Yellowstone National Park Travel Guide

Hotels & Lodging

Location, Entrances & Access

Things to See and Do

Maps

Yellowstone National Park is the world’s first national park, established on March 1, 1872. It is a huge park, spanning 63 miles north to south, and 54 miles east to west, and totaling 3,472 square miles in three states.

Visitors to the park marvel at a supervolcano’s hidden power under the earth, rising up in colorful hot springs, mudpots, and geysers. The park has thousands of acres of mountains, forests, rivers, and lakes, and endless species of wildlife to watch. Hiking, camping, fishing, photography, bicycling, boating, horseback riding, snowmobiling, snowcoach tours, and ranger programs are available.

Annual precipitation ranges from 10 inches at the north boundary to 80 inches in the southwest corner. Winters are cold, with a record low of -66 degrees F.

The Park is one of the world's most popular natural attractions, with attendance exceeding 4 million visitors a year.

A beautiful bison at full speed in Yellowstone National Park (Staff Photo)

 

Yellowstone National Park Attractions

An active geyser at Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone Lake covers over 131 square miles of area, reaching a maximum depth of 138 feet.

The park sits atop one of the world’s largest calderas at 45 x 30 miles and experiences up to 3,000 earthquakes every year. It features more than 10,000 hydrothermal features and 500 geysers.

Discovered in 1870 by the Washburn Expedition, Old Faithful geyser erupts about every 74 minutes. But intervals are not constant, and can in fact range from 60-110 minutes. The next eruption time is posted around the park. Old Faithful can vary in height from 100-180 feet with an average of about 130-140 feet. Eruptions normally last between 1.5 to 5 minutes.

One of the main attractions in the park is its wildlife, including bears, fox, elk, bison, lynx, 285 species of birds and more.

The National Park Service provides numerous visitor centers, geyser viewing areas, trails, lookouts, museums, and contact stations.

While in the Yellowstone area, you might want to drive the popular Beartooth Highway and visit the Buffalo Bill Museum of the West in nearby Cody, Wyoming.

Geysers and steam vents along the river near Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park

Roosevelt Arch The Roosevelt Arch at the Gardiner, Montana north entrance to Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone Park Location, Entrances and Access

Entrance to Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small parts of the park also in southern Montana and eastern Idaho.  Only 3% of the park is in Montana and 1% in Idaho.

There are five entrances to the park ... we have been through all of them in our trips to Yellowstone over the years:

• North entrance, via US 89, near Gardiner, Montana ... close to Mammoth Hot Springs
• Northeast entrance, near Roosevelt, Wyoming, via US 212, the Beartooth Highway ... closed in the winter
• East entrance, on US20, close to Yellowstone Lake, west of Cody, Wyoming
• South entrance, on US 89, close to West Thumb and Grant, north of Grand Teton National Park
• West entrance, on US20, near West Yellowstone, Montana

The Old Faithful Lodge, a must-see attraction for visitors, is located:

• 113 miles west of Cody, Wyoming
• 137 miles south of Bozeman, Montana
• 98 miles north of Jackson, Wyoming
• 50 miles southeast of West Yellowstone, Montana

Visitors walk a wooden bridge across a geothermal area at Yellowstone National Park

 

Lodging Options In and Near Yellowstone National Park

Lodging in Yellowstone National Park Nine hotels/lodges with over 2,000 hotel rooms/cabins are located inside of the Park. Camping and wilderness camps are also available. Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone NP Lake Yellowstone Hotels & Cabins in the Park Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel & Cabins in Yellowstone NP Old Faithful Snow Lodge in Yellowstone NP Dunraven Lodge in Yellowstone NP Grant Village Lodge in Yellowstone NP Cascade Lodge in Yellowstone NP Lodging Near Yellowstone National Park The closest lodging outside the park is located in West Yellowstone. Lodging in West Yellowstone Lodging in Cody, Wyoming

Explorer Cabins at West Yellowstone, Montana

Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park

Map of Yellowstone National Park (Courtesy of NPS)

Interactive Map of the Yellowstone National Park Area

Our Original Photographs of Yellowstone National Park

View toward the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park

 

Bison grazing on the grass in Yellowstone National Park

Geyser venting steam in Yellowstone National Park

Trickling stream of water through the orange-brown grasslands

 

Lovely stream through a geothermal area

Dozens of bison grazing on the grasslands at Yellowstone National Park

Thundering herd of bison down a slope to the road at Yellowstone National Park

Bison grazing alone after the spring thaw at Yellowstone National Park (May, 2018)

Geothermal activity panorama at Yellowstone National Park

Crystal clear hot boiling water in Yellowstone National Park

Geyser ... at rest in Yellowstone National Park

Brilliant, colorful hot water pool at Yellowstone National Park

Tranquil scene along the Madison River in the western part of Yellowstone National Park, May 2018

For More Information about Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park official website at NPS

 

Phone 307.344.7381 for recorded information. For road and weather information, phone 307.344.2117.