Yellowstone National Park
Where to Stay
Many visitors will also do Yellowstone as a day trip from Jackson. The closest entrance to Yellowstone from Jackson is a 1.5 hour drive. And then the Park itself is SO massive - it spans three states - Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. As a day trip, your visit will be long, rushed and filled with driving.
The way to truly see Yellowstone National Park is not only to stay within the Park, but to MOVE lodge locations during your stay, as destinations within Yellowstone can be as far as 2.5 hours from one another.
We did something between the two options above - we stayed two nights within the Park at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. This gave us primo access to the famous geyser area of the Park and a good starting point from which to see another section of the Park. And our stops at both areas were not rushed. But even then, by not staying longer (or moving lodge locations), we never made it to the northern sections of the Park.
The Snow Lodge is very, very basic. No vibes, no luxury and, HECK, no A/C and no coffee available in the morning. So NO we did NOT stay here for the accommodations or food. But I still would recommend staying here or at the neighboring historic Old Faithful Inn for a night or two. It was SO darn cool being just steps from Old Faithful and getting to see it spout at all times of the day, even when the day trippers were gone.
What to Do
There is SO MUCH to see and do in Yellowstone National Park. It is massive, as I mentioned, and its landscapes and offerings are quite diverse. It’s up to you how much you want to cover and for what level of depth. Just like in GTNP, you could spend weeks here hiking or photographing. With our two full days in YNP, we visited two main areas of the Park.
On day one, we saw all the geysers and thermal pools that make Yellowstone so famous. About 50% of the worlds thermal activity can be found in this section of the Park. It was fantastic seeing Old Faithful erupt (it goes off about every 90 minutes) - you cannot help but ooh and ahh once it does.
From Old Faithful, walk along the nicely appointed and flat boardwalk to view the many, many other thermal pools and geysers in the area. It’s just fascinating.
Other parts of the middle and upper geyser basin are best accessed by car. Don't miss the strikingly blue Sapphire Pool in the Biscuit Basin area.
And further up the road, Grand Prismatic Spring is a very popular must see. This is the largest and one of the most colorful hot springs in the US. We viewed it from above via the Grand Prismatic Spring Overpass, but it is also viewable from ground level.
On our second day at YNP, we woke up early and drove about an hour west to the stunning Hayden Valley. This absolutely picturesque valley is not just a feast for the eyes but it’s an excellent place to see wildlife, particularly near sunrise and sunset. We spotted several bison here (plus one the day before on the walk up to Grand Prismatic!)
Next we did a cute but skippable one hour guided boat ride around Lake Yellowstone. Our guides were adorable but the enclosed boat made it hard to see much.
After another subpar lunch, we continued north to the Canyon area to view the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. At 1200 feet deep, this canyon made me dizzy to view and the tiny rocks acting as a “guardrail” made me nervous AF. Still quite stunning to see.
We never made it to the Lamar Valley or Mammoth Hot Springs area. There just wasn’t enough time. So I’ll end with another picture of the stunning Hayden Valley.
What Else
I’m so not outdoorsy so I did both parks in Vans and sweats but all over YNP and GTNP you will see hiking boots and fleeces. Regardless of your attire preferences, DEFINITELY bring lots of layers for this trip. Even in late August the mornings and evenings got quite cool.
The weather is also super dry in Wyoming, which was great for my frizzy hair but rough for my skin. My lips were chapped and irritated our whole week in WY.
