Great Western Road Trip: The Best of Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming and stretches a little bit into the southwest corner of Montana. It can be accessed by a number of major highways and the closest major interstate is Interstate 90 in southern Montana. Altogether, there are five entrances to the park, from every direction.

Yellowstone National Park is known primarily for its incredible geysers and brightly colored pools of boiling water. But, Yellowstone also has a large and beautiful lake as well as plenty of forests, meadows, rolling hills, waterfalls, canyons, creeks and rivers. Both features of Yellowstone National Park attract a huge variety of wildlife. There's plenty to see and do at Yellowstone!

Yellowstone National Park encompasses an ancient volcanic caldera that erupted less than a million years ago and spewed out lava long after. The resulting caldera (the Yellowstone basin) is over 50 miles wide. The geothermal wonders that make Yellowstone so attractive are really just the surface features of an active and volatile supervolcano. The majority of the national park actually rests on the relatively thin crust of this volcanic "hot spot." Although it is very possible, there is no reason to expect Yellowstone to erupt again in our lifetime.

The geothermal activity in Yellowstone has resulted in 300 geysers at more than 10,000 geothermal features altogether, including boiling springs, mudpots and fumaroles (steam vents). There are four major areas in Yellowstone National Park, all on the western side, for seeing the best groups of geothermal activity: the Midway Geyser Basin, the Upper Geyser Basin, the Norris Geyser Basin, and Mammoth Hot Springs. There are also plenty of smaller stops along the road for seeing everything from solitary geysers to colorful mudpots and elaborate mineral deposits. Sometimes when you're walking around in Yellowstone, you can really start to question what planet you're on, as the landscape often seems more lunar or martian.

Of course, the most famous of Yellowstone's geysers is Old Faithful which is located in the Upper Geyser Basin. Old Faithful used to erupt every hour and could be predicted to the minute. However, after a series of minor and major earthquakes, it now only erupts every 1 ½ to 2 hours and only lasts a minute or two. It's often a great sight to see and its predictability guarantees a chance to see it, but it's by no means Yellowstone's most impressive geyser.

In the same trail network of the Upper Geyser Basin are plenty of more spectacular geysers though you'll either have to be patient or lucky to see them at their best. One of them, the Castle Geyser, erupts twice a day with a huge plume of water and steam up to 100 feet in the air and sometimes lasting for nearly an hour. There are also plenty of large colorful hot springs throughout the Upper Geyser Basin.

The Midway Geyser Basin is best known for its "Grand Prismatic Spring" - a pond-sized hot spring with a beautiful spectrum of colors radiating outward from its center. Norris Geyser Basin is often less crowded than the Upper Geyser Basin, but it takes a bit more work to navigate its trails. Here, the geysers are mostly small or infrequent, though there are some constant fumaroles (gushing steam vents) and plenty of small and colorful hot springs covering the ground.

The Mammoth Hot Springs are quite a sight. Located at the north end of the park, they're divided into several bizarre and escalating terraces. You'll see giant mounds that were once active geysers, stair-stepped calcium deposits, and of course, bubbling hot springs. Most the geothermal features here are in a compacted space, so it doesn't take too long to navigate the Mammoth Hot Springs trail network.

There are also several other geothermal features you won't want to miss throughout Yellowstone National Park. Roaring Mountain, a hill covered with fumaroles, on the west side of the park will sometimes literally roar with escaping steam and the best opportunity to see it is in the morning when the steam is highly visible. The nearby Obsidian Cliffs are fascinating because of the large amounts of glittering volcanic glass deposited there. The Artists Paintpots near Norris Geyser Basin can be very intriguing as long as there is enough water to get all the colorful mud pits boiling and plopping. The Mud Volcano on the east side of the park is the one major geothermal feature on that side that's worth seeing.

But, if you've got a few days in Yellowstone National Park and you want to see something other than geothermal features, there is also plenty of the more standard scenic beauty. There are plenty of waterfalls throughout the park, and many of them can be scene from the roadside or from of a very short hike on a trail. Yellowstone Lake is the perfect place to visit for more standard recreation. It's a huge lake with beautiful forests surrounding it. Here, a visitor can swim, go boating, fishing, or any other typical lake recreation. Unfortunately, the forests of Yellowstone don't have much variety, as the lodgepole pine is almost the only tree that can grow in its volcanic soil.

The main place you don't want to miss is Yellowstone's Grand Canyon. It's certainly nowhere near as large as the real Grand Canyon, but it has plenty of beauty in its own right. There are several waterfalls (most memorably, the Lower Falls) along its length and the view from Artist Point is absolutely beautiful. From Artist Point it's not uncommon to see a rainbow created by the Lower Falls at the end of the pastel colored Grand Canyon.

Wildlife in Yellowstone is also increasingly abundant and it makes any trip to the park a unique experience. Large buffalo herds usually graze along the eastern half of the park, but stray bulls will often go as far as the Upper Geyser Basin to surprise unsuspecting tourists. Herds of elk can often be seen grazing or blocking the road near the north entrance of the park. A few days in Yellowstone can also almost guarantee a black bear sighting. As a matter of fact, we barely stopped our car in time to avoid hitting one around dusk. But these are just a few of the main animals in Yellowstone National Park. It's really teeming with wildlife.

Yellowstone has several visitor centers and several great educational exhibits. By far, the best one is at the Canyon Visitor Center. It's just opened this year and features two stories of interactive, informative, and entertaining displays detailing the park's volcanic activity and history. Visitors can learn a lot of intriguing information about the Yellowstone supervolcano and have plenty of fun while they're at it. It's definitely the best museum we've seen in any of the many national parks we visited this year.

Just like a regular (and popular) national park, there are plenty of places to stay in Yellowstone. There are loads of tent and RV campsites, but they can fill up fast during the busy season, so your best bet would be to reserve a site in advance. There are also cabins to rent and several upscale lodging options including the Old Faithful Inn, the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, and the Canyon Lodge. And for the adventurous, there's always the option of backcountry hiking and camping, sleeping among the bears and buffalo!

Overall, Yellowstone is a really fascinating national park that has something to interest everyone, whether you're enthralled by the volcanic activity or you want to relax among peaceful scenery. Yellowstone can often be crowded, especially near the park's most popular sights, but it's fairly well managed and it should be no reason not to visit this spectacular park. You don't know what you're missing until you've been there!