August 3-5, 2025
After driving through West Yellowstone, we entered through the West entrance.
Our first stop was the Lower Geyser Basin and the Fountain Paint Pots.
We got super lucky and arrived just as the Great Fountain Geyser erupted, which it only does once every 7 hours or so. It lasted for a really long time (so long that, amazing as it was, we walked away to see other sights before it was done erupting!). It was super cool!!
So many geysers!
Midway Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic Spring
I've never seen anything like this before - so beautiful!
All those layers of color and mist. Beautiful!!
We only planned this trip a couple months ago, so we booked our lodging outside the park. But once we got to Old Faithful and saw how long it was going to take us to get to our hotel (which was actually an hour outside the entrance), Mariellen worked her magic and talked to the front desk to see if there were by any chance any last minute cancellations or availability..... and there was! So much fun to stay right next to Old Faithful!
The inside of Cabin #115, our home for the night.
We checked in and then walked right outside our cabin to wait for Old Faithful to do her thing.
There she goes!
Mother Nature at her finest.
Old Faithful selfie.
After all the tourists from the day left, it was so fun to walk around and enjoy the scenery and the serenity of the area.
And, since Old Faithful erupts roughly every 90 minutes or so, we got to see her multiple times!
The next morning, we went on an awesome hike exploring all the geysers in the area. So. Many. Geysers!! There are roughly 500 geysers in Yellowstone (approximately half the geysers in the world). Here's one with the Old Faithful Inn in the background. I'm glad we spent the night because I don't think we would have done this walk otherwise. And I absolutely loved it.
In addition to the hundreds of geysers, there are also thousands of Springs, bubbling mud pools, fumaroles and steaming hot springs.
Ethereal
We had to pull ourselves away from Old Faithful so that we had time to explore the rest of the park!
Firehole Falls
Firehole Canyon Drive and Firehole Falls
Then we went to Norris Geyser Basin
Emerald Spring
Such a unique and beautiful landscape!
Next stop: Tower Falls
Overlooking the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone."
And a stop at the Roosevelt Lodge for lunch.
And then we headed to the Lamar Valley to see the Buffalo.
Buffalo traffic jam!
He made it!
Buffalo as far as they eye can see.
I mean, if this isn't something you have to see before you die, I don't know what is!
This is why I travel. This is something you need to feel and experience in person.
As we were leaving Yellowstone, we also came across a huge herd of Elk.
Gardiner is just outside the North Entrance of the Park. There's technically no rafting inside the park, but this was close enough to say we White Water Rafted at Yellowstone!
So much fun!
Thank you Yellowstone.
And thank you to those that had the foresight to make this a National Park, the world's first. What a treasure.
Verdict: Absolutely yes!! I actually went to Yellowstone once before in the summer of 1992, when I was 16 years old. But I never "counted" it or blogged on it because I didn't have any pictures of it and my parents couldn't find any either. And we only spent one day here. I felt like I needed more recent memories and/or photo documentation to actually count it! Besides, I wanted to go back anyway. And I'm so glad I did!! Now, I've just got to get Dave and the kids to go! I feel mildly guilty I didn't this one without them. This is an absolute must do. Everything you see and do here will be amazing! Just pray for nice weather like we had - that makes it even better!
Cost: $35 entrance fee. Lodging varies if you stay in the park. Everything from camping to rustic cabins to more luxurious accommodations. Plan for ~$250/night on average.
Note: Technically Yellowstone, which is bigger than the States of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, is in three states: Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. But the book has it labeled as Wyoming and the vast majority of the park (roughly 96%) is in Wyoming so that's how I've labeld it as well.
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