2 Days in Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park...what a beaut! There is so much to see and do in this park if you have the time, but if you only have 2 days like I did, this itinerary might help you make the most of your time in the park! I realize that some parts of this itinerary are a little bit driving heavy, however, the longer drives were all through the park, which, in my opinion, isn't as bad since it gave us an opportunity to take in even more beautiful scenery. We personally stayed in Idaho for this trip, so we mostly entered the park through the West entrance!

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Table of Contents:

• Planning Your Trip

  • Where To Stay

  • Getting Around

  • Quick Tips For Visiting

• A Little Bit About Yellowstone

• Day One: Geysers & Hayden Valley

  • Norris Geyser Basin

  • Hayden Valley

  • Dragon's Mouth Spring

  • Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

  • Lower Geyser Basin

  • Grand Prismatic

  • Old Faithful

• Day Two: Lamar Valley, Waterfalls & Hot Springs

  • Lamar Valley

  • Tower Falls

  • Wraith Falls

  • Undine Falls

  • Mammoth Hot Springs

  • West Yellowstone

• Final Thoughts & Highlights

Planning Your Trip:

Before your trip to Yellowstone, there are definitely some things to plan, especially if you're coming from out of town. There are so many places to stay in and around the park.

Where to Stay:

Within the actual park, there are 9 lodging options, as well as 11 campgrounds and backcountry camping options. You can find a list of lodging/campgrounds within the park here: https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/eatingsleeping.htm . There are also plenty of places to stay outside the park, which is what we chose to do. I recommend looking at towns such as West Yellowstone (Montana), Gardiner (Montana), Cooke City-Silver Gate (Montana), Island Park (Idaho), Cody (Wyoming), and Jackson (Wyoming). I recommend doing some research on each of these towns and seeing which best fits your itinerary. West Yellowstone is a great place to stay if you want to be near the busier parts of the park with a lot of lodging and food options. This town is tourist- friendly and is very close to the West Entrance of the Park. Gardiner is great if you're looking for a quieter place to stay near the North Entrance of the park. There are fewer crowds here, and it is near Lamar Valley and Mammoth Springs. Staying in Cooke City-Silver Gate is great if you're looking for another quieter place to stay with close access to Lamar Valley, and it is a popular area for wildlife viewing. I recommend staying in Island Park if you're looking for a quiet place to stay near the West Entrance. This is a little further from the entrance of the park (about 30 minutes or so) but offers beautiful surroundings along the way. Cody, Wyoming is a good spot to stay if you are planning on mostly entering through the East entrance of the park, and is about a 1.5 hour drive from the entrance. Lastly, Jackson is great if you're looking for more of the downtown scene. Jackson is a good central place to stay if you're planning on hitting both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park, and it is about an hour from the South Entrance of Yellowstone. There are a ton of restaurants, shops, and it is more of an established, and touristy place to stay. During my trip to Yellowstone, we stayed in Island Park, ID. The house that we stayed in, as well as other rental options can be found on sites such as VRBO, airbnb, booking.com etc. This is the house that we stayed in.

Getting Around Yellowstone:

Having a car is definitely necessary to maximize your visit to Yellowstone National Park, as there is no public shuttle system at this park. There are some private tours you can book if that's something you're interested in, which I'll include in this link. We personally rented a car with 4WD, but I did not feel that the 4WD was absolutely necessary to have, as we visited during late summer. I definitely recommend renting a car with 4WD or AWD if visiting during one of the shoulder / off seasons, as snow is common in this park. I also recommend having tire chains if visiting during the winter season, however, if road conditions are bad, the roads will most likely be closed. The speed limit driving throughout the park is 45mph unless stated otherwise. Make sure to be aware as you are driving through the park, especially in places like Hayden and Lamar Valley, as wildlife may be walking on the road. There are also plenty of pull- off spots throughout the park to stop and take in the scenery or view wildlife.

Quick Tips for Visiting:

More than likely, you will not have cell service while visiting the park. If you're renting a car, I recommend looking into adding a wifi box option if available so you can pull up directions, pick up a park map, or download an offline map ahead of time.

Yellowstone is open year-round; however, during the winter seasons, you may encounter closed roads/sections of the park due to inclement weather. The best time of year to visit the park truly depends on what you want to see in the park. Late Spring is a great time to visit if your goal is to see wildlife. Wildlife is very active during this time, and wildflowers will most likely be starting to bloom. The downside to visiting during this time is that there may be moderate crowds, and there may still be snow, so there is a risk that not all parts of the park will be open and accessible. Summer is the busiest time of year to visit, but most likely all roads and parts of the parks will be open. You'll have warm weather, but due to the large crowds, lodging prices may be higher, and options may fill up much faster. I visited during the early Fall, which I thought was a great time to visit. The weather was mild, and while some areas still had decent crowds, most areas had smaller crowds. This is another great time to visit if your goal is to see wildlife, as it's rut season. While the weather is pretty mild, there is still a chance of snow if you visit during this time of year. Visiting in the Winter offers the chance for some unique winter experiences, such as snowshoeing, skiing, snowmobiling, etc. Crowds are very low during this time of year, however, most parts of the park may be closed due to weather.

Any National Park will have some sort of crowds, especially at some of the more popular viewing points and areas of the park. In order to avoid crowds, especially if visiting during one of the busier seasons, I recommend getting to the park early, especially when trying to visit more popular areas. Weekends will offer higher crowds than weekdays, and I recommend visiting during the shoulder seasons (late Spring or early Fall) as opposed to peak season if possible.

While visiting the park, especially in the geyser areas, make sure to follow the signs and stay on the boardwalk pathways! There are so many geyser areas throughout the park, and it's incredibly dangerous to get close to them.

Lastly, whether you're driving throughout the park or walking around an area of the park, make sure to respect the wildlife! There are several areas of the park where it's common to see animals such as grizzly bears, wolves, bison, etc. Remember, these are wild animals, and this is their home. The best way to view these animals is from far away, or from the safety of your car. These animals have the right of way, and it's so important to pay attention while driving through the park, as you will most likely experience an animal crossing at some point. We got to experience a herd of bison running down the road right next to our car! These animals are unpredictable, and it is important to stay as far away as possible, that's the great part about cameras having a zoom capability! A good rule of thumb, as recommended on the national park website, is to stay at least 25 yards or 2 bus lengths away from animals such as bison and elk, and to stay at least 100 yards or 8 bus lengths away from animals such as wolves and bears. I recommend bringing binoculars as well for optimal wildlife viewing.

A Little Bit About Yellowstone:

Yellowstone National Park is the world's first National Park and was established on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone covers 2.2 million acres and is known for several hydrothermal features. The park is home to a plethora of wildlife as well as half of the world's active geysers. The park offers activities such as fishing, camping, backcountry hiking/camping, hiking, wildlife viewing, stargazing, etc.

Yellowstone has a $35 entry fee per car, or free with one of the annual or lifetime National Park passes. There are 5 entrances to the park: The East Entrance, The North Entrance, The Northeast Entrance, the South Entrance, and the West Entrance.

The East Entrance is not open year-round. This entrance typically opens early May and closes early November. The East Entrance is in close proximity to sites such as Hayden Valley, Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone Lake, and Mud Volcano. Cody, Wyoming, is the closest town to this entrance of the town and is about a 1-1.5 hour drive through the Wapiti Valley.

The North Entrance is open year-round and is in close proximity to sites such as Mammoth Hot Springs, Blacktail Plateau Drive, Lamar Valley, and Wraith and Udine Falls. The closest town to the North entrance to the park is Gardiner, Montana, which offers direct access.

The Northeast Entrance of the park is also not open year-round, and typically opens early May and closes mid-October. The Northeast entrance is in close proximity to sites such as Lamar Valley, Soda Butte, and Pebble Creek. Cooke City & Silver Gate, Montana, are the closest towns to this entrance and are located right outside of the entrance.

The South entrance is another entrance that does not open until early May and closes early November. The South entrance of the park is close to sites such as West Thumb Geyser Basin, Grant Village, Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful, and Upper Geyser Basin. This entrance is closest to Grand Teton National Park and is in close proximity to Jackson, Wyoming.

Lastly, the West entrance opens on the 3rd Friday or April and closes the 1st Monday of November, weather permitting. This entrance is the most popular park entrance, and is in close proximity to sites such as Madison Junction, Grand Prismatic Spring, Lower Geyser Basin, Old Faithful, and Norris Geyser Basin. The West entrance is closest to West Yellowstone, Montana which also contains the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center.

There are 8 main visitor centers located throughout the park:

• Albright Visitor Center

• Canyon Visitor Education Center

• Fishing Bridge Visitor Center

• Grant Visitor Center

• Madison Information Center

• Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

• West Thumb Information Center

• West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center

Day One: Geysers, Hayden Valley, Grand Canyon, Grand Prismatic, Old Faithful

We started day one off by getting to the park early (around 8 a.m.) to try and beat some of the crowds since we were visiting at a little bit of a busier time of the year. As stated above, we came through the west entrance so I believe our first stop was about 45 mins into the park past the West Entrance Station.

Norris Geyser Basin:

Our first stop of the day was Norris Geyser Basin. This is the hottest geyser basin in Yellowstone and is composed of two sections: The Back Basin and the Porcelain Basin. The Back Basin is a forested area with stand-alone geyser features such as Steamboat Geyser, the tallest active geyser in the world. This geyser can erupt up to 300 ft high! The Porcelain Basin is an open, steam area with several hot springs and geysers. There are about 2 miles of wooden boardwalks that you can follow throughout the geyser basins. I recommend spending around 1-1.5 hours in this area in order to fully explore all that the geyser basins have to offer. These areas feel otherworldly and are always changing due to earthquakes and underground activity.

Hayden Valley:

After finishing up our time walking around Norris Geyser Basin, we took the hour-and-a-half or so drive to and through Hayden Valley. This was such an amazing sight to see with the rolling fields and outpouring of bison! Hayden Valley spans approximately 50,000 acres and can be accessed by Grand Loop Road. This is a really popular area for wildlife viewing, and is home to animals such as elk, bison, grizzly bears, coyotes, wolves, bald eagles, etc. The area is full of rolling meadows, surrounded by low mountain ranges, and is home to the Yellowstone River. We spent time just driving through the valley and getting out to walk around a little bit at some of the points. It truly was amazing to see these beautiful creatures up close, even if it was from the car. Remember to respect the wildlife, as this is their home! Do not get too close to the bison, they can be unpredictable!

Dragon's Mouth Spring:

From Hayden Valley, we made the 5-minute drive to the Dragon's Mouth Spring area to see the hot springs and mud volcanoes. This is a quick stop to see some of the smaller geothermal features. There was a short, wheelchair accessible, paved trail which takes you past each small hot spring in this area. These hot springs are formed in a cave-like opening on the side of small hills and produce roaring sounds as the steam explodes from within- a noise similar to a dragon, hence the name! Here you can also see the bubbling mud pool, churning caldron, black dragon's caldron, and sour lake. I had never seen anything like this before, so while it was a quick stop, it was still neat to see. Hot Springs are the most common hydrothermal feature in the park!

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone:

After spending a little bit at the hot springs, we made the 20-minute drive over to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone North Rim. This may have been one of my favorite stops in the park! The canyon, the waterfall, the river, the surrounding scenery, all so beautiful! The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is located near Canyon Village in the eastern part of the park. The canyon stretches about 20 miles long and is about 1,200 feet deep. There are a few different paths you can take that will take you down to different viewpoints and observation decks, including Brink of the Lower Falls, Lookout Point, Red Rock Point, Grand View, and Inspiration Point. The Lower Falls are one of the most popular views in this area, and is Yellowstone's tallest waterfall at 308 feet tall.

You may have guessed it, our next stop was right around the corner to see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone from the south rim! More breathtaking views, I honestly don't know which side I enjoyed more! This area is a little less popular than the north rim, but offers equally unique views of the falls and the Yellowstone River down below. This side of the canyon offers deeper canyon views, with the most popular viewpoint being Artist Point.

Lower Geyser Basin:

Next, we made the 45-minute drive to the Lower Geyser Basin. This is a diverse and accessible geothermal area located on Grand Loop Road about 8 miles north of Old Faithful. You can see all 4 types of the different hydrothermal features that Yellowstone has to offer, including mud pots, geysers, hot springs, and fumaroles. Here you can follow the .6-mile wooden boardwalk that circles all around the geyser field. This is another pretty quick stop, and I recommend spending at least 30 minutes here really taking in what the different features have to offer. Some of the popular sites here are Fountain Paint Pots, Red Spouter, Leather Pool, Clepsydra Geyser, and Celestine Pool. It was neat to see so many geysers close together, yet each one was so different!

Grand Prismatic Spring:

Our next stop was 10 minutes away at the Grand Prismatic Spring. This is one of the most popular spots in the park, and we definitely experienced some crowds here, even going towards the end of the day. This is the largest hot spring in the United States, at approximately 370 feet in diameter, and is known for its rainbow-like color bands around the border of the spring. There are two viewing options here, I recommend doing both because they offer different views. The boardwalk loop will take you all along the hot spring from the ground level. We followed this with the 1-mile or so hike on the Fairy Falls Trail Overlook to view the hot spring from up above. The Grand Prismatic was pretty cool to see from the ground, but even cooler to see from up above because you can truly see the different colors. The center of the hot spring is a deep blue, and the outer rings are made up of different colors such as yellow, green, red, and orange. These colors come from heat-loving microorganisms that thrive in these springs.

Old Faithful:

We ended our first day with another 10-minute drive to see Old Faithful! I'm not going to lie...I was a little bit underhwelmed by Old Faithful, but maybe it was just the long waiting time in the cold and rain, haha. Regardless, it was still really cool to see, and I'm glad we got the chance to add it to our day. Old Faithful is located in the Upper Geyser Basin and erupts every 35-120 minutes, reaching heights of 100-180 feet tall. There is an eruption schedule posted, and while it's not 100% accurate, it's a pretty good reference. Old Faithful got its name in 1870 for its reliable eruptions. This is a very popular symbol of Yellowstone, and was the first named geyser in the park. There is a large boardwalk that surrounds the geyser with multiple viewing areas. There is also a visitor center and bathrooms close by.

Day Two: Lamar Valley, Waterfalls, Mammoth Hot Springs, West Yellowstone

We made sure to get an early start for day two, since we knew it would be a bit more driving heavy, but definitely well worth it!

Lamar Valley:

Our first destination, Lamar Valley, was about 4 hours past the west entrance from our VRBO in Idaho, but well worth the drive. We started our day driving to the furthest point and backtracking to our rental house incorporating the other stops along the way. Lamar Valley is an area in the park that has a panoramic driving route and is extremely popular for wildlife spotting. The best time to see wildlife here is early in the morning or around dusk because these are popular feeding times for the animals. Lamar Valley is home to animals such as grizzly bears, elk, bison, pronghorns, coyotes, eagles, black bears, wolves, etc. We personally only saw more bison here, but I was still thankful we got to see any wildlife! You definitely have a much better chance of seeing wildlife if you have a lot of time to spend here. We had other things planned in the park on this day, so we did more of a slow drive through with some pull-offs, but my parents spent more time here and were able to see more animals. I definitely recommend bringing binoculars for the best views of the wildlife and the valley.

Tower Falls:

From Lamar Valley, we made the 2.5-hour drive back towards our rental house to our first waterfall of the day: Tower Falls. Tower Falls is an accessible waterfall and stands at about 132 feet tall! This waterfall is framed by volcanic rock spires and is one of the oldest-known documented formations in the park. From the parking lot, you can follow the short, paved trail to the observation deck of the falls. During the Spring and early Summer, the falls are most powerful due to recent snowmelt. There is an option to take a steeper trail to the base of the falls, however, this trail is commonly closed due to erosion, so make sure to check ahead of time and pay attention to the signs.

Wraith Falls:

After finishing our time at Tower Falls, we made the 25-minute drive to our next waterfall, Wraith Falls. Another short, easy, dirt trail that goes through a meadow, marshland, and forest before bringing you up to the 79-foot falls. The hike to the falls is only about .5-miles with very minimal elevation gain. Like Tower Falls, Wraith Falls is most powerful during the Spring and early Summer. This was my favorite waterfall hike of the 3 that we did this day!

Undine Falls:

We left Wraith Falls and drove about 2-3 minutes down the road to Undine Falls, standing at about 60 feet tall. The main viewpoint is right off the main parking lot, however, there are some short trail options nearby as well. Undine Falls is a 3-tiered waterfall and is one of the most accessible waterfalls in the park due to its close proximity to the road/parking lot. This was a super quick stop, but still a neat waterfall to see. I loved that all of the waterfalls I saw in Yellowstone were all so different!

Mammoth Hot Springs:

Our last stop in the park was a 15-minute drive from Undine Falls - Mammoth Hot Springs, located in the northwest corner of Yellowstone. Mammoth Hot Springs features colorful limestone formations, hot springs, and is located within a small historical town. This area has wooden boardwalks that take you through even more hydrothermal features. In the surrounding town, you can find things such as Yellowstone's Headquarters, the Albright Visitor Center, a hotel, and a general store. This was a neat little area to see and explore, and the colorful rock formations were so beautiful.

West Yellowstone:

Before heading back to our VRBO, we made one last stop right outside of the park in West Yellowstone, Montana, to the Grizzly & Wolf Discover Center. We were disappointed that we didn't get to see a bear or wolf during our time in the park, so we added this little stop on our route home! The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center is a not-for-profit wildlife park and educational facility that features grizzly bears, wolves, otters, and raptors. The center is open from 8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. (this may vary by season), and adult general admission is $16.50. Definitely a neat stop to add if you're staying/are near the west entrance of the park! West Yellowstone also has plenty of restaurants and shops to explore and is well worth the stop if you have the time to explore more of the town.

Final Thoughts & Highlights:

I really enjoyed this park and would love to go back one day because I know there is so much more to see here! I hope this itinerary helps give you some ideas for your own trip to Yellowstone. This is such a unique and diverse park with so many neat features that I've never gotten to experience anywhere else. Some of my favorite stops in the park were the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Grand Prismatic, Wraith Falls, and the Norris Geyser Basin. I feel like there is so much more to see in the park, and on my next visit, I would love to spend more time in Hayden and Lamar Valley in hopes of seeing more diverse wildlife. Some of my tips for visiting are to be flexible with your itinerary, because it can change due to things such as weather, wildlife, road closures, etc. I always find that a great resource for suggestions of some of the lesser-known gems in National Parks is to talk to the park rangers. I also recommend getting to the park as early as possible in order to try and beat some of the crowds. Thanks for reading, and remember, there's always more to be explored!

-nicole elizabeth