Yellowstone National Park
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Yellowstone is honestly more breathtaking than the movies and shows make it seem. It’s truly an amazing place to go see. We visited PRIOR to the June 2022 flooding and much of this may now be inaccessible
We got to Yellowstone by flying into Bozeman airport and we rented a car through Hertz. We booked the car MONTHS ahead and got it for 900$ less than cars were going for the month of. I cannot stress that planning and booking ahead are worth it. The airport was very much like a ski resort lodge and navigating it was simple. The rental car was a quick pickup and the garage was connected to the airport - no shuttles were needed there or at return which made more time for vacation.
Yellowstone has four entrances, North, South, East and West. Depending on the time of year only a few (if any) will be open. These have scheduled times they open yearly. We went two days after all roads were open, BEFORE the crowds. This itinerary may not be possible during peak season.
Here is the “loose” itinerary of what we did.
Day 1
-Entered through the North entrance (now closed)
-Mammoth Hot Springs. This is an elevated walking pathway. Its worth walking the whole thing as all the springs look different.
-Drove the top road over to Roosevelt Tower. This is where most of the wildlife is as it’s plenty of waterways and prairies. We saw moose, elk, buffalo, bear, foxes, deer, and more here. We then drove this same road back. We would randomly stop for photos and to take short hikes.
-Drive down to Norris. We stopped at most of the roadside views along the way and then got out at the Norris Geyser. This was actually my favorite part of the park as it was just a field of elevated walkways over many, many geysers. We also went to go see Steamboat Geyser as it’s the largest Geyser in the park and on the continent.
We then drove back up to the North entrance to our hotel that was directly outside the park entrance, got dinner at the food trucks, and got some local hard ciders.
Day 2
We started our second day almost at sunrise - being from the East coast this was simple and helped up beat everyone else in into the park. We drive straight down to the Norris Geysers and started the loop and went towards Canyon Village
-Stopping at Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the variety of “roadside” views. This is a long drive and you will not hit a food stop again on the loop until Old Faithful.
-At Old Faithful we got lunch and looked to find the sign of the next time Old Faithful would erupt. Do not expect too much - especially if you were amazed at the size and sporadicness of Steamboat Geyser. This is more steam than water.
-Springs. We stopped at Grand Prismatic Spring and it was very very neat to see, but like all the water - when its cooler out there’s more steam from the heat making it hard to really see the colors or the water at all. The higher the temp- the easier the water is to see.
-Paintpots. This is a great little walk from the parking lot to thrrough the woods and then to a circle around a variety of little geysers. This was probably my second favorit epart of the park as it felt the most immersive.
Keep in mind Yellowstone is FULL of animals and nature, but crowds and cool weather can make it difficult to really see. Plan accordingly. If you happen to be headed to Teton after I highly recommend staying at Heart Circe Ranch in between the two parks.
