Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone, the first national park in the world, sits atop a giant volcano, and its heat drives half the planet's geysers, painted hot springs and bubbling mud. Add canyons, waterfalls and vast valleys roamed by bison, elk, grizzlies and wolves, and it is one of the greatest wildlife and geothermal landscapes on earth, a UNESCO site.

Background

Most of the park lies in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions in Montana and Idaho, and it spans 3,468.4 sq mi. The English name goes back to the Hidatsa term for the river, translated as 'Yellow Stone' in 1797 during the expedition of David Thompson. Native Americans have made the region home for at least 11,000 years, and over one thousand indigenous archaeological sites have been studied. Obsidian from Obsidian Cliff travelled thousands of miles to Ohio between roughly 200 BC-400 AD for the Hopewell Culture. Organized exploration by outsiders began only in the late 1860s, and the park was established on March 1, 1872. Large fires in 1988 burned more than one-third of it.

Source: Wikipedia, "Yellowstone National Park"

What's there

• Old Faithful and the geyser basins - the famous geyser and the steaming basins around it.
• Grand Prismatic Spring - the huge rainbow-ringed hot spring.
• The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone - the yellow-walled canyon and its waterfalls.
• Lamar and Hayden valleys - the great wildlife valleys of bison, wolves and bears.

When to go

Late spring to early autumn for full access and wildlife; September for the elk rut and fewer crowds. Winter transforms it into a snowbound world reached by snowcoach, with steaming geysers in the cold.

What to expect

It is enormous, so distances between sights are long and a rushed day barely scratches it. Summer brings heavy traffic and crowded boardwalks and parking. The wildlife is genuinely wild and dangerous, so keep well back from bison and bears and never approach them.

Nearby

Grand Teton National Park adjoins to the south; Jackson and Cody are gateway towns.

Key facts