Yellow Stone National Park

Yellowstone: America’s First National Park, Still the Most Extraordinary

Yellowstone sits on top of one of the world’s largest active volcanic hotspots. The supervolcano beneath it last erupted around 640,000 years ago and will likely erupt again, though not this century or probably the next. In the meantime, the heat powers an extraordinary concentration of geothermal features: more than 10,000 hydrothermal features, over half the world’s geysers, and springs in colours that range from deep cobalt to sulphurous yellow. Combined with megafauna (bison, grizzly bears, grey wolves, elk) wandering an ecosystem the size of a small country, Yellowstone is unlike any park on earth.

Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin

Old Faithful is the obvious starting point. It erupts roughly every 44–125 minutes (the interval varies), reaches heights of 30–55 metres, and lasts about two to five minutes. The eruption prediction board at the visitor centre is usually accurate to within about ten minutes. It’s genuinely impressive, not overrated.

But Old Faithful is surrounded by the Upper Geyser Basin, which contains more than a quarter of all the world’s geysers within a square mile. Morning Glory Pool is a 15-minute walk away and has colours (deep blue fading to green to orange at the edges) that look digitally enhanced but aren’t. Castle Geyser, Grand Geyser, and Riverside Geyser are all within the basin and all worth watching if you have the time.

Grand Prismatic Spring

The Grand Prismatic Spring in the Midway Geyser Basin is 113 metres across and 50 metres deep — the largest hot spring in the US. The colours you see in photographs (deep blue centre, concentric rings of turquoise, green, yellow, orange) are the result of different types of heat-tolerant bacteria living in the progressively cooler water at the edges. The overlook trail gives you the aerial view that the photographs use. The boardwalk at water level is striking in a different way.

Lamar Valley

If you’re at all interested in wildlife, Lamar Valley in the northeast of the park is where you should spend time. It’s called “America’s Serengeti” for good reason: bison herds of several hundred animals are routine, wolves (introduced in 1995 and now a successful breeding population) are regularly spotted with binoculars from the road in early morning, and grizzly bears are seen with enough frequency that the roadside can back up with cars. Go early — before 8am if you can. Bring binoculars.

Mammoth Hot Springs

The terraces at Mammoth are made of travertine, deposited by hot spring water as it cools. They change constantly as springs dry up and new ones form. Some terraces are brilliantly white; others orange or grey where different minerals dominate. The whole complex is open year-round, and in winter the frozen formations are particularly dramatic.

Where to Stay and Eat

Accommodation inside the park is managed by Xanterra (now under Yellowstone Forever). The Old Faithful Inn, a 1904 log structure, is the most famous and most requested — book six months to a year in advance for summer. Canyon Lodge and Mammoth Hotel are the alternatives if the Inn is full.

Outside the park, West Yellowstone is the main gateway town (west entrance), with a range of hotels and a reasonable selection of restaurants. Gardiner (north entrance) is smaller and quieter. Jackson Hole, Wyoming (south, about 60 miles from the south entrance), is expensive but has excellent restaurants and easy access to Grand Teton National Park.

Practical Notes

The park is open year-round, but most facilities open mid-April to mid-October. A 7-day vehicle pass costs $35. The park is large enough that cell service is unreliable — download offline maps. Bison wander roads constantly; approach or crowd them on foot and you will be charged. The minimum safe distance is 23 metres. Rangers are not joking when they enforce this.