northwest corner of Wyoming
NPS Website; Local Website
Yellowstone National Park is a diverse natural wonderland roughly twice the size of the state of Delaware. Because of the Park’s immense size and staggering variety of experiences, we have broken our Yellowstone reviews into three separate entries: the North, Central and South.
WHAT IS IT?The South portion of Yellowstone National Park offers a wide array of tourist activities. It lies almost entirely within the Yellowstone caldera. The caldera is a remnant of tremendous supervolcanic explosions. It is the depression left behind by the reverse impact of the supervolcano’s debris. The supervolcanoes’ still active magnetic heat is partially responsible for the geyser fields and hydrothermal activity.
Understandably, the prime attraction is the incredibly active Lower Geyser Basin, which includes the Fountain Paint Pot and the Great Fountain Geyser. Just to the south is the Upper Geyser Basin home to five predictable geysers including the Park’s poster child, Old Faithful. 70% of the parks geysers and hydrothermal activity occurs within this small area.
The 17-mile road east of the Geyser Basin crosses the Continental Divide twice before arriving at the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. The nearby Grant Village Visitors Center tells the story of the 1988 fires that swept through this area, burning over a 1/3 of the Park’s acreage. The blue expanses of Yellowstone Lake provide stellar fishing, bird watching, hiking and paddling.
The wildlife-rich Hayden Valley, the stretch of the Yellowstone River going upstream from the Lake to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is also home to two malodorous geothermal sites called Mud Volcano and Sulphur Canyon.
BEAUTY (10/10)
Yellowstone NP’s wide array of colors is absolutely dazzling. The thermal fields produce oranges, blues, whites and greens in indescribable hues. They combine with the yellow meadows, the changing leaves and a crisp blue sky to create masterpieces. Cameras cannot capture Yellowstone. Boiling water falls into creeks. Steam bellows off rivers. Lone Bison bulls sit by the road. Bald eagles and osprey swoop overhead. Waterfalls roar from all directions. An eternal mist lingers and then rushes from above the earth’s vents. The cold blues of Yellowstone Lake stretch for miles. Youthful lodgepole pines sprout everywhere. This place teems with life. It is nature. It is beauty. You need to see Yellowstone to believe it.
HISTORICAL INTEREST (10/10)
In 1872, Yellowstone became the world’s first National Park, the first time land had ever been set aside for public use. Yellowstone NP served as the initial model for the conservation of our precious landscape.
The flight of the Nez Perce in 1877 took them from their Idaho homeland to their defeat at Bear Paw Battlefield took them through this section of Yellowstone NP. A few tourists were taken hostage and one was even killed. We wish that there had been more than just a dated roadside exhibit explaining the Nez Perce time in the Park. And why isn’t their a Nez Perce Trail National Parks Passport stamp in Yellowstone?
CROWDS (8/10)What a difference two weeks make. In late August, there are still lots of kids at Yellowstone NP. When we returned in early September, the diverse crowds remained but the kids were conspicuously missing. It is funny, because now we were the young whippersnappers. Michael was out-of-control giddy in the Upper Geyser Basin, speed walking from place to place hoping to catch every explosion. The many people he passed invariably commented, “do it while you can, young one,” or “when I was your age…” We loved it.
Despite the cold, calmness pervaded over some of the elderly vacationers. They slowly walked hand in hand with content smiles, not caring about Old Faithful scheduled explosion, just amazed at the beauty around them. Others were eager to see the geyser bursts, but none perhaps more unruly than Michael.
Thousands surrounded Old Faithful, seated two-deep on the benches. All the lodges were booked solid and we did have trouble moving from place to place and finding parking in this hectic area. Our only other complaint is the speeding tailgate-prone drivers. It is not the Daytona 500; you are at a National Park. This year, speeding drivers have already killed hundreds of animals, including more than four bear. We also had a problem with someone trying to steal our campsite, but that is another story.
EASE OF USE/ACCESS (3/5)
Both the South Entrance and the East Entrance lead into the South portion of Yellowstone NP. The East Entrance is 52 miles west of Cody, WY via U.S. Route 20 and not near any Interstate. The South Entrance incorporates the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway and leads directly into Grand Teton NP.
Trips through these passages currently face large construction delays. The John D. Rockefeller Parkway South Entrance section faces half hour construction delays while East Entrance driving is limited to the hours between 6-10am and 6-10pm.
The North section of Yellowstone NP forms the Џ portion of the Figure Eight Driving Loop.
Once you get to Yellowstone, the Park is very accessible. Numerous pull offs and picnic areas allow the motorist to see oodles of wildlife. The entire eight-mile stretch from the Lower Geyser Basin to the Upper Geyser basin is virtually connected with boardwalks, paved walkways and accessible trails. Yellowstone NP makes incredible efforts to ensure the visitor an optimum experience.CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (5/5)
The Yellowstone Association runs eight different bookstores in the Park. They are a non-profit organization that has served visitors since 1933. They do an outstanding job. Check out the online bookstore. There is an even better selection at the Park. They operate four stores in the South, at Old Faithful, West Thumb, Grant Village and Fishing Bridge. For our partners in obsession, you know who you are, all three have distinct National Parks Passport Stamps.
There are seven restaurants/cafeterias in the South. Three at Old Faithful, two at Lake Yellowstone and two at Grant Village. The Park Service lists ten places there for light meals/snacks. We ate at none of these places. The food looked a bit over-priced, but what can you do?
There are also lots of gift stores with plenty of cuddly stuffed bison and bear. Snazzy T-shirts abound.
COSTS (3/5)
A $20 vehicle entrance fee is good for a week’s stay at both Yellowstone NP and Grand Teton NP, an incredible bargain given the sheer amount of things to in the Parks’ combined 2.5 million acres. Entry is free with the National Parks Pass.
Xanterra Parks and Resorts runs three of the four campgrounds in the South. The small city sized 432-site Bridge Bay and 425-site Grant Village Campgrounds are available through Xanterra for $18.50 per night. The 346-site Fishing Bridge RV Campground cost $31 per night and is an RV-only campground. Reservations can be made in advanced for these three campgrounds.
The National Park Service runs the charming 85-site tent-only Lewis Lake Campground. Spots are available at $12 per night on a first-come, first-served basis. This is where we stayed.
Lodges are plentiful in the South, three in the Lake Yellowstone vicinity and three nearby Old Faithful. Xanterra Parks and Resorts run them all. Prices range between $55 and $371 a night.
Backcountry camping is free. There is a $20 per trip reservation fee if you wish to ensure your space ahead of time.
RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (4/5)In the South, there are three large Visitors Centers within 38 miles of each other. Grant Village and Fishing Bridge are well staffed, easily accessible and helpful. Given the deluge of people in the Old Faithful area, there should be more Rangers on duty.
TOURS/CLASSES (8/10)
There are many Ranger-led tours in the South portion of Yellowstone. In the summer, six talks at Fishing Bridge, nine at Grant Village and twelve at Old Faithful. Of course, the schedule changes when fall and winter set in. We arrived in the South after the fall timetable had begun and chose to explore on our own.
The Yellowstone Association provides glossy, color self-guided trail booklets for nearly every sub-section of the Park. The guides are terrific and available for a donation of $0.50. You can also use the trail guide free of charge and return it to the trailhead box when you are done. We bought some and recycled others. Few other people used the guides, which is a shame. They are packed full of information and done for you. Free mimeographed day-hike pamphlets are available at every Ranger Station. Yellowstone NP has a wealth of valuable information ready to dispense for free. Take advantage of their terrific service. Few parks do such a great job.
There is currently no Museum at Old Faithful, only a short video. Money is being raised to build a showcase Visitor Center near the Park’s most famous attraction. There are equally fascinating and quite dissimilar Museums at Fishing Bridge and Grant Village.
The Fishing Bridge Museum displays a wide variety of stuffed birds that have been mounted and on display as far back as 1931. One unbelievable exhibit shows a Bald Eagle that scientists tagged and monitored to study migration and feeding patterns. When the radio signals stopped moving, the Eagle was presumed dead. When the scientists tried to retrieve him, he was nowhere to be seen, but the monitor still beeped. So they dug. A man had shot, killed and buried our National Bird with the monitor still attached on his own property! The man was modestly fined and the stuffed Eagle is now at Yellowstone in perpetuity.
The Grant Village Museum tells the story of the 1988 fires using a large interactive display room as well as a 25-minute film. The Museum and film show how the American citizenry vilified the National Park for letting the fires rage, while maintaining that they must let nature take its course. Things will be OK. Fourteen years ago, we remembered being so sad that we would never be able to see the grandeur of Yellowstone. Well most of us were wrong and the Park Service was right. Throughout the Park, 10-foot high and growing lodgepole pines stand underneath their scorched ancestors. The dead trees will soon fall with millions poised nearby to take their place. The cycle of life is very beautiful.FUN (10/10)
Picture us scampering from geyser to geyser just waiting for them to burst. Hear us oohing and aahing so loud that we felt uncomfortable…for a second. Then we sighed in amazement some more. Yeah, this place is fun.
WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (10/10)
If you come to Yellowstone NP, you have to see Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin. It is as simple as that. If and when you do come, plan ahead and spend some time here. Yellowstone is so large and offers so much. Don’t just drive the 166-mile Figure Eight auto tour. You can’t see everything in one day. Spend some time in the Park. Get out of your car. There are over 1,000 miles of hiking trails accessible to all skill levels. A Ranger told us, “everything is better in the backcountry.” She was right. The beautiful thing is that almost all of Yellowstone is backcountry. Walk twenty feet from the road and you are in a natural state. The Park is wonderful. Yellowstone NP is one of America’s crown jewels.
TOTAL 71/80
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