6 Spots and Walks you don’t want to miss in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone is a window to our planet’s inner workings. To me, it felt like I was in a museum where on display is the power and beauty of forces of nature all at the same time. Yellowstone National Park is home to an active super volcano and is more than 2 million acres in size. It is bigger than a few states in the US and a few countries in the world. To enjoy this special (and oldest) national park, you need to spare at least 3 to 4 days.
Based on my Yellowstone experience in May of this year, I have prepared a list of things and experiences that you should absolutely not miss. If you have a time crunch and don’t have the luxury of spending more than a weekend then sticking to this list might be a good idea. Keep in mind that you would have to walk a lot in Yellowstone as most of the amazing geysers are pretty far off the main road. So don’t forget to pack your comfy walking shoes and a bottle to carry water. As may know that main road in YSNP runs like a shape of number 8, the must-visit destinations listed here are in a clockwise fashion starting from the south-west section.
You can refer the park map on this page and in case you need to know in bit more detail about the sights listed below. It’s an excellent resource to help plan your trip based on which side of Yellowstone are you entering from, where are you staying and which places you want to see in the morning etc.
Here’s my curated list of Must-Visit Spots and Walk-in Yellowstone with tips:
- Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin Boardwalk
❕Tip: Early morning or late evening
Estimated Time — 3 to 4 hours
The Old Faithful geyser erupts every 90 mins(+/- 10 mins). As it is the most famous geyser in the world, the boardwalk gets filled up pretty quickly. It would be wise to visit Old Faithful early in the morning or late in the evening. If you reach there at a time when the sun is too bright and the boardwalk is full, there are three smart things you can do.
First would be to go in the Old Faithful Inn right next to the geyser, grab a beer or an ice cream and sit on the observation deck. From here you will be watching the Old Faithful erupting sitting in shade with beer(or ice cream) in your hand
Second would be to take the Observation point trail (0.5 mi one side). From here you can watch the Old Faithful geyser erupt framed in between conifer trees with relatively less crowded.
If your hungry and have limited time then option 3 may suit you the best. You can go in the Old faithful lodge cafeteria order some food, sit beside the large windows and enjoy the views while you are having food. The food at the cafeteria is decent and less expensive than the dining room at Old Faithful Inn. Here I would like to confess that I enjoyed the food and service at the dining hall in Old faithful Inn more than any other place in Yellowstone, despite the long wait, limited and pricey food options. The presentation, service and food will make up for all the other shortcomings.
One advice that I wish I had gotten before coming to Yellowstone is to check the timings of eruptions of these 5 geysers -Castle, Dairy, Grand, Old Faithful and Riverside in the Upper Geyser Basin as soon as you reach there at the Visitor Centre. (Though there are many geysers in Lower Geyser Basin, NPS makes a prediction for these 5 geysers only). This way you can plan your boardwalk (takes between 1–2 hours), food, Old faithful eruption accordingly. Though we did not plan it we got super lucky, we got to see 4 out 5 geysers in action (yayiee). My personal favourite being the grand geyser; riverside geyser is interesting too as it located right beside the river and when it erupts you can see a consistent rainbow (given the sun is shining bright) in the mist of vapours. Rainbow on a river, while a geyser is in action is a pretty unique sight.
The Upper Geyser Basin boardwalk starts from Old Faithful Geyser and goes till Morning Glory Pool. The Morning Glory Pool is a crown jewel of Upper Geyser Basin and Grand Geyser is its best-kept secret.
If you don’t have time to do the boardwalk, you can watch the Old faithful eruption and visit the Old Faithful Inn which is the largest wooden lodge in the world, have a beer or ice cream or food or just enjoy the structure and head to Midway geyser basin.
2. Grand Prismatic Spring and Midway Geyser Basin — 1 hour
❕Tip: Take the Fairy Falls hike to get the best view of Grand Prismatic.
Estimated Time — 1 to 2 hours
Grand Prismatic Spring must be the most photographed hot spring of Yellowstone NP. While I was researching to plan my own trip, Grand Prismatic’s picture popped on my laptop every 5 minutes. It would not be incorrect to say that Grand Prismatic hot spring and Old Faithful geyser are the two most popular geysers of the world.
The Grand Prismatic Spring is aptly named; it is so big (bigger than a football field) in size that you will be able to see only a fraction of it from the boardwalk. If you have the luxury of time then you must take the Fairy falls hike, it’s a bit steep (105 ft) with 0.6 miles one side. To experience the world’s 3rd largest geyser in its entirety, some strenuous walk should be okay. While you are enjoying the beautiful bright colours of the hot spring, think of the fact that the cause of these colours is bacteria and thermophiles(heat-loving algae) which contain colourful pigments. Each colour of algae corresponds to a particular range of temperature radiating from the centre of the hot spring — the water gradually cools as it flows outwards from the centre of the spring. Super small beings working for centuries to create this magnificent palette of colours which humans come to see from all over the globe.
If in case you have limited time then you can skip the fairy falls trail and go to Midway Basin Boardwalk. It’s only 0.8-mile loop with sweeping views of the grand prismatic spring. Get a selfie stick with a really long neck to click a picture from a height.
Consider yourself lucky if you are here on a windy day as the wind will blow away the steam from the geyser and you can have a better view of the colours. The second-largest geyser in Yellowstone also located in the Midway Geyser Basin is the Excelsior geyser. It pours over 4000 gallons per minute water into the Firehole River. It last erupted in 1985, since then it has remained dormant. The Firehole River flows all along the west side of Yellowstone.
3. Norris Geyser Basin
❕Estimated Time — 2 to 3 hours
Tip: It’s a long walk and you must carry a water bottle with you, apply lots and lots of sunscreen and wear a hat.
Norris is surrounded by trees and Grand Tetons in the background.
Norris is very different from all other basins. It’s huge and it’s barren. It’s the oldest, hottest and the most dynamic one. Some of the thermophilic colours that I witnessed in Norris, I did not see anywhere else in Yellowstone. They varied from algae green to pale yellow to dark purple or black. Milky white pools with no names stretch across Norris’s landscape. The milky waters here are due to saturation of silica or clay deposits on acidic waters. Along with the geothermal features, there is Norris museum at the trailhead.
It has two sections, porcelain basin (3/4 mile) and back basin(1.5 miles). Porcelain basin is mostly flat with an apocalyptic feel to it. The geothermal features are very shallow and change frequently in this section. Here, you can get as close to the thermophiles as possible, I recommend standing on the boardwalk and observing the bacteria mats for a few seconds.
The back basin is home world’s tallest geyser ( steamboat geyser) and has a miniature version of grand prismatic. Steamboat geyser got reactivated in 2018 erupts only a few times a year. So it’s highly unlikely that you get to see this one erupting.
The back basin is home to many hot springs like emerald spring (clear bright green) and green dragon spring ( dark green covered with steam most of the times). You can see evidence of 1988 Yellowstone fire in the burnt trees.
4. Mammoth Hot Springs
❕Tip: Park at the Upper Terrace parking lot to see the Canary springs and main terrace. For Palette Spring, Minerva Terrace, Angel Terrace, Liberty Cap you can park at the parking lot for the lower terraces.
This way you’ll have to walk much less. Better do the Upper terrace drive in the car instead of the foot as you will have to cross the road multiple times and there are cars passing at a good speed. Approximately 50 hot springs lie between lower and upper terraces.
Duration: 2 to 3 hours
After seeing the lower, upper and midway geyser basin, I had assumed that mammoth would be something similar to what I had already seen. We had had a long day of walking and Mammoths was our last stop on way to our Airbnb in Gardiner MT. Mammoth hot springs are located very close to north entrance Yellowstone National Park and feel like a miniature town with a visitor centre, gas station, eateries, hotel, general store, housing for employees, and a privately owned home.
You can see bison up and close grazing on the vast stretches of grass in front of the buildings. It is advised to stay a minimum of 25 yards away from all large mammals like elks, sheep, bison, deer, coyotes in Yellowstone; so maintain your distance when you take those quintessential shots.
Mammoth is unlike any other geothermal feature in the park. Though all the geysers in the park are different in their own way mammoth hot springs are an entirely different niche. Firstly they are hot springs (not geysers) and secondly they are living structures built by organisms that represent the earliest form of life on earth. Isn’t that cool? Appearance-wise it looks like a mammoth cake with shades of orange and white frosting and effects of frost melting hues.
Scattered over a score of travertine terraces (limestone deposits) mammoths were a super happy surprise for us, in all honesty, I had not expected any hot springs to possess awe-inspiring beauties. If I could have, I would have spent more time here.
5. Yellowstone Canyon
❕Tip: Take Uncle Tom’s trail if you can climb up and down 328 steps.
Duration: 2–3 hours
The true Yellow of YSNP can be seen in Yellowstone Canyon. It’s not as grand as the Grand Canyon but the mightiness and beautiful colour of it are enough to blow your mind. Canyon walls reflect sunlight like a 100-watt bulb so do wear sunglasses when you look down at it:). I will highly recommend taking the stairs down alongside the waterfall known as Uncle Tom’s trail. It takes you to the base of the lower falls. A rainbow will greet you as you climb down in the mist of the waterfall provided the sun is shining bright. Climbing 300+ stairs can be strenuous, there are plenty of platforms and benches provided on the trail.
The Yellowstone Canyon is graced by lower and upper falls. The lower falls crash down from a height of 308 ft whereas upper falls tumble from 109 ft. Shades of pink, white or red mark the presence of hot springs or steam vents on the Canyon walls. The yellow colour on the walls is known to come from compounds of iron oxide. The Canyon is 20 miles long, 4000 ft wide and 1200 ft in places, if you have time you can do a rim drive enjoying the various viewpoints on your way.
If you have time and energy, you can also do the north rim trail ( from cascade falls to brink of lower falls) and the south rim trail.
6. West Thumb — 1–2 hours
❕Tip: Do the west thumb when the sky is absolutely clear and the sun is not so bright. You will see the snow-covered Absaroka range and boiling n sizzling geysers all in one frame.
Duration: One Hour
We had entered from South Entrance of the Park and West Thumb was like our introduction to the world of geysers. With snow-covered Absaroka in the backdrop are laid down sizzling bubbling turquoise emerald coloured geysers. It’s around half a mile loop trail marked with approximately 20 big and small geysers and hot springs. It derives its name from the shape of Yellowstone lake which looks like a thumb and it’s situated on the western side of the park.
The reason I consider west thumb as a must-see is because it has magnificent mountains in its backdrop and vast emptiness in between making it a perfect spot to capture some breathtaking views.
Big Thank You to Katie LaSalle-Lowery to help me correct the eruption times of Old Faithful Geyser, the name of the mountain range visible at West Thumb and that Grand Prismatic is a hot spring. 🤘
