Yellowstone National Park begins a few miles north of the end of Grand Teton National Park. Looking at a map now, it seems obvious, but until we were planning this trip, we had no idea Grand Teton was in the same ecosystem.
Access to Yellowstone is via a single road shaped like a figure-eight, with entrances from each direction. Each side of the loops had something worth seeing. We had only two nights in the park, so we worked with a park ranger to plan the best route for us. Since we’re both afraid of heights, the ranger quickly ruled out the upper east loop, from Canyon Lodge to Roosevelt Lodge. She said it’s a great place to see antelope and other animals, but the road is narrow and winding, and runs along the edge of a cliff.
Our first stop after entering from the south was West Thumb Geyser Basin. There’s a one-mile elevated boardwalk loop that overlooks geysers, pools, springs, and Thumb Paint Pots, a collection of mudpots. Most famous are the Abyss Pool, a deep hot spring with vibrant blue-green water, and the Fishing Cone, where early visitors cooked fish.
Next we headed to Old Faithful. Seeing it erupt was our main goal for Yellowstone. I wanted the option to watch it at different times of day, so we booked a night in a two queen western cabin at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge for $414.55/night. There are multiple lodging options at Old Faithful, but this was the only one available when we booked. (Side note on booking: all accommodations are listed on yellowstonenationalparklodges.com, but they are booked through Xanterra Travel Collection. It got a little confusing with all the redirecting and multiple confirmation emails.)
All of the Old Faithful lodges essentially share a parking lot, along with parking for Old Faithful. It was nice to bounce around to the restaurants and seating areas at all three lodges: the National Historic Landmark Old Faithful Inn, the Old Faithful Lodge Cabins, and the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. But the best part was the short walk to Old Faithful.
There are signs everywhere letting you know the range of when to expect Old Faithful, as well as the rest of the geysers, to erupt. Much to my surprise (Mr. George, if you’re reading this, please forgive me for forgetting everything you taught me in sixth grade), there were multiple trails around Old Faithful that led to other active geysers.
There’s a large walkway and seating area around the viewing spot. The immediate area around Old Faithful is roped off because the water erupting is hotter than the boiling point. There are signs warning that dogs have died after running out onto the unstable ground around the geyser. Yet one stupid tourist ran out there and took selfies with Old Faithful (before it fully erupted) and, randomly, photos of the crowd. People were yelling at her to come back, but she didn’t care. Thankfully, she didn’t get hurt.
Anyway, Old Faithful was ready to erupt shortly after we got there. It’s very exciting the first time you see it. When it’s around the time to erupt (plus or minus fifteen minutes from the predicted time) it starts to sputter a little. Little poofs of white steam or tiny gushes of water will sporadically pop up. The crowd collectively says Ooooooo and then nothing else happens. A few minutes later, the same thing. This happens a few times before a huge rush of water shoots high into the air. The eruption lasts a few minutes, until the pressure is all released and it decrescendos back into the ground. It was amazing to see and absolutely lived up to the hype.
With approximately ninety minutes until the next eruption, we headed to the Upper Geyser Basin trails. There were plenty of trails to choose from—short or long, paved, boardwalk, or dirt—and they were all nicely marked, so we decided to just start walking.
Almost immediately, we were feet away from a giant bison. We were on a boardwalk with no fence, so I very quickly took a picture and kept moving (but said Go Bills as I scurried past).
The next geyser we saw was Castle Geyser. It’s a large, cone-shaped geyser that has been erupting for an estimated thousands of years. It erupts twice a day, but we only saw some slow, early poofs of steam.
As we continued on the trail, it felt like we were on another planet. The colors, somehow both muted and vibrant, the active steam everywhere you looked, and the hot springs that look like a portal to the center of the Earth gave it an otherworldly feel. It was breathtaking.
The next named geyser was Grand Geyser, the world’s tallest predictable geyser. Its eruptions reach heights of 200 feet every 7-12 hours. Unfortunately, we missed the eruption. It was just splashing a little.
Beehive Geyser is one of the most powerful ones in Yellowstone, but its eruptions are unpredictable. It erupts every ten hours to five days. The beehive-shaped cone that it’s named for directs a column of steam and water two hundred feet in the air when it erupts.
We headed back to Old Faithful to see it erupt for the last time before sunset (it’s not lit up at night). Despite the Old Faithful Inn being sold out, there were barely any people waiting. If you want a more intimate, relaxed viewing of the eruption, the last one before dark is the best time.
The Old Faithful Welcome Center was also worth the visit. The food and drink options around Yellowstone in general are by no means gourmet, but everything was fine, and probably really appealing to children.
We woke up early the next morning and headed out. We caught one last Old Faithful eruption from the parking lot, and it was pretty cool from that view, too.
Our next stop was Grand Prismatic, just north of Old Faithful. There are two ways to see it: from the Grand Prismatic Overlook, a relatively steep but still doable 0.8-mile hike from the Fairy Falls parking area, or the boardwalk around the spring.
We wanted to see the view from above, so we started with the overlook. We walk four miles a day in sea-level St Pete, and the hike was tiring but not uncomfortable for us. (Side note—we saw parents trying to push strollers up the steep, dirt trail and it looked miserable. I wouldn’t recommend it.) It also begins with a beautiful walk along Firehole River. There are hot spring runoffs that flow into the river, giving it a volcanic/alien feel. Plus there were a bunch of bison.
We were lucky that it was a clear day and the spring wasn’t creating too much steam (the water is 188 degrees Fahrenheit). As the largest hot spring in Yellowstone (and third largest in the world), it can put off so much steam that it blocks the view.
The bacteria that thrive in near-boiling water produce the most beautiful, vibrant colors. It’s almost impossible to believe that colors that bright exist in nature.
After enjoying the view and resting a bit, we headed back to the car to drive to the Grand Prismatic parking. This was the only traffic we encountered on the trip. It took about thirty minutes to get into the parking lot. The lot is small, and there isn’t another close, convenient spot to park. We heard the wait to park here can be hours in peak summer.
Even if the wait was hours, it would have been worth it. Walking the boardwalk around the hot spring was so unique and almost unfathomable. At points, the steam is so thick that it looks like it’s midnight, then suddenly it clears, and you’re looking at some of the most beautiful colors that exist.
A ranger there told us that a man fell off the boardwalk into the water. He died instantly, but they couldn’t find his body for a week. It was a great reminder of the power of nature.
Next we headed toward Canyon Village, our stop for the night, at the northeast end of the lower loop. There are signs for the major sites everywhere, and we had a map, so we just drove and stopped whenever we saw something interesting.
We booked a deluxe new lodge two queen room at Canyon Lodge for $410.85/night. Like the previous nights, there was no TV or AC, but it was new and comfortable, with a lovely view of the trees, which was great for birdwatching.
Once we were settled in the room, we headed out to the nearby Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It’s a 20-mile-long gorge with waterfalls and multicolored walls.
The next morning, we headed back to the northwest side of the second loop to continue our way out of the park and to Bozeman, MT (state 41). North from the Canyon Lodge would have taken us on the northeast loop, which had the steep, curvy road. As we drove, we saw foxes, bison, and so many beautiful views. We could have stopped every ten minutes, but we had dinner plans with The Husband’s cousin in Bozeman, so we had finite time.
Our last stop in the park was Mammoth Hot Springs, at the northwest corner, four miles from the north exit. There is a well-designed boardwalk overlooking the Mammoth Hot Springs. They are a form of travertine terrace, meaning they are hot springs that rise up through limestone, dissolve the calcium carbonate, and deposit the calcite. It looked so different than the other hot springs.
We went to Yellowstone September 21-23, so we missed the summer crowd. It was a great time to go. We only waited for parking once, everything was still open, yet there was very little traffic. One of the rangers said you could wait hours just to park at Old Faithful during the summer. All but two lodges (Old Faithful Snow Lodge and Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel) close late September/early October for the season. Our park ranger friend said that unless you’re coming specifically for winter, don’t plan a visit after early October.
There are also tons of activities, visitor centers, restaurants, and anything you would need in the park. The food was all fine, nothing spectacular but nothing bad either. Many of the nicer restaurants require reservations during the busy season, but the menus were pretty meat-heavy, so we stuck to the casual eateries.
There were also plenty of bathrooms everywhere. Leading up to the trip, I was worried I was going to starve or have to pee in the woods, but thankfully neither happened. The park is very well designed for all nature comfort levels. You can hike, camp, and go completely off the grid, or reserve hotel rooms, book restaurant reservations, and relax with a glass of wine.
Whatever your nature preference, a trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks needs to be on your bucket list.