Exploring Yellowstone -- Best Geysers, Things to Do, and Wildlife

Podcast Episode Overview

In this episode of Exploring the National Parks, we are diving into one of the parks we get the most questions about – Yellowstone!

Since everyone starts trip planning after the holidays, we figured this was the perfect time to tell you everything you need to know about this beautiful park in case you’re heading there this year. So come along as we explore Yellowstone!

Join us as we cover:

What we love about Old Faithful
Why Grand Prismatic is so cool
Why the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is a must for your first trip
Our favorite viewpoint in the Canyon area
Hiking trails you don’t want to miss
Food to try while visiting Yellowstone
What we think of the “Great One Buffalo”
Our favorite things about the Norris Geyser Basin
The wildlife you can find in Lamar Valley
The differences between the northern and southern loop

It’s really amazing how many cool things you’ll see as you drive through Yellowstone! This episode is a helpful introduction to this national park.

If you’re wondering what to do now, I have a full Yellowstone National Park itinerary available to help you plan the perfect trip. We can’t wait for you to make some amazing memories with your family!

Listen to the Full Podcast Episode:

Lower Loop

Let’s start at the south entrance. We highly recommend stopping at Grand Teton National Park if you make it out to Yellowstone. You can pick up our Grand Teton National Park itinerary for a complete guide to plan your best trip without any headaches!

Old Faithful Geyser

How can we not start with this geyser icon in the Upper Geyser Basin? Watching Old Faithful erupt is a national park right of passage. In our Yellowstone National Park itinerary, we share a secret spot to sit and watch Old Faithful away from the crowds. This is likely the first geyser you’ll see of many in Yellowstone.

We like to walk through the Old Faithful Lodge for the gift shop. We also grab ice cream or bison chili before settling in to watch the geysers erupt. The entire Old Faithful area has several incredible geysers and hot springs.

Castle Geyser erupts every 14 hours on average, and even if you miss the water erupting, you’ll likely catch the steam phase long after.

Taking the boardwalk trails, you can head to Geyser Hill to see smaller geysers, hot pools, and bacterial mats. Grand Geyser erupts every six hours, reaching greater heights than Old Faithful.

Beehive Geyser is less reliable, but it has a nearby indicator geyser that starts spewing water just before it erupts. Park Rangers announce the indicator geyser is erupting so visitors can run to see Beehive shoot into the air like a high-pressure nozzle.

Before heading to your next stop, make sure you check out Morning Glory Pool, named after the Morning Glory flower, to see its incredible colors.

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring is one of Yellowstone’s most breathtaking natural wonders, if not the world. It’s the largest hot spring in the park! There are a few ways to see the beautiful rainbow colors. You can walk the boardwalk trails to get close to the spring. The Grand Prismatic Overlook Trail is one of the newest trails in Yellowstone and a great way to get a bird’s-eye view of Grand Prismatic Spring.

Grand Prismatic is a great place to see the vibrant colors of thermophiles enjoying different temperatures in the hot spring. Excelsior Geyser, near Grand Prismatic, is a gorgeous blue and worth a stop.

After Grand Prismatic, you’ll hit the Fairy Falls Trail to the spectacular 200-foot-tall Fairy Falls.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

One of the most popular places in the park is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. There are so many waterfalls in Yellowstone, but the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is among the most stunning. Upper and Lower Falls will blow you away whether you hike up close or get panoramic views from Artist Point.

The Yellowstone River pours over yellow stone (hence the park’s name!) in this incredible canyon. Brink of the Lower Falls is a harder hike, but seeing the stripe of green that runs down the waterfall from a closer look is worth it. It’s one of the best places to feel the full power of this 308-foot waterfall.

Red Rock Falls and Uncle Tom’s Trail are both great options for hikes in the Grand Canyon area, and they allow visitors to see more than just thermal features during their time in the park.

Hayden Valley

Hayden Valley is a great place for wildlife viewing if you only have one day in the park. We almost always see bison here, and black bears and grizzly bears venture here. However, we’ve seen the most wild animals at Lamar Valley. You’ll have the best luck seeing wildlife in either Hayden Valley or Lamar Valley by getting there in the early morning or late evening.

We cover our in-depth guide to viewing wildlife in Yellowstone in Episode 73: Best Places to See Wildlife in Yellowstone National Park.

Extra Days in the Lower Loop

There is no shortage of sites to see in the lower loop. If you have time, stopping at West Thumb Geyser Basin is a must. The thermal features here are unlike anywhere else in the park. They blend into the shore of the Yellowstone Lake.

Storm Point Trail is the best way to get panoramic views of Yellowstone Lake. Mud Volcano is another excellent stop, where you can see mud and steam bubbling to the surface like a dragon’s breath.

Upper Loop

We usually stay in West Yellowstone because it’s in the middle of the park’s upper and lower loops. Another option is to move your lodging from the south entrance area closer to the north entrance. Either way, you’ll be able to explore Yellowstone without sitting in traffic.

Our favorite restaurant in West Yellowstone is Wild West Pizzeria & Saloon. We’re not fans of the food in the park itself.

Norris Geyser Basin

Driving from West Yellowstone into the park, you’ll follow the Madison River until you reach Norris Geyser Basin. This isn’t one of the most popular areas in the park, but we think it should be!

The geysers and hot springs here differ from anywhere else in the park. The hot water is so hot that it’s actually cooking the sap in the nearby trees, creating a maple syrup smell.

Steamboat Geyser is located at Norris Geyser Basin, though it isn’t on a regular eruption schedule. If you’re lucky, you’ll see it erupt!

Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner

Mammoth Hot Springs is a terraced geyser and hot spring formation that is hard to miss as you drive by. There are boardwalk trails across this thermal feature, so you can see the limestone dissolving away up close but still from a safe distance. Elk tend to hang around Mammoth Hot Springs in the fall.

The National Park Service is headquartered in Yellowstone at Mammoth Hot Springs. You can take a walking tour to see the historic buildings where first time visitors to Yellowstone in the 1800s and early 1900s came to stay.

Gardiner is a great option for lodging and a quick stop to see the stores. The stretch of road between Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs is one of the most scenic drives in the park as mountains tower in the distance and the road follows the Gardiner River.

Lamar Valley and Beartooth Highway

Driving east from Mammoth Hot Springs, you’ll arrive at Lamar Valley. This is by far our favorite place to watch for wildlife in any national park. We’ve seen grizzly bears, wolves, black bears, bison, elk, bighorn sheep, and a vast variety of other wildlife. It’s North America’s safari experience.

One of our favorite trails is the Lamar River Trail. You follow the Lamar River, passing by Bison in their wallow pits with plenty of chance to see other wildlife in the valley.

From Lamar Valley, you can exit the park via the northeast entrance and drive along the Beartooth Highway. This quintessential American highway takes you high into the mountains around Yellowstone.

Make sure you bring plenty of food and water while you’re in the upper loop. There aren’t as many amenities, such as bathrooms and gas stations, so be prepared.

Tower Fall

Driving back south, you’ll hit Tower Fall, a beautiful waterfall where you can also get ice cream. You’ll drive over Dunraven Pass, the highest point in Yellowstone.

Mount Washburn and the Washburn Trail are farther along as you drive south. To the top of Mount Washburn, it’s about a five-mile hike round trip. Most people looking for a longer hike in Yellowstone usually choose Mount Washburn.

Eventually, you’ll rejoin the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone junction and be back in the middle of the park!

We hope you enjoyed this introduction to Yellowstone National Park! If you can hit the main areas we talked about, especially as a first time visitor, you will be so pleased with what you’ve seen and been able to do in America’s first national park. There is a lot more we didn’t mention here that you can discover in our Yellowstone National Park itinerary.

Links mentioned in this episode:

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