Top 10 Things to Do at Yellowstone National Park

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Yellowstone National Park is amazing and a wonderful choice for a family vacation!  In one spot you might see geysers and hot springs, in another a mountain with snow, and in another rivers and waterfalls.  The park spans an area of 3,468 square miles and three states.  Yellowstone is home to one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America (Yellowstone Lake) and is located over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest super volcano on the continent. 

There are some sections of Yellowstone that make you think you are on another planet, because half of the world’s geothermal features are in Yellowstone.  The park is unbelievably beautiful!

After spending 9 nights exploring Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park, we didn’t even put a dent in everything that you can experience/do!  We used this book and this book to help plan our trip.

Here are my family’s top 10 things to do at Yellowstone in no particular order:

1. See the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone from Artist Point – the view is amazing!  It doesn’t even look real.  While you are in the canyon area, I recommend taking the time to see the falls from at least one more overlook like the brink of the upper falls since you saw the 308 foot lower falls at Artist Point.
2. Take in Morning Glory Pool – located in the Upper Geyser Basin it is a favorite among visitors.  Unfortunately, vandals over the years have thrown tons of coins, trash, rocks and logs into the pool blocking the vents and affecting the water circulation and thermal energy.  This has changed the appearance of the pool.  As the temperature drops, the bacteria in the orange and yellow parts of the spring spread toward the center.  The blue color in a pool is the hottest part and you can see from the photo below, there is not much blue left.
3. Experience a geyser go off – geysers are so powerful!  The easiest geyser to watch erupt is Old Faithful that goes off about every 90 minutes.  However, there are so many more geysers at the park, even several that are predicted by the rangers.  We happen to catch Beehive Geyser go off one morning and it was amazing.  Even better was when Old Faithful decided to go off at the same time.  
   

   Beehive Geyser

   

   Beehive Geyser with Old Faithful in the background

   

   Old Faithful

    

4. See Norris Geyser Basin – Norris is the hottest and most changeable thermal area in Yellowstone.  There are two loop trails.  Porcelain Basin trail is an open area with hundreds of densely packed geothermal features; however Back Basin trail is forested and its features are more spread out.  The world’s tallest active geyser: Steamboat is located along the Back Basin trail.
5. Have a picnic – We had a picnic almost every day while exploring Yellowstone.  Sometimes our picnics were on a picnic table, other times we made do with the trunk of our Jeep at an overlook with a view.  Having picnics allowed us to refuel when it was convenient for us and we didn’t have to stop and try to find a restaurant.  Plus, we got to stay outside and enjoy the beautiful sites!
6. Spot wildlife – We found wildlife almost every time we turned around.  It’s so exciting to spot an animal in the wild although we never did spot a grizzly bear.  We did see bison, elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, moose and her calf, wolf, coyote, fox, black bear and cub, pika, yellow bellied marmot, ground squirrel, chipmunks and a variety of birds.
7. Observe the travertine terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs – the travertine terraces are formed from limestone (dissolved) that rises up in the thermal water.  At the surface, carbon dioxide is released and calcium carbonate is deposited, forming travertine.  These terraces are quickly and constantly changing.  
8. Take in a fossil and view a Petrified Tree –  What is a petrified tree?  About 50 million years ago, volcanic materials buried living tree including redwoods, maples, magnolias, oaks, dogwoods, and pines in ash.  Water flowed through the sediment and deposited minerals in the tree’s cells.  Overtime the built up minerals form the perfect replica of the original tree including cell structure and fibers.  The tree below is located west of the Tower-Roosevelt area.  
9. Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States and third largest in the world.  It measures 300 feet across.  A great way to see the spring is from above by taking the Fairy Falls trail, however this trail was closed for repairs while we were visiting. 
10. Go on a hike – with over 900 miles of hiking trails throughout Yellowstone there is a trail for every hiking level and interest.  One hike we went on was to Duck Lake at West Thumb Geyser Basin.  The hike was 1/2 mile with a slight incline to a clear area where we saw elk and then a decline to the edge of Duck Lake.  

Have you been to Yellowstone National Park?  What was your favorite thing to see or do?