Post 5: Yellowstone: Yearning for Geysers and Wildlife

Written by Lindsey Huster
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7 min read
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Last updated 3 months ago

One of the biggest highlights of the trip with my mom would be visiting Yellowstone National Park. We planned to spend two full days in the park and had the flexibility of spending another half day if needed. Keith and I visited Yellowstone with some friends a few years prior and had an absolutely amazing experience. I hoped my mom and I would be as lucky to see lots of wildlife while exploring the geysers and other highlights of the park.

Amazing color and rock formations in Yellowstone National Park

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Exploring Yellowstone

The "grand loop" drive in Yellowstone National Park is approximately 140 miles. As you can imagine, this takes some time since there are many features you'll want to see, some taking up to an hour to enjoy. Wildlife "jams" are common, and with a speed limit of 25 mph - 45 mph, the more time you have, the better!

We were staying in West Yellowstone; therefore, we were able to enter the park through the west entrance. Our agenda included driving the upper loop on the first day in the park and the lower loop on the second day. We would then assess if we missed anything or if we wanted to spend more time in a certain area on that third day.

Yellowstone National Park map — Yellowstone National Park Map

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Upper Loop

Even though we were anxious to get into the park, but made sure to start our day with breakfast. The Crosswinds Inn offers a good breakfast buffet that we took advantage of each day. This helped save time and money, plus it was super convenient.

We drove the upper loop clockwise, and it took us approximately 12 hours from the time we left the hotel until we returned! When I mapped the route, it gave a drive time of over 6 hours, so we basically spent as much time at the stops as we did driving. I had warned my mom that there would be a lot of getting in and out of the car, possible stretches of time waiting to see animals, or stopped traffic because of animals. I think it's safe to say that the best part of Yellowstone for both of us is the excitement around seeing the animals, especially the bear!

Gallery of the stops in Yellowstone to see geysers and other unique formations in the park

We stopped at nearly every pull-off and attraction that looked interesting and/or had parking. This meant we saw a lot of the most popular attractions, including waterfalls, geysers, paintpots, and more. Two of the big highlights of the day were seeing a bear and watching an osprey return to its nest with food. We were quite far away, but could make out what was going on with our binoculars.

Gallery of some of the animals we saw in Yellowstone; bison, pronghorn, osprey and bear

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Since I was driving and we were constantly on the lookout for wildlife, we really didn't take many pictures in Yellowstone. We really enjoyed the moment as it was happening and didn't sacrifice the experience for a photo.

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Lower Loop

Once again, we spent about 12 hours driving the lower loop! These were two long days, but worth every second. We explored the loop counterclockwise. This worked out great because some of the most popular attractions would be earlier in the day, and anything that overlapped from the day before would be at the end of the day.

I was looking forward to seeing my mom's reaction to seeing the Grand Prismatic Spring and the Old Faithful Geyser. Arriving at Grand Prismatic, it wasn't too busy, so we had plenty of time to take pictures and just stand in awe of this unique spot. It's the largest hot spring in the US and the third largest in the world. Unfortunately, we didn't end up hiking to the overlook. It was quite busy there and would probably take a chunk of time we weren't sure we wanted to give up. I would definitely recommend doing this if you have time.

Old Faithful is another iconic stop on the lower loop and a must-do. Not only do you have the chance to see the Old Faithful Geyser erupt, but you must also explore the Old Faithful Inn. Take your time walking around the rustic inn and enjoying the multi-story log lobby with a stone fireplace. We were lucky enough to see the eruption as we first walked up to the area and then again after we left the inn.

Gallery at the Old Faithful Geyser and Old Faithful Inn

Two other high points for the day were seeing another bear and walking around some of the other springs with their magical blue water. It was so relaxing to meander around the boardwalks and enjoy that beautiful, clear blue water. In contrast, the mud springs are also fascinating.

Gallery of more stops in Yellowstone, including mud pots, springs and a river

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Are Two Days Enough?

We had just spent two long days in Yellowstone National Park and loved every minute! We were driving to Jackson, Wyoming, the next day. We had the option to spend another day in Yellowstone or head towards Jackson earlier. We decided we had such a good experience in Yellowstone that we were fulfilled. It was also a tricky decision because to do anything more in Yellowstone would require quite a bit more driving and a much longer day. We opted for a more relaxing day, knowing we'd have a couple of long days in Grand Teton National Park coming up.

Gallery of other highlights from the days in Yellowstone including that bright blue clear water and more animal sightings

Upcoming Post

Check back next week as my mom and I explore another national park! Our road trip gave us three nights in Jackson, Wyoming. This allowed us to explore Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and more!

Have you visited Yellowstone National Park? What are some of your favorite sights in the park? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬