Top places to see in Yellowstone National Park
Discover what to do for a 3 day trip in our nations first National Park, Yellowstone! We did the highlights of the park. Read on to see how I arranged the 3 days in order to get the most of our time there.
Day 1: Travel to Bozeman and Yellowstone
We flew into Bozeman airport. This is a nice airport. It has the vibe a ski chalet with wood trim and a big fireplace. To get the rental place, walk all the way through. Stop at the place you rented the car first. They will tell you floor to go to.
After we had stopped at Albertsons for some groceries we headed to the Yellowstone North Entrance in Gardiner. It was an 1 1/2 hour drive. For many miles, it seems, we drove on a gravel road.
roosevelt arch
Our first stop was the Roosevelt Arch, the original north entrance. You can drive under this historic entrance. It’s not the current entrance to the park but it’s close. We stopped and got pictures standing under it. Since we were there in early June, there wasn’t much traffic.
albright visitor center
We headed to the Albright Visitor Center. It was a 14 minute drive from the north entrance. Along the way we saw elk and bison. No bison jams. Here the kids got their Nation Parks passport stamp. Across from the visitor center is Mammoth Hot Springs.
mammoth hot springs
Mammoth Hot Springs is divided into two different terraces. The Upper Terrace is to be done with a car. The Lower Terrace is where you walk.
Mammoth Hot Springs is created as hot water from below the earth’s surface rises through the rock. This calcium carbonate dissolves and deposits a form travertine which forms the Mammoth Hot Springs.
We walked the Lower Terrace on a boardwalk. There are some steep grades and quite a few set of stairs. There were many cool things to see there. It is a smelly place.
dinner at canyon eatery
For dinner, I wanted us to eat at the Roosevelt Lodge. It was closed by the time we got there. Every dining place in the park closed at 6:00 pm. We continued to travel towards the east entrance, as we were staying in that direction. On our way south to Canyon Village, we saw our only bears for the entire trip. A mama and a baby bear.
why are there parked cars on the side of the rodad?
Whenever you are on the park roads, there will be cars park along the side of the road. The people from those cars will be standing, looking out into the fields because someone has seen an animal. You can stop or not, that is up to you. If you want to see animals, bring VERY good binoculars. If you want to have a scope, you can rent them in Yellowstone. These are essential if you want to see anything else besides elk and bison.
pahaska tepee resort
Our hotel for our first night was at the Pahaska Tepee Resort. It is just outside the park on the road where the east entrance is.
On our drive to the hotel, we were stopped by the long horn goats that were on the side of the road. The drive out the east entrance was beautiful.
We drove along the north side of the Yellowstone Lake into a forest. The forest has one type of tree and no under brush. The tree is the Lodgepole pine. Under the trees is short grass. The lack of vegetation is in Yellowstone amazed me.
Our hotel was nestled within the forest. It was a cabin that had two rentable rooms. Very much like a duplex but in cabin form. Our room had two full sized beds and a bathroom. There was not air conditioning. We have no complaints of our lodging there. It was simple and we slept very well.
Day 2: Yellowstone Grand Canyon and Mud Volcanos
It was an early start to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. On our way to our first stop, Artist’s Point, we saw lakes that were still partly frozen.
artist’s point
To reach this point, make sure you turn right on the South Rim Drive. Once parked, it is an easy walk out to a landing. You can look both ways down the canyon. One way, you can see the Upper Falls at the end. Take your time here. The view was stunning!
brink of the upper falls
We headed to our next stop, the Upper Falls. Once parked, it was a short walk on a dirt path. At the Brink, it was loud! There was so much water rushing over the edge. We walked a little further to the Yellowstone River heading for the Brink. The water was turning in spots. This was another beautiful spot.
brink of the lower falls
To get here we took the North Rim Road and parked in the first parking lot. The paved path switch backs all the way down to the Lower Falls. It is steep! The Lower Falls seemed to just as tall with lots of water going over it. We had great views of the Canyon as well. The Canyon walls had so many different colors: yellow, white, red, black and brown.
lookout point
We didn’t like this place as much as the others. There are three different view points of the Upper Falls from far off.
mud volcanos
After lunch at the Fountain and Grill in Canyon Village, we spent time at the Mud Volcanos. This is made of up of sulfur smells and many boiling pots of mud. Here we saw the Dragon’s Mouth, the Mud Caldron, the Churning Caldron as well as many others.
west thumb
As we had some extra time before we headed to dinner, we stopped at the West Thumb. Here there are many springs and pools.
our dinner frustrations
Even though I research and plan out my trips, dinner, in general, at Yellowstone NP threw me for a loop! The places in the Villages closed at 6:00 pm but the restaurants open at 5:00 pm. Some of the restaurants need reservations. These reservations were made before you come to Yellowstone.
Our dinner this evening was to be at the Grant Dining Room. We come to find out we needed reservations. The Lake House Restaurant, down the hill from the Grant Dining Room opened at 5:00 pm and served fish tacos. This did not sound good to us. We were know searching for a place to eat, knowing that most places closed by 6:00 pm and it was around 5:00 pm.
We need wifi to search for a place to eat, so I went into a hotel by the Grand Dining Room. My daughter was the one who found where we were going to eat dinner. It was in the Old Faithful Inn Complex. This was perfect as we were staying in the Old Faithful Inn for the next two evenings.
Dinner was at the Old Snow Grill. Their restaurant on the web said they had hamburgers and other things but we found the menu had been changed to chicken fingers and cheesesteak sandwiches. Finally fed, we headed across the complex to check in at the Old Faithful Inn.
The Old Faithful Inn
Booking our reservation for the Old Faith Inn was the first thing I did when planning our trip out west. I made our 2 night reservation in the old part with shared bathrooms a year in advanced.
I loved staying here. The hotel is immense! There is the original part with the log cabin look and the two newer wings on either side had flat brown siding. The entire old, faithful in as a brown exterior. The front porch is large. It used to be where travelers would drive up. The driveway, old and new, entered the hotel, looking at old faithful geyser. Entering the lobby, we saw a sitting area to the left, a gift shop to the right. In front on the left was a pendulum clock and on the left in the back corner was the restaurant.
After checking in, we brought up our bags to room 205 on the second floor. We were able to use the elevator in the newer section of the building. Our room was an original room with two beds and sink. The entire room was covered with unfinished wood paneling. The two sets of windows, which were by the sink out onto the Upper Geyser Basin.
In the evening, there are musicians to serenade the visitors. We spent our evening out on the balcony until the bugs started to bite. We moved inside to the sitting place right next to the balcony area. Here we finished our eucher game. It was this game I got a ‘go it alone’ hand and won all of the tricks! That was a great way to end the day. My husband, however, sat on in of the many seats out in the multi floored lobby to read.
Day 3: ‘Geyser Day’
This was a frustrating day. Geysers are predicted to go off at certain times within a window of time. Some times they don’t go off anywhere within the window of time.
biscuit basin
The Biscuit Basin erupted a few weeks after we left, so it looks very different now. This Basin has many pools and springs. We walked on a circular path. There were no trees. If you are out on a sunny day, you will need a hat, sun glasses and sunscreen. My favorite was the Sapphire Spring.
upper geyser basin
We walked here from the Old Faithful Inn parking lot. Our goal was to see the Grand Geyser. It was to go off around 10:30 am with a an hour on either side.
We walked passed many other quiet geysers and smelly springs. We stopped at the Grand geyser for a little while before walk to see other springs down the boardwalk. My son sat at the Grand Geyser. 10:30 came and went. 11:30 came and went. My husband and daughter went back to the Inn. I sat with my son, in the sun without any food or sunscreen until 12:00. Still no Grand Geyser eruption. My very disappointed son and I walked back to the Inn for lunch.
grand prismatic spring
Parking wasn’t too bad. We parked along the side of the road. There were a lot of people on the boardwalk. Everyone was very patient and cautious. Which made me feel better. Falling in was not an option, even though there baseball caps sitting on the spring. It was very windy.
The colors of the Prismatic Spring are amazing. It was out in the opening with nothing to block the view. From this advantage point, you can see the brilliant colors over the flat surface but it is too big to take the whole thing in.
fountain painted pots
Unlike the Mud Volcano area which all of the pots were brown, here they were red, brown and yellow. This is a small area where you walk on a dirt path. In one of the first pots we saw, there was mud shooting up and over much like the water in a drinking fountain.
In this area we saw the lodgepole pines with ‘snow boots’. a foot from the bottom was white. The lodgepole pines can’t survive long in the acidic ground. Eventually the whole tree will turn white.
dinner at the old faithful inn
When I reserved our hotel room, an email came to me about reserving dinner at this restaurant. I did not make reservations. Either the food was okay or the price was more than I wanted to spend. I don’t think I fully understood that I had make reservations before hand. You just can’t walk in.
We were lucky to get our reservation for that evening’s dinner that morning. I had walked up to the restaurant desk and asked about dinner reservations. There was a couple there canceling their dinner reservations. Which is how we got to eat in the restaurant.
We were given a time to be there. Groups go in every 15 minutes. We felt the food was good as well as the price. It was nice to each something other than burgers and chicken strips. Would I make reservations for every night I am there. The answer is no. We don’t mind the other food it’s just nice to one nice meal.
prismatic overlook
We drove out to the Fairy Trail Head after dinner. From the parking lot, we walked over a bridge and headed right down the path. As we ascended the hill, we swatted at the many bugs. Dealing with the bugs and the strep hill was worth it. The view up there is fantastic. We got to the Prismatic Spring in its entirety. Very cool. I highly recommend going here as down below, even though it is super cool to be up close, you can’t see the entire thing.
Day 4: Old Faithful Inn Tour and Geysers
My husband decided to go north to see if he could see more animals. I had no idea he was so interested in seeing animals. He never voiced his option when I asked what do absolutely want to see at Yellowstone. If I had known, we would have to Lamar Valley and gotten better binoculars. I might have even gotten a scope.
OLd Faithful inn
This was a free tour and it was fantastic! I learned so much. I will have a post just on the Inn.
castle geyser and the grand geyser
Our tour ended at the time the Castle Geyser was going to go off. We decided to run to see if we could see it. As we were running down the path, we could see it erupting. We ran but didn’t need to. The geyser erupts for a long time.
It sounded like a roaring engine as the water was forced out of the earth. It looked like the stack on a train with the white smoke that trailed off it towards the Inn.
The Grand Geyser was predicted to go off at 11:15 and we decided to stay. My son was so disappointed the day before so we felt we should wait.
The eruption times for the geysers are record by private citizens who sit at the geysers. They are a group that have walkie talkies and relay when one goes off. The Rangers must be on the same signal because they use this information to help them determine the next estimated eruption time.
My son learned much from the trio that sat watching the Grand Geyser. This was the same trio that there the day before where my son spent hours sitting.
As we stood in front of the geyser, the pool began to fill, I had seen this many times the day before, but this time it looked very different. The water color was darker and the steam was moving up. Then water shot out of the geyser straight up 30 feet. I cannot express how excited we were to see it. It shot water for 8 minutes. It stopped and then it started again. Water shooting up straight out the geyser, water shooting out at an angle like a jet stream from a spacer on a hose and water shooting out of a little hole on the opposite side. It was definitely GRAND. Wow! When the show was over the pool was completely empty and light tan bumpy earth remained. It went off 5 minutes before the estimated eruption time.
Quite content with what saw at Yellowstone, we left and headed to the Grand Tetons.
My take aways
- Be very flexible when planing geysers into your day. Have other options in mind.
- Know where you want to eat and the operating hours
- Make sure to include everything people want to see.
- Stay a least one night in the Old Faithful Inn.
See my other blog post on Yellowstone National Park:
What to pack in early June for Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP
Have any other tips for visiting the park? Be sure to add those in your comments!
