Yellowstone National Park

Players:  Jenny, Jake & Jackson
Date of Visit:  Most recently, June 2007 although I lived there for three months in 2005
Website:  www.nps.gov/yell

Location:  Wyoming
Entrance Fee:  $25/car, good for 7 days at both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park

Type of trip:  Several nights camping as part of Western US Road Trip
Park Passport Stamps Available:  24 (!!)

In the documentary The National Parks:  America’s Best Idea by Ken Burns, one of the featured speakers talks about how every family has one National Park that feels like “their” national park; for me, Yellowstone is “my” Park.  Yellowstone was a park I visited with my family as a child; my father before me had visited with his parents as well.  Yellowstone is directly responsible for the existence of my son (whose name Jackson Cody recalls the two Wyoming towns closest to the Park); I have lived within the boundaries of the Park and hiked hundreds of miles in the backcountry.  I’ve seen the Park in the snow and in the heat, crowded in midsummer and nearly empty in early May; the Park has seen me joyous and sad, sick with fever and more alive than I’ve ever felt. I’m not a religious person, but if ever I’ve felt the presence of a higher power, it was here.  I came to Yellowstone at a crossroads in my life, and found it sublimely healing.

But enough of the existentialism! 

 Yellowstone National Park sits in the northwestern corner of Wyoming, and spills over the border into Montana and Idaho.  It is one of the largest National Park units in the lower 48 states, and was our first National Park.  When people think of Yellowstone, they normally think of two things:  wildlife and geysers.  Yellowstone has both, in abundance.  In Yellowstone, visitors can see an actual herd of bison, wolves, black bears, grizzly bears, coyotes, pronghorn, cutthroat trout, pelicans, pikas, bald eagles, elk, and many other examples of exciting wildlife.  In addition, Yellowstone is home to more than 10,000 “thermal features:”  geysers, fumaroles, mudpots, and hot springs that owe their existence to the volcano on which the Park sits.  Either reason – wildlife or geysers – is enough to merit a visit to Yellowstone, and the park can keep you happily busy for as long as you let it.  Due to its size, Yellowstone begs for an extended stay of a week or more.

There are eight main visitor areas within Yellowstone, which I’ve outlined below.  If I had only a day to spend in the Park, I would concentrate it in the Old Faithful Area; this is the most popular part of the park, and for good reason.  My other favorite choice would be the spectacular Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  However, I would strongly encourage all visitors who are able to get out of the car and do some hiking!  Only a small percentage of Yellowstone’s visitors ever get more than half a mile from the main park road; even on the most crowded day in July, you can escape the hoards by getting out on a trail.  Yellowstone has over 1000 miles of trail, of varying degrees of difficulty.  Good ones for short-ish day hikes would include Bunsen Peak near Mammoth or Mt. Washburn north of the Canyon Area.  The Grebe Lake trail, off the Norris-Canyon Road, is a mostly flat, 3-mile-long trail that takes you to the shores of Grebe Lake and the best rainbow trout I have ever eaten.  The 5-mile-round-trip trail to Lone Star Geyser is paved and takes you to a large, interesting geyser just north of Old Faithful.  Even a walk up Observation Point above Old Faithful itself will give you a different perspective on the park.  

If you’re looking for even more adventure, consider an overnight trip into the backcountry.  Backcountry campers have to have a permit, and must stay in designated sites.  If you aren’t picky about where you want to camp, you can show up 48 hours (or less) before you want to go backpacking and pick up a free permit.  The rangers in the various Backcountry Offices can show you a map of your options and help you pick a site that will suit your ability and your desires.  The best backcountry trip we did was the trip to the top of Electric Peak in the northwest corner of the park; we made this a two-night trip, but extremely fit people could do this trip in a really long day.  I also really enjoyed the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone trip we did, as well as the Pebble Creek backpack.

I certainly have lots of ideas about the best things to do in Yellowstone, and have outlined many of them here.  I have so many things I could suggest that it would be silly to try and list them all here :)

Here are some general things to keep in mind when visiting Yellowstone.

1.  You really need a car to visit Yellowstone.  There is no public transportation to speak of.  If you are flying to the area, rent a car. 

2.  Camping fees will range from $14/night -- $30/night depending on where you camp.  Most of the campgrounds in the park have flush toilets, but only a few have showers.  Xanterra-run campgrounds can be reserved, but the public campgrounds are first-come, first-served.  As long as you arrive in the morning, not on a holiday weekend, you shouldn't have trouble snagging a site at the campground of your choice.

3.  Lodging fees will range greatly and depend on when you are coming to the park....reserve ahead for the best deals.

4.  Supplies (groceries, camping goods, etc) are expensive in the park.  Stock up on your way in to avoid paying high prices.  If you are coming through Cody, the Super WalMart is probably the best place to do this as the grocery stores in the border towns can be expensive.

5.  Park speed limits are 45 mph and strictly enforced due to the winding, narrow roads and the abundance of wildlife.  Particularly after dark, please observe the speed limits (bison are not reflective and would put a rather large dent in your vehicle).

6.  Please pay attention to park regulations regarding approaching wildlife and the hot springs.  Visitors who do not pay attention run the risk of ruining their vacation.  A great book on this topic is entitled Death in Yellowstone and chronicles all of the ways people have perished in the Park since it’s founding.

Main Visitor Areas in Yellowstone

Mammoth Area:

- Closest area to Gardiner, MT (literally just inside the border of the park)

- Headquarters for the park and open year-round

- Lodging, dining and camping available (although the campground here is not great)

- Gas station available year-round

- Definitely worth a day (or at least a few hours) to look around the interesting rock formations and terraces created by water and limestone.

- Some good day hikes in this area

Norris Area:

- Good public campground here (my favorite in the park)

- A few interesting hikes in the area

- Close to lots of other tourist areas (Mammoth, Old Faithful, Canyon)

- Great display of thermal features (hot springs, geysers, etc) at the Norris Geyser Basin

- No lodges, cabins or dining available in this area, although there are picnic areas available

- Museum of the National Park Ranger is here...small museum but interesting

Madison Area:

- Xanterra-operated campground here (it's ok....)

- Access to the river for fishing

- Good campground ranger programs here

Old Faithful Area:

- Some of the best visitor services are here (lodging, dining, gas stations, gift shops, bookstores, general stores, huge new visitor's center)

- No camping in the immediate area

- Tons of short hikes/walks in the area

- Vast array of thermal features, including at least 5 geysers that are predictable -- you can catch them all erupting in one day if you time it right

- The place I would go in the park if I had only one day

Grant Village Area:

- Camping, lodging, dining, gas station available

- Near the lake

- Not much else very exciting about this area

Lake Area (including Bridge Bay/Fishing Bridge)

- Camping, lodging, dining, gas station available....the campgrounds are Xanterra-run and ok (not great)

- Marina available if you brought your own boat, or you can rent one or go out on a guided tour of the lake

- Lots of day hikes in the area

- Cooler here than lots of other places in the park due to elevation

Canyon Area

- See the grand canyon of the Yellowstone!

- Camping, lodging, dining, gas station available.  I like the diner here and the campground is one of the only ones in the park with showers (you have to pay to use the showers though)

- The visitor's center here is great

- My second choice for destination if you only have a day or two -- the canyon is not to be missed.  You can walk the rim or take a trail down to the bottom.

-You can take trail rides here (horses).

Roosevelt Area

- More "rustic" area of the park

- Near the famous Lamar Valley of the park, notable for its wildlife

- Lodging and dining available, as well as several good campgrounds

- You can take trail rides here or ride a stagecoach out into the prairie for a cookout (highly recommended if you have kids)

- Some of the best fishing in the park is here, in the Slough Creek area

Campground Review

Campgrounds Stayed: Norris Campground, Bridge Bay

Campground Run by:  NPS (Interesting online tour of campground located here) for Norris, Xanterra for Bridge Bay

Available to Reserve?:  No for Norris, Yes for Bridge Bay (and you should)

Cost per night:  $14/night for Norris, $20/night for Bridge Bay

Other notes:  There are flush toilets and water at both campgrounds, but no showers.

Review:  I love, love, loved the Norris campground.  We had a "walk-in" site, which means that our campsite was not right next to our car.  We had to walk about 20 yards from the parking area to our campsite, which was located right next to a small stream on the southeastern side of the campground.  Like many NPS campgrounds, this type of campground attracts those who like their campgrounds long on scenery and peace and short on amenities.  Our site had a picnic table, a fire ring, and a bear box for storing food and other objects.  The walk-in sites are not very private, as there are several scattered along the banks of the stream, but it was great to be able to walk down to the stream and look around.  There are flush toilets in the campground, but not many of them and I sometimes encountered a short wait to use the toilet. A few trails leave from the campground, and it is within walking distance of the Norris Geyser Basin, home to some of the weirdest geysers in the park. Norris Campground is strictly first-come, first-served, and was completely full the whole time we were there.  We arrived around 10 am and did not have trouble snagging a site, but the campground was full by about 3 pm every day.  There were bison that wandered through the camp; they never bothered us, but did come pretty close to the tent on occasion.


The Bridge Bay Campground is located near the Lake area of the park.  There are no NPS campgrounds in the immediate area, so if you want to stay in this part of the park, Bridge Bay might be your best option.  (The other option in the area is the Fishing Bridge RV park, but it is not open to tenters due to bear activity in the area).  This is a large campground.  It is run by Xanterra, so it takes reservations ahead of time and due to its proximity to the Lake, it does fill up.  When you call to reserve, they will ask you about your tent size in order to assign you the best possible spot.  Basically, it is a huge field that slopes downhill, so there is little privacy in the campground.  However, the site we camped in was HUGE and was on an outer loop so we had no one behind us.  We were camping with my mom and sisters, and the site was large enough to accommodate a very large cabin-style tent as well as a small backpacking tent.  It had a picnic table and fire ring, and was a short walk to the restrooms.  The other benefit of this campground is the small store and marina on one end of the campground.  Many supplies are available at the store, and you can also dock your boat or charter a boat here if you want to out on the lake.  In addition, a short hike to the Natural Bridge leaves from the Bridge Bay Campground.  We did enjoy this campground, as it is very convival and in a convenient location.  If you are traveling at the height of summer, it is nice to have a reservation to count on.  We camped here at the end of July and the entire campground was full the whole time.  It did take several minutes to register at the campground, so you may want to plan for that in your schedule. There is also a large amphitheater here where you can attend nighttime ranger programs (highly recommended).