Patrick and I recently returned home from another out west national park trip! One of the most memorable national parks we visited on this trip was Yellowstone. Yellowstone national park is the first national park in the country, established in 1872 and the charm and western feel of the park is still alive today. We had two full days in the park and we focused on seeing the major highlights. Here is an overview of how we spent our time in Yellowstone.

Things to know about Yellowstone

• Yellowstone is huge! It’s separated into two loops, the northern and the southern. In hindsight, it would make sense to spend part of the trip in the north loop and part in the south loop to reduce drive time during the day. We ended up driving back and forth between the loops throughout the two days which is doable but plan to spend lots of time driving!
• There are so many bisons! We were so surprised with how comfortable the bison are within the park. There were bison on the sides of the road throughout most of the park!
• Yellowstone national park requires a fee for entrance into the park. It’s $35 for a 7 day period. As always, I’d highly recommend purchasing the America the Beautiful pass. It’s $80 and gets you into national parks for a year!

Day One

On our first day in the park, we decided to start at the most famous geyser, Old Faithful. Old Faithful is one of the oldest erupting geysers in the park and it erupts consistently every hour to hour and a half. We used a website called geyser times to check in on the old faithful’s next predicted eruption before showing up. This was helpful to have a gauge on how much time we would have to wait. After watching Old Faithful, we walked along the boardwalk (upper geyser trail) that takes you to many other geysers and pools in the park. This was a pleasant walk and we went all the way to morning glory pool and back which was about 3 miles total. There is so much to see in this part of the park so make it your own! Some geysers or pools I’d recommend are:

• Old Faithful
• Castle geyser
• Daisy geyser
• Spa geyser
• Morning Glory pool
• Grotto geyser
• Grand geyser
• Beauty pool

After exploring this part of the park, we took a 15 minute drive to the fairy falls trailhead to hike to the overlook of Grand Prismatic spring. This is an iconic spring because it’s colors are so vibrant. There is access to see this spring up close but we preferred the overlook to see the spring from above. The hike to the overlook is about 1.5mile and a bit steep at times, but the view is definitely worth it!

We stayed at Canyon Campground while visiting Yellowstone and it was wonderful! The reservation here covered a shower a day for each camper and they had laundry facilities for campground guests.

Day Two

Day two in Yellowstone started at Hayden valley to watch bison! Hayden valley is a well known spot in the park to capture an up close view of bison. I was hopeful we’d see some bison but I was in awe of how many bison we did see and how comfortable they all were walking near the road! Please respect the bisons home and space, we were able to see these incredible animals up close from the safety of our car, it’s not necessary to get out of the car. It’s also not safe to do so, these are wild animals after all.

After a beautiful morning in Hayden valley, we headed to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is such an underrated spot in my opinion! This was a stunning canyon different than others I’ve seen before. I appreciated that the park had several different viewpoints of the canyon and waterfall that are all well marked while driving through this area. We started along the south rim drive at Artist’s point which was beautiful and probably my favorite of all the view points. I’d also recommend:

• South Rim drive: Artist’s point and upper falls lookout point.
• North Rim drive: brink of lower falls, inspiration point, grand view point, and lookout point

After spending time exploring the various view points of the grand canyon, we headed towards the northern loop of the park to drive through Lamar valley, another famous valley where bison are known to graze. The drive to this part of the park was beautiful, there were so many scenic pull off areas with mountain views. Unfortunately when we reached Lamar valley, there weren’t many bison at all which we believed was due to the construction going on. Regardless, it was still a beautiful drive.

From here, we continued driving to another famous spot in the park, Mammoth Hot springs. This was a crowded spot for good reason! The lower terrace of the hot springs was so unique and stunning we were in shock. This is a fairly quick stop but I’d say it’s a must see while visiting Yellowstone. From here, we continued around the northern loop and stopped at the Norris Geyser Basin area to see more beautiful geysers and springs. This area is similar to the old faithful area, with boardwalks that lead you to view points of the various geysers and springs.

After a busy second day, we ended our last night in Yellowstone by cooking dinner at camp before heading back to Hayden valley for sunset. One of our favorite parts of the park was watching the bison! When we went back to Hayden valley after dinner, there were herds of bison moving together. It was so magical to watch the animals in their natural habit settle for the night. We parked the car on the side of the road and had a front row seat!

Yellowstone Tips

• Book a campground early if you plan to camp! There are several campgrounds within the park, all of which seem to fill up pretty quickly. I can’t speak for the other campgrounds in the park but we were very impressed with canyon campground! I’d recommended picking a campground close to sites you’d like to see since the park is so large.
• You will do a lot of driving! Regardless of where you stay within the park, if you plan to see many of the park’s highlights, be prepared to drive a lot during the day.
• Look up Old Faithful’s eruption times prior to stopping by
• Pack your own food. There are several restaurants and “general stores” at major sites in Yellowstone, but the food wasn’t the best and it was pretty expensive.
• Check out the park’s website for closures and construction zones. When we visited, there were several spots under construction which caused delays.