Today is the kickoff of National Park Week! Since the coronavirus has curtailed visits to National Parks for the immediate future, why not go for a “virtual visit” to America’s First National Park, the iconic Yellowstone!
Located in the northwestern corner of Wyoming, Yellowstone was established as a national park in 1872 by President Grant, and it is easy to see why it became the first site to receive the designation — the landscape is beautiful and also amazingly varied; the geothermal activity is fascinating; and the wildlife is abundant.
I am far from an expert on the park, with my only visit to the park being a single day in 2008 as part of a fabulous road trip that covered 5600+ miles in two weeks. The park is huge, with its Grand Loop Road covering 142 miles in a figure eight shape. While it was possible to hit many of the major high points in just a single day, my biggest regret of the road trip was not spending more time at Yellowstone. Still, even in just one day, the park made quite an impression!
We entered the park from the South entrance, having spent the previous night at Grand Teton National Park, and of course we got a photo of the entrance sign:
Our first major stop in the park was at it’s most well-known location to wait for the eruption of the Old Faithful geyser. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait very long. I don’t think any visit to the park would be complete without seeing Old Faithful! I took dozens of pictures, but here are two of the better ones, and a couple photos also of the historic Old Faithful Inn located nearby. I would love to return and spend a night at the Inn!
Old Faithful 
Old Faithful Inn 
Interior, Old Faithful Inn 
Old Faithful geyser eruption
UPDATE: If you’re willing to be patient, you can tune into Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Webcam livestream to watch for an eruption. It happens roughly every 90 minutes, and I caught one yesterday (4/18/20) at 4:09 pm Eastern Time.
Old Faithful webcam view
(Sorry about the photo quality, but you get the idea!)
Continuing to the north on the Grand Loop, there’s plenty of other thermal activity in the Grand Prismatic Spring area, and it is well worth using the boardwalk to get a closer look and take it in.
My photos don’t to justice to the colors, and they certainly don’t capture the sounds (think “steam engine”) and smells (think “sulphur”) of some of these locations.
I’ve shared this photo previously in my 10 Scenic Photos from 10 National Parks post, so I couldn’t leave it out here. It is one of my favorites from Yellowstone!
Continuing toward the northern part of the park, we stopped to get a closer look at the beautiful terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. The weather had gotten significantly colder, but this isn’t snow covering the ground. The terraces are travertine and covered with mineral deposits that give them the white color.
I mentioned earlier the variety of landscapes in the park, and here’s an example of what I meant. Away from the geysers and hot springs, this lone buffalo standing in a grassy valley created another of my favorite photos from the park.
As we were literally running out of daylight, we finished the day by making a mad dash to squeeze in a short stop at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone before the end of the day! I’m glad we did. This photo uses a tree to block the glare from the setting sun and capture the waterfall in the distance.
We made it 3/4 of the way around the Grand Loop Road in this one awesome, jam-packed day, before exiting the park and driving in the dark to Cody, Wyoming to spend the night.
Definitely allow more time for the park if you can, but this post also proves how amazing Yellowstone can be even if you only spend a day!
One final photo, and I promise I’m not getting any product placement fees, but here’s a cool shot of my Jeep in the park. It was new then and made for a great road trip vehicle even if the gas mileage wasn’t (and still isn’t) the best!
