyon, you can easily get a picture with only the people you want in it.

Uncle Tom’s trail

For a closer view of the Lower Falls there’s the Uncle Tom’s trail which is basically a steel staircase with over 300 steps that leads down to the base of the Lower Falls. From here you can really see and feel the power of the falls from a viewing platform. The hike is only 6/10 of a mile (1 km) and it can be considered strenuous due to the steps that take you down 500 feet and which you then have to travel back up!

There’s couple of places where you can get a great view of the Upper Falls. If you take the bridge across the Yellowstone River to the west side you can stand on a viewing platform right at the brink of the falls. The force of this torrent of water pouring over the edge is impressive.

The links below should provide you with a good starting point to plan a visit to the park. In addition I would recommend checking out the page on How To Plan A Visit To A National Park on this website for some other tips that can make your visit a successful and rewarding one.