Yellowstone NP

Katelynn Adams
Dec 4, 2025
7 min read

Yellowstone National Park

Everyone knows or has at least heard of Yellowstone National Park - it’s the oldest national park (first established back in 1872) and contains over 2.2million acres of land. It’s home to numerous unique hydrothermal springs and geysers, a majestic river carved canyon, a lake formed from a collapsing volcano, and tons of stunning snow capped mountains! Not to mention the almost 5,500 wild American Bison who call its borders home too.

I moved out to Montana in March of 2024 and have already visited this amazing park numerous times and have plans to visit multiple more before I head off on my next adventure. Given the sheer size of this park - one needs at least 3-5 days to completely see it all and fully immerse themselves in everything it has to offer. I tackled this park in parts; sometimes solo, sometimes with my family, and often with my best friends. Living only a few hours away has allowed me to make multiple small trips giving me time to truly explore each section more in depth.

Below I compiled all my visits thus far but broke them up by park section to keep things more organized! I also made sure to include some of my favorite photos of each area and even some areas in between! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed exploring it!

Mammoth Hot Springs

When entering through the North Entrance of the park - one of the first major visitor centers you’ll hit is Mammoth Hot Springs. While this particular section doesn’t provide the most jaw droppings panaramic views; it does however offer visitors a unique introduction to mineral rich hot springs. This area also consists of a large hotel, a restaurant, store, visitor center, gas station and typically a very large herd of Elk. They are frequently found lounging around the area and causing quite the ruckus for the rangers. *The Bull Elk of this herd is MASSIVE!

The trails here are predominately boardwalk and very easily navigated - there is even a small driving path to reach some of the other more remote features. It does not require a lot of time to see it all but it is an interesting stop nonetheless. Below are some of my favorite shots from around the Mammoth Hot Springs areas.

Lamar Valley

One of the only other “sections” of the park that is open year round is Lamar Valley. Recall those 5,500+ bison I mentioned back towards to the top? Well most of them can be found around here and while the trails are fewer and futher between - the sweeping mountain and valley views and abundant wildlife make it a beautiful drive and must see for visitors. I know for a fact that I have driven it at least half a dozen times and its my chosen route to take when I am heading to explore other sections of the park.

See below for some of my favorite wildlife sittings and sweeping views! It’s not just Bison around here either; I have seen antelope, moose, coyotes, and cranes all within this stretch of park. Still looking for wolves but I have a whole year more yet; so my fingers still crossed!

I have sooo may more Bison photos sprinkled throughout my devices but these few got the point across. Also they are favorites!

*Disclamer on the bottom left photo though - I did not take that photo directly! I was driving and handed my camera to my friend and he took it out his window for me!

Norris Geyser Basin & Falls

Okay - so this next “section” does not contain another visitor center; much like Lamar, but it was the next stretch of park I had the pleasure of exploring as i did the outer loop of the figure 8. Diving down the west side of the loop you will pass some roadside waterfalls and some wide open valleys and tons of mountains. The highlight in this stretch though is the Norris Geyser Basin. This is one of the largest and hottest collections of geothermal vents. I even believe that Steamboat Geyser is one of the tallest in the world.

There are two portions of this area to explore; the first is known as the Back Basin, which contains thermal features scattered throughout some back woods. The trails here are dirt, and flat and I definitely suggest taking a aphoto of the map because there is a long loop an da short loop and they only meet up once! The other much larger and more alien like portion of this basin is called Porcelain Basin. It’s much smaller and much drier; honestly, it made me think it would be akin to walking on the moon.

As per usual; below are some of my favorite shots of Norris Geyser Basin.

Beyond Norris Geyser Basin there are other smaller basins as well. Biscuit Basin being an absolute favorite of mine; it is unfortunately (last I checked at least) closed due to a surprise eruption that disrupted the area and the surrounding boardwalk. But if you go beyond the boardwalk of Buiscuit Basin it takes you on a trail to Mystic Falls as seen below on the bottom left. The other two falls are more roadside and along the Firehole Drive.

Mystic Falls Firehole Falls Gibbon Falls

Grand Prismatic & Old Faithful

Two major bucket list items for most visitors visiting Yellowstone NP are: one, seeing Grand Prismatic; and two, watching a geyser eruption - and what geyser is more famous than Old Faithful. One of the most consistently predictable geysers in the park! It is so popular it has its own seating area just outside of its very own visitor center. However; in order to get to Old Faithful you must first bypass the Grand Prismatic Basin. So there we shall start!

When visiting the Grand Prismatic you must obviously walk the boardwalk that’s built over and around it as it gives you a chance to glimpse its beauty up close (and no I have not been back since the Bison Boiled). BUT if you want my personal opinion - go a few hundred feet beyond the Grand Prismatic Basin and there will be a trailhead and parking lot. It will take you to a viewing platform up in the woods on the other side of the geyser and it’ll allow you to see the entire hot spring and its myriad of colors from above. The two view points are photographed below. Both beautiful in their own right but also drastically different! I suggest both!

As for Old Faithful - there are a multitude of geyers in the same surrounding area as Old Faithful but none as predictable as she; though there are multiple that they can track and estimate. The park can estimate the time frame of her next eruption based on how high her eruption before shot. They’ve got it down to a specific time plus or minus about 10mins. And of both times I have watched - they have been spot on! There is also a large paved/boardwalked area surrounding her basin, and a viwepoint higher up in the nearby woods as well. I prefer the up close experience myself though!

Lake Yellowstone

Now I am a Great Lakes girlie - this we already know! It takes a good amount of lake to impress me! I will say I enjoy Lake Yellowstone immensely though as it has its Mountain View’s from just about every point on its coastline. The rocky beaches are also immensely enjoyable as well. A few nature walks, scenic pull outs, and a viewpoint all provide excellent views of the lake. There is also a large visitor center and store in the Lakes area as well for all visitor needs; I thought this one had one of the largest collections for those visitors in search of anything specific.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

This section of the park is not only the last one I visited but also my absolute favorite. I saved it for last so that I cold visit it with a friend of mine for the first time. Between the canyon and the Upper and Lower Falls its hard not to fall in love with this portion of the park. The juxtaposition of the bright colored stone walls of the canyon paired with the snow capped mountains beyond and the rushing river below; well it just provides the most diverse and beautiful of views. This area is often very congested and the North Rim Drive is always the worst part. The South is less visited but has more trails with equally as stunning views. If you do not have the time for both - I would suggest shooting for just the South Rim!

The first photo here is actually one of my favorites of the entire park and was on the North Rim Side off the one way drive! We had to climb down a steep canyon side and dozens of stairs before we got to a viewing platform down within the canyon but it was wholey worth it. We stopped and sat and just took it in…absolutely beautiful and well worth saving for last!

This park continues to be one of the most diverse parks I have had the pleasure of exploring . Even with as many return visits as I have had I still do not tire of the views and I continue to find so many more things to appreaciate about it. I cannot encourage a lengthy visit here enough as there is so much more that I have seen and explored within this park that are not listed here!

There is a reason this park is so popular and a top contented on so many favorite lists.

Hopefully after reading this - you have even the slightest understanding as to why!