Yellowstone National Park

Good time to visit?

We visited in the park in mid-September to avoid crowds. May and September are what they call shoulder months for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons where there are less people, but still decent weather where the park is accessible. We had some warm and some cooler days, which made it pleasant for hiking and being outside. September is when the elk are in rut, so their bugles can be heard echoing through the parks.

Don’t Skip:

A walk through the Old Faithful Inn

Grand Prismatic Overlook and the Fairy Falls trail

The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

Steamboat Geyser at North Geyser Bain – the tallest active geyser in the world

How long to spend in the park

We recommend a minimum of 5 days. The park is so large that you will undoubtedly miss out on some part of the park with any less time.

This one seemed like the long awaited destination since I met Jared and heard of its splendor, and it was successful in living up to my high expectations. With geysers, springs, and mud pots, it feels like you’ve traveled to another planet. And how can all of these things exist in one place?

We stayed in the Lake Lodge Cabins for the first 2 nights of our stay. They were conveniently located near Yellowstone Lake, which is close to Canyon, Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley, and West Thumb Basin. On our way to Canyon village, we stopped along a Hayden Valley pull off to get a better look at a hunting coyote. Hayden Valley, located along the southern loop on the eastern side of the park, is known for its opportunities for diverse wildlife encounters. It has a special place in Jared’s heart as he spent much of his free time photographing here during the time he lived and worked in the park. We began the day at Artist Point, arriving around 9:30am. I highly recommend this time of the morning if you’re visiting the park in August/September when the sun is directly behind you and the Lower Falls rainbow can be seen cutting through the waterfall for short time periods. We learned about this in the Canyon Village Visitor’s Center on a Geology of a Waterfall sign, which was super interesting! We also had the place to ourselves at this time, but a couple hours later we saw crowds of people standing at Artist Point from across the Canyon. There are many ways to see Lower Falls and it is worth your time to see it from a couple of different perspectives so we did the 1.4-mile winding, downhill (then uphill!) path to the Brink of the Lower Falls. This allows you to see the waterfall from its summit so you can watch from the top as it cascades directly below. We highly recommend seeing both viewpoints of this waterfall, although the Brink is not for the faint of heart- there are a lot of steep switchbacks as you climb back up to the parking lot.

 

After leaving Canyon, we also stopped at the Petrified Tree then drove to Lamar Valley. Unfortunately due to the June flood of 2022 only the first 6 miles of Lamar Valley were open. Along those 6 miles we were awe inspired by the number of bison we saw – there had to be close to 600 of them. After dinner, we caught the stunning sunset in Hayden Valley, the same place where our day started. We finished the day by photographing the milky way over Yellowstone Lake later that night.

Night sky over Yellowstone Lake

The hotels have great dinner options while staying in the park. We enjoyed the food at both Grant Village and the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, but the menus were limited (they rotate based on available ingredients and are not always the same) and it was expensive. Some options included Arctic Char, a chicken tortilla soup, red bird chicken, poached pear salad, and halibut. We recommend stopping at the grocery store on your way into the park to pack picnic lunches and hiking snacks.

 

The next day we packed up and drove west. On our way to Old Faithful, we stopped at Kepler Cascades, a quick overlook on the side of the road. We arrived at the Old Faithful area coincidently 5 minutes before it erupted. The sidewalks were lined with people during the 9am-ish eruption and when Old Faithful stopped erupting, the crowds erupted with laughter as we could barely see the plume. The fog and mist were so thick that it was impossible to see anything besides a lone bison perfectly set in front of the geyser. Luckily we were in no hurry, and spent the next 90 minutes walking through the historic Old Faithful Inn and enjoying their breakfast buffet. The Old Faithful Inn is known to be the largest log structure in the world and the lobby is absolutely breathtaking. The Inn has a balcony that overlooks the geyser if you were interested in taking advantage of a farther, but less crowded vantage point. Even so, seating is limited so you will want to get here early. The next prediction for Old Faithful was 11:07am +/- 10 minutes, and sure enough at 11:06am the newly clear skies saw the next plume from Old Faithful. The lone bison was still roaming around, and it was cool to see him with an Old Faithful backdrop. Plan for spending at least half a day at the Old Faithful area – yes, it’s touristy but so worth it. Along with the Inn, make time for the Old Faithful General Store – a great stop for souvenirs but also a must-stop for the HUCKLEBERRY FLOAT. You will undoubtedly come to know huckleberry after visiting Yellowstone as it’s a berry grown at high elevations in the northwest. Pair it with ice cream and you’ve got yourself a treat! We loved it so much we bought a huckleberry soda at the Grand Cayon General Store and risked an explosion in our checked suitcase just to be able to recreate it at home.

 

Later that day we met up with our friend Dennie who was a working at the park to hike to Fairy Falls. Fairy Falls is accessed from the same parking lot as the Grand Prismatic Overlook trail. We began by climbing the steep 1-mile hill to the Grand Prismatic Overlook to get an aerial view of its colors. This is by far the best way to see this spring, but don’t let that stop you from walking the boardwalk that runs alongside it too (keep an eye out for bison footprints in the spring). The rest of the way to the waterfall is flat and long (the trail is 4.8 miles out and back; account for an extra 2 hours for this), and it is such a great way to venture past the popular attractions.

Fairy Falls

During the third leg of our trip, we stayed at a VRBO that was located less than one mile from the park entrance and within walking distance to many shops and restaurants in West Yellowstone, Montana. We took the next morning slow and made our way to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. This place surpassed our expectations and is a great non-profit sanctuary for animals that are not able to survive in the wild (they have grizzly bears, wolves, birds, otters, native fish, oh my). The resident grizzlies were brought to the park because they were human conditioned and would have otherwise been put down. The staff limits interactions with the animals here to allow them to remain as wild as possible. The grizzlies would run out to the main viewing area, about 3 at a time, to search for food under rocks and along the stream (this encourages enrichment and mimics searching for food in the wild). Some would grab their meat and go for a swim while they ate. The education sessions were so informative, even to a couple of wildlife biologists. Check out the map that shows recent grizzly and wolf sightings in Yellowstone, which is posted near the Grizzly Exhibit. Your ticket is good for two consecutive days, and I would allot at least 3 hours to see the park. We grabbed some to-go lunch from Asian MaMa – highly recommend if you’re looking for some quick service.
Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center
That afternoon began with a drive along Firehole Canyon Road and a stroll on the Biscuit Basin Boardwalk. Biscuit Basin is home to a couple of well-known springs like the Sapphire Pool, the Black Diamond Pool, and West Geyser. At the midpoint of the circular boardwalk, you can find the easy 2-mile round trip path to Mystic Falls. The pictures below say it all – this waterfall was easily one of the best we saw. If you continue climbing up just a few yards, the trail boasts amazing views of the Upper Geyser Basin in the distance and the waterfall down below. We rounded out the day at the North Geyser Basin (this area is massive!!) to see the one and only Steamboat Geyser – the tallest active geyser in the world, its spray about 3x that of Old Faithful. However, unlike its reliable cousin, Steamboat Geyser is very unpredictable. It has frequent minor eruptions and used to have one major eruption every 50 years. That is until recently. Since 2019, the geyser has had 10-48 major eruptions each year!!!
Mystic Falls

We traveled around the North Loop of the park once more, a drive complete with black bear and a grizzly sighting, during our last full day. The Mammoth Hot Springs did not meet our expectations, but I would still argue that it is a must-do while you are in Yellowstone. This is a large area, but the picturesque springs are concentrated in a small section. Mammoth is a great place to stop for a picnic lunch and some shopping. We were lucky enough to be there at the same time as a bull elk who was bugling away in the midst of his ladies who were bedded down next to a building. We could not resist one more drive and a couple of bison jams in Lamar Valley.

 

Dinner at the Madison Crossing Lounge in West Yellowstone was one of our favorite meals of the trip. Another great restaurant in the area was Three Bear Lounge. There is a location to rent bear spray in West Yellowstone, and we were able to return the two cans that we rented a week before from a Jackson location.

 

It was finally time to say goodbye to the Wild, Wild West so we headed north toward Bozeman from West Yellowstone up Highway 191. This was the most beautiful drive as we weaved in between mountains and along streams that are part of the park that is not often visited because it is outside the figure-8 loop in the middle of the park. Since seeing multiple female moose in Grand Tetons National park earlier that week, we were on a mission to see a bull moose, but started losing hope as our trip was coming to an end. During this drive to the airport, on the side of the road, we saw not one but TWO bull moose walking along the tree line then stopping to spar with each other then continuing their walk again. We watched these guys for close to 30 minutes and it is a core memory full of pure joy that I will never forget. We drove through the famous town of Big Sky, but unfortunately, we were there before anything opened. Still worth it though! My parents’ flight was about two hours before ours so we dropped them off at the airport and headed over to the Market, a modern venue that hosts a brewery, restaurants, and shops. Jared and I enjoyed brunch at Tanglewood and some local beer at Nordic to make use of our short time in Boseman.

 

I am feeling so lucky and filled with emotion as I conclude this lengthy post, recounting our memories of this magical, other worldly place. It sure does have a special place in our hearts.