Bears are still seen but it is now an experience to be hoped for instead of expected.
RANGER WALK: Try to take a ranger led walk they are fun and informative and usually of high quality. Activities being offered are listed in 'Discover Yellowstone' available at the visitor centers.
This last item is located on the south entrance road.
MOOSE FALLS: The main reason that I am including this small but pretty falls is that most people miss it. It is located about 1.5 miles north of the south entrance to the park. If you are driving in or out of the park via the south entrance road keep an eye out for the small parking area. The falls is a short walk from the road. There are a number of other interesting sights around the park that are as easy to get to and as easy to miss as these falls so keep your eye out and you may surprise yourself with an interesting find.
I have listed most of the major sights but not all, so explore for yourself.
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(4.1) In a more perfect world.
A nice length stay, for a first trip to the area, is about 4 days. It takes two LONG days to see most of the roadside points of interest. Four days allows you to take a day to explore the upper loop and then a day or two to explore the lower loop. Once you have done this you should have a good feel for the park and what areas you would like to explore in more depth. You can then spend the rest of your time exploring these areas. Four days also allows time for a short hike or two.
(4.2) If you only have one day.
If you only have 1 day try to pick one or two areas to spend most of your time and explore them thoroughly. By coupling this with an early morning or evening drive to spot wildlife you should get more out of your trip and have more fun than if you try to see the whole park. I've tried to see the whole park in one day and would not do it again and do not recommend trying to do it. An ambitious tour that is still doable, if you get into the park very early, is to explore the Old Faithful area, including the Fountain Paint Pots, and the Canyon area in one day. You will have to do a fair amount of driving and pass by some of other sights along the way but if you feel up to this option it is probably the best.
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There are numerous hiking possibilities on the over 1000 miles of trails in the park. When you get to the park go to one of the visitor centers and look at the hiking guides. My favorite guide is Mark C. Marschall's 'Yellowstone Trails'. From this you can get an idea of what region you want to hike. You will also be able to get recommendations from the rangers staffing the visitor centers. Some of the visitor centers have maps of the more popular hikes in their area. These maps usually cost less than $.50 (1994). The rangers can give recommendations and warnings. I always try to spend some time in the back country when I'm in the park. It is a nice way to get away from the crowds and get a better feeling for the park but if your time is limited, remember that to get a good feel for the geysers and hot springs takes time and you can hike any place but you can only see geysers and hot springs so easily in Yellowstone.
If you are interested in mountain scenery you're pretty much limited to the east and northwest parts of the park. A better area for you may be either Grand Teton National Park just south of Yellowstone or the Beartooth area just outside the northeast entrance of Yellowstone.
Bugs in the backcountry (especially before things dry out toward the end of July) can be vicious, so be prepared.
Camping in the backcountry requires a free permit. These permits can only be obtained in person not more than 48 hours prior to use. You can obtain permits at the ranger stations or visitor centers.
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Biking is limited in the park. Most trails are closed to bikes and the roads are narrow and seldom have shoulders. I have talked to people who were touring the park by bike and they were enjoying the experience but they also found it quite stressful.
Some of the trails in the Upper Geyser Basin (Old Faithful) are open to bikes. These trails are mainly along old road beds and cover about 5 miles. On these trails you can also ride out to Black Sand Basin and/or to Biscuit Basin but both of these basins can also be accessed by car. A word of caution, to see most of the features in the Upper Geyser Basin you will have to get off your bike and walk the boardwalks. For the first time through the basin I suggest walking as the bike will become more of a nuisance than a help and you will do as much walking with the bike as you would without it.
Another bike trail is out to Lone Star geyser (3 miles). The trail head is just above Kepler Cascades. This is a very nice ride along an old road bed that parallels the Firehole river. The trail is quite flat. Before you go check at the Old Faithful visitor center to see if anyone has reported seeing Lone Star that day. It is quite predictable. It has two types of eruptions, minors and majors. A major lasts about 30 minutes and is usually preceded by one minor which lasts about 5 minutes. It's about 30 minutes between minor and major and almost exactly 3 hours between majors. Splashing out of the cone starts about 1 hour before an eruption. If you do see an eruption please write it in the books at the geyser and at the trail head so that the next group can have an idea of when it might erupt next.
Other trails and good roads are: Natural Bridge; Fountain Flats Drive and on past the barricade and behind Midway Geyser Basin; Firehole Lake Drive.
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The road system was designed in a figure eight configuration that provides access to most of the major sites as shown below:
Gardiner
| Tower Cooke City
Mammoth |---------------------------------------
| UPPER LOOP | Dunraven Pass
Norris |------------------------| Canyon
| | Mud Volcano
West | LOWER LOOP |------------------Cody
Yellowstone ---| Madison | Lake Yellowstone
|--------o---------------| West Thumb
Old Faithful | Grant Village
Grand Teton NP
The entire loop is 142 miles long.
The upper loop is 70 miles and links (clockwise from Mammoth) Mammoth, Roosevelt, Tower Falls, Dunraven Pass, Canyon, Norris and back to Mammoth.
The lower loop is 96 miles and connects (clockwise from Madison Junction) Madison Junction, Norris, Canyon, Hayden Valley, Mud Volcano, Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone Lake, Lake Hotel, Bridge Bay, West Thumb, Craig Pass, Old Faithful, Biscuit Basin, Midway Geyser Basin, Lower Geyser Basin and back to Madison Junction.
The maximum speed limit is 45 mph but in summer you will be lucky to average 25 mph because of traffic, wildlife and road conditions.
The roads in the park are bad. Most of the roads are narrow, winding and very rough. The Park Service is currently in a program to bring the road beds, surfaces and shoulders up to modern standards. Thus, there are road closures scheduled for the upcoming years. When you enter the park you will be given information about the current road work being done. Attempts are made to schedule the closures so that they are as unobtrusive to the tourists as possible but you should read about the work being done to see if it will cause you any hardships.
For the most part the roads have no shoulders. This coupled with people stopping in the middle of the road to see wildlife and the potholes can make for slow and aggravating travel. Expect this to happen and prepare yourself mentally so you don't have a heart attack. Take pity on the people behind you, if you stop try to pull as far off the road as possible.
A way to avoid the worst traffic is to try to arrange your sight seeing so that you do most of your driving in the morning and late afternoon and evening when the traffic is less and spend the middle part of the day exploring an area that won't require much driving such as the Canyon or the area between Old Faithful and the Lower Geyser Basin. The traffic tends to be worse on the southern loop than the northern loop.
In the Spring and into July, potholes are a severe problem. They do their best to fix them but the winters are severe and the traffic can be very heavy in the summers when they are trying to do the repair work.
Only the road from Gardiner MT through Mammoth and onto Cooke City MT is open all year to wheeled traffic. The park service tries to have the other roads open on the following schedule:
Mid-March: Mammoth to Norris
Mid-April: West entrance to Madison, Madison to Old Faithful, Madison to Norris, Norris to Canyon, Canyon to Mud Volcano
Early May: Old Faithful to West Thumb, Mud Volcano to Lake, Lake to East Entrance, Lake to South Entrance
Early June: Tower to Canyon
The roads are usually closed by early November.
Of course, these dates are subject to weather but the park service rarely opens the roads early because the services don't open early. To get a recorded message of current road conditions call the park headquarters at (307)-344-7381.
On an up note: Most of the side roads (usually one way) are worth the drive. They usually take a little longer than the main road but also have some unique or interesting sight to see along the way.
In the winter, once there is enough snow pack (about December-March), the roads are opened to tracked vehicles (snow mobiles and snow coaches).
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| I have not found a spectacular restaurant outside the park but they are probably there. In the park I have enjoyed the Old Faithful Inn dining room (as opposed to the Lodge Cafeteria) for breakfast and dinner. There is no view but the ambiance is great. I have enjoyed the dining room at the Lake Hotel for lunch. Here you do get a view of the lake. The dining room at the Mammoth Hotel is also good but here you get no view and little ambiance. All of these places require reservations for dinner. Reservations can be made in person or by contacting TW Services.
For cheaper food a safe bet is the Hamilton store lunch counter. |
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