Yellowstone National Park

Along the park's main drive—the Grand Loop (also referred to as Yellowstone's Figure Eight)—are eight primary "communities," or developed areas. On the Western Yellowstone map are five of those communities—Grant Village, Old Faithful, Madison, Norris, and Mammoth Hot Springs—with their respective sights. The Eastern Yellowstone map shows the remaining three—Tower-Roosevelt, Canyon, and Lake (for Yellowstone Lake area)—with their respective sights.

Sort by: 63 Recommendations {{numTotalPoiResults}} {{ (numTotalPoiResults===1)?'Recommendation':'Recommendations' }} 0 Recommendations
CLEAR ALL Area Search CLEAR ALL
Loading...
Loading...
  • 1. Artist Point

    An impressive view of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River can be had from this famous perch, which has two observation platforms, one accessible to wheelchairs. Rangers often give short talks on the lower platform. You can also access the South Rim Trail from here.

    End of South Rim Rd., Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
  • 2. Avalanche Peak Trail

    Fishing Bridge

    On a busy day in summer, only a handful of parties will fill out the trail register at the Avalanche Peak trailhead, so if you're seeking solitude, this is your hike. Starting across from a parking area on the East Entrance Road, this rigorous 4.2-mile, four-hour round-trip climbs 2,150 feet to the peak's 10,566-foot summit, from which you'll see the rugged Absaroka Mountains running north and south. Look around the talus and tundra near the top of Avalanche Peak for alpine wildflowers and butterflies. From early September to late June, the trail is often impassable due to snow, and fall also can see grizzly bear activity. Stick to summer. Difficult.

    Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
  • 3. Bunsen Peak Trail

    Past the entrance to Bunsen Peak Road, this moderately challenging 4.4-mile round-trip trek climbs 1,280 feet to 8,527-foot Bunsen Peak for a dramatic panoramic view of Blacktail Plateau, Mammoth Hot Springs, the Gallatin Mountains, and the Yellowstone River valley. Allow about three hours.Moderate–Difficult.

    Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
  • 4. Fairy Falls Trail

    Old Faithful

    Rewarding trekkers with the chance to view Grand Prismatic Spring from high up on a bluff and to gaze up at 200-foot-tall Fairy Falls cascade from a pool of mist down below, this mostly level 5.4-mile round-trip hike is one of the highlights of the Midway Geyser Basin. Easy.

    Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
  • 5. Firehole Canyon Drive

    The 2-mile narrow asphalt road twists through a deep canyon of curving lava-rock formations and passes the 40-foot Firehole Falls, which are most scenic in the morning when you're not looking into the afternoon sun. In summer look for a sign marking a pull-out and swimming hole. This is one of only two places in the park (Boiling River on the North Entrance Road is the other) where you can safely and legally swim in the thermally heated waters. Look for osprey and other raptors.

    Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

    Sight Details

    Rate Includes: Closed early Nov.–early Apr.
  • Recommended Fodor’s Video

  • 6. Fort Yellowstone

    Mammoth Hot Springs

    The oldest buildings here served as Fort Yellowstone from 1891 to 1918, when the U.S. Army managed the park. The redbrick buildings cluster around an open area reminiscent of a frontier-era parade ground. Pick up a self-guided tour map of the area from the Albright Visitors Center on Officers Row, and start your walking tour there.

    Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
    View Tours and Activities
  • 7. Grand Prismatic Spring

    You can reach Yellowstone's largest hot spring, 370 feet in diameter and arguably an even more dazzling sight than Old Faithful, by following a ⅓-mile boardwalk loop. The spring, in the Midway Geyser Basin, is deep blue in color, with yellow and orange rings formed by bacteria that give it the effect of a prism. For a stunning perspective, view it from the overlook along the Fairy Falls Trail.

    Midway Geyser Basin, Grand Loop Rd., Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
    View Tours and Activities
  • 8. Hayden Valley on Grand Loop Road

    Bison, bears, coyotes, wolves, and birds of prey all call Hayden Valley home almost year-round. Once part of Yellowstone Lake, the broad valley now contains peaceful meadows, rolling hills, and a serene stretch of the Yellowstone River. There are multiple turnouts and picnic areas on this 16-mile drive. Ask a ranger about "Grizzly Overlook," an unofficial site where wildlife watchers, including NPS rangers with spotting scopes for the public to use, congregate in summer. North of Mud Volcano are 11 unsigned turnouts. Look for the telltale timber railings, and be prepared to get caught in a traffic-stopping "bison jam" along the way.

    Grand Loop Rd. between Canyon and Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

    Sight Details

    Rate Includes: Closed early Nov.–early Apr.
  • 9. Jenny Lake Visitor Center and Ranger Station

    Jenny Lake

    Located steps from one another inside historic 1920s cabins by the Jenny Lake parking area, trailhead, and shuttle boat dock, these two ranger-staffed information centers serve different functions. The visitor center is inside a building that was once used as a studio by the park's first official park photographer, Harrison Crandall. Today it's filled with exhibits on the history of art and artists in the park. It also contains a bookstore and information about daily ranger programs. The smaller ranger station occupies a 1925 cabin that once held the park's first museum and is now a one-stop for backcountry and mountaineering advice and permits as well as boat permits.

    Off Teton Park Rd., Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 83012, USA
    307-739–3392

    Sight Details

    Rate Includes: Closed early Sept.–late May, May–late Sept., daily 8–7; call for spring and fall hrs
  • 10. Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve Center

    This contemporary structure feels more like an art gallery than an interpretive facility. The elegant, eco-friendly building is more than just eye candy—you can experience the sounds of the park in a cylindrical audio chamber, and laminated maps in the reading room are great for trip planning. Rangers here promote "contemplative hiking" and are well informed about the many birds around the center's trailheads. It's best to get here in the early morning or late evening because the small parking area fills quickly. A ranger leads a hike to the lake every morning.

    End of LSR Preserve Entrance Rd., Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 83012, USA
    307-739–3300

    Sight Details

    Rate Includes: Closed late Sept.–May, Early June–mid Sept., daily 9–5; call for off-season hrs
  • 11. Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces

    Multicolor travertine terraces formed by slowly escaping hot mineral water mark this unusual geological formation, one of the most remarkable sights in the park. You can explore the terraces via an elaborate network of boardwalks, the best of which is the Lower Terrace Interpretive Trail. If you head uphill from Liberty Cap, near the lower parking area, in a half-hour you'll pass bright and ornately terraced Minerva Spring, and in an hour you can make your way up to the Main Terrace Overlook and the side trail to Canary Spring. Along the way you might spot elk grazing nearby. Alternatively, you can drive up to the Main Terrace Overlook on Upper Terrace Drive and hike down to the Lower Terrace. Distances are fairly short amid these terraces, but give yourself at least a couple of hours to thoroughly explore them—especially if you enjoy taking lots of pictures.

    Grand Loop Rd., Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
  • 12. Northeast Entrance Road through Lamar Valley

    This 29-mile road has the richest landscape diversity of the five entrance roads. Just after you enter the park from Cooke City, Montana, you cut between 10,928-foot Abiathar Peak and the 10,404-foot Barronette Peak. Lamar Valley is home to hundreds of bison, and the rugged peaks and ridges adjacent to it shelter some of Yellowstone's most famous wolf packs. (Wolves were reintroduced to the park in the mid-1990s.) This is the park's best place for wolf- and bison-watching, especially in the early morning and early evening. As you exit Lamar Valley, the road crosses the Yellowstone River before leading you to the rustic Roosevelt Lodge.

    Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
  • 13. Observation Point Loop

    Old Faithful

    A 2-mile round-trip route leaves Geyser Hill Loop boardwalk and becomes a trail shortly after the Firehole River; it circles a picturesque overview of Geyser Hill with Old Faithful Inn as a backdrop. You may also see Castle Geyser erupting. Even when 1,000-plus people are crowded on the boardwalk to watch Old Faithful, expect to find fewer than a dozen here. Easy–Moderate.

    Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
  • 14. Old Faithful

    Almost every park visitor makes it a point to view the world's most famous geyser, at least once. Yellowstone's most predictable big geyser—although neither its largest nor most regular—sometimes shoots as high as 180 feet, but it averages 130 feet. The eruptions take place every 50–120 minutes, the average is around 94 minutes. Check the park website, visitor center, or the lobbies of the Old Faithful hotels for predicted times. You can view the eruption from a bench just yards away, from the dining room at the lodge cafeteria, or the second-floor deck of the Old Faithful Inn. The 1.6-mile loop hike to Observation Point yields yet another view—from above—of the geyser and the surrounding basin.

    Grand Loop Rd., Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
    View Tours and Activities
  • 15. Old Faithful Inn

    Old Faithful

    It's hard to imagine how any work could be accomplished with snow and ice blanketing the region, but this truly iconic hotel was constructed over the course of a single winter. Completed in 1904, what's believed to be the world's largest log structure is one of the most recognizable, and impressive, buildings in the national park system. Even if you don't spend the night, walk through or take the free 45-minute guided tour to admire its massive open-beam lobby and rock fireplace. There are antique writing desks on the second-floor balcony. You can watch Old Faithful geyser from two second-floor decks.

    3200 Old Faithful Inn Rd., Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
    307-344–7311

    Sight Details

    Rate Includes: Closed early Oct.–early May, May–mid-Oct.; tours daily, times vary
  • 16. Old Faithful Visitor Education Center

    At this impressive, contemporary, LEED-certified visitor center that's a jewel of the national park system, you can check out the interactive exhibits and children's area, read the latest geyser-eruption predictions, and find out the schedules for ranger-led walks and talks. Backcountry and fishing permits are dispensed at the ranger station adjacent to the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, across the street.

    Old Faithful Bypass Rd., Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
    307-344–2751

    Sight Details

    Rate Includes: Closed mid-Nov.–mid-Dec. and mid-Mar.–mid-Apr., Late May–Sept., daily 8–8; Oct. and Nov., daily 5–5; Dec.–late Apr., daily 9–6
  • 17. Sedge Bay

    On the northern end of this volcanic beach, look carefully for the large rock slabs pushed out of the lake bottom. Nearby trees offer shade and a table, or you can hop onto the level rocks for an ideal lakeside picnic. You may see bubbles rising from the clear water around the rocks—these indicate an active underwater thermal feature. The only company you may have here could be crickets, birds, and bison.

    East Entrance Rd., Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 82190, USA
  • 18. South Rim Trail

    Canyon

    Partly paved and fairly flat, this 1¾-mile trail along the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone affords impressive views and photo opportunities of the canyon and falls of the Yellowstone River. It starts at Chittenden Bridge, passes by magnificent Upper Falls View and Uncle Tom's Trail, and ends at Artist Point. Beyond Artist Point, you can continue your adventures for another 1.3 miles along a less-traveled and stunning trail to Point Sublime, or cut inland through high mountain meadows along the Clear Lake–Ribbon Lake Loop. You'll see fewer humans and possibly more wildlife in this more rugged backcountry, so carry bear spray. Moderate.

    Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
  • 19. West Thumb Geyser Basin

    West Thumb

    The primary Yellowstone caldera was created by one massive volcanic eruption, but a later eruption formed the West Thumb, an unusual and particularly photogenic geyser basin because its active geothermal features are on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. Two boardwalks loop through the basin and showcase a number of sites, including the stunning blue-green Abyss Pool and Fishing Cone, where fishermen used to drop their freshly caught fish straight into boiling water without ever taking it off the hook. This area is popular in winter, when you can take advantage of the nearby warming hut and stroll around the geyser basin before continuing your trip via snowcoach or snowmobile.

    Grand Loop Rd., Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
  • 20. Albright Visitor Center

    Mammoth Hot Springs

    Bachelor quarters for U.S. Army cavalry officers from 1909 to 1918, the carefully renovated red-roof visitor center is a great source for maps, advice, permits, and free Wi-Fi. This hefty stone structure also contains a bookstore and exhibits about the park's history, flora, and fauna, including displays of bears and wolves that kids love.

    Grand Loop Rd., Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
    307-344–2263

    Sight Details

    Rate Includes: Late May–Sept., daily 8–7; Oct.–late May, daily 9–6

No sights Results

Please try a broader search, or expore these popular suggestions:

There are no results for {{ strDestName }} Sights in the searched map area with the above filters. Please try a different area on the map, or broaden your search with these popular suggestions:

Recommended Fodor’s Video