Yellowstone National Park is massive. Covering more than 3,400 square miles of land in Wyoming and Montana, the park can be explored via North, east, West, and south access points onto a highway that creates an enormous figure eight through the park’s gorgeous (and often other-worldly) scenery.
Entering from our campsite at Flagg Ranch Campground at the southern entrance of the park, our family departed bright and early on our first full day scheduled to explore Yellowstone National Park prepared to tackle the lower loop, and the lower loop only.
As was becoming a theme of our trip, we resigned ourselves early in our check-in at Flagg Ranch to only exploring the lower half of Yellowstone National Park. Like Ruby Beach and Olympic National Park’s western coastal region, and like the Oregon Coast tour of Tilllamook Cheese, Sea Lions, and dune buggies, something in Yellowstone had to give – and what gave was the upper loop of the park.
We learned so much this summer, but something that became overtly apparent was the vast size of this country. Doing it “all” was going to require more than 40 days on the road, and we will be forever grateful that we had 40 days to explore this beautiful country this summer. And anyway – not doing it all on this trip gives us all the more reason to do it all (an epic road trip) again!
Old Faithful
Our first stop was at the iconic Old Faithful. Following a crowded day of hiking at Jenny Lake, I was still carrying a bit of Florida theme park level crowds ick with me as we pulled into the Old Faithful Lodge parking area. I was feeling a little (albeit maybe a little irrational) salty at the Wyoming National Park crowds. How dare others also want to see the beauty of this country! Oh, entitlement. Sigh.
The boys and I headed into the lodge lobby to use the restroom. We ended up perusing the gift shop, and then I got in line for a cup of coffee. Waiting for our coffee and hot cocoa order to come up, Mike came flying into the lobby to warn us that Old Faithful was set to erupt in 5 minutes.
Crazy enough, they have timed out the eruptions well enough to be able to give guests a not perfect, but relatively close estimate of the times the geyser will erupt. With eruptions happening about 2 hours apart, we were lucky Mike got his hands on that information, or we would have lost two hours on our day waiting for the next “show”. Nature, like the number of other visitors, is out of our control.
Though the benches in the viewing area were quite full (for a pre-9 am eruption), the experience was a solemn, almost religious experience. Reverent silence. The faintest murmur of whispers as the geyser began its work. And the big show – well, I don’t think there’s any getting through that without tears.
Yellowstone had me at Old Faithful. Hook, line, and sinker.
Grand Prismatic Spring and Norris Geyser Basin
Our second stop on our clockwise tour of the lower loop of Yellowstone National Park was the Grand Prismatic Spring. The walk to the boardwalks is lined with some of the most fascinating, otherworldly scenes. The boardwalk lined hike winds through hot springs, small geysers, and prismatic pools in shades of an unearthly clear blue.
By the time we finished the Grand Prismatic Spring loop and hit the road to the North Geyser Basin, traffic was really picking up. We almost gave up on touring Norris Geyser because of the traffic lining the roads. Pro tip: an endless stream of cars parked roadside doesn’t necessarily mean there is no parking in the parking lot. I learned this at Grand Prismatic Spring when I went to use the restroom and found plenty of free parking spaces just waiting to be used after we had been duped by other travelers to park roadside!
We found a parking spot in the lot quickly and easily, and headed out on the Norris Geyser Basin trail. The walking trail is littered with hot springs and geysers, each unique in features but equally stinky in sulfur fumes. It is truly fascinating what the earth can do. I could have stayed and stared all day.
Picnic Lunch in Yellowstone National Park.
En route to our next stop at Canyon Village, we pulled off at a picnic area in the northeast corner of the upper loop to enjoy our packed lunch. We put out our blanket by a stream that ran by, and the boys explored while I made sandwiches. For a brief interlude we were completely alone in the spot – a lovely change of pace from the crowds we’d been surrounded by so far in the Wyoming portion of our trip.
Canyon Village
Did you know that Yellowstone has a “Grand canyon”? Because I did not, and it is AMAZING. Old Faithful can not be beaten in my book. But Canyon Village – oh my. Very close second. A “do NOT miss” in my book, for sure!
We began our adventure at the lower entrance to the falls, which includes a near one mile hike straight down (I.e. a nearly one mile hike straight UP to get back out). The hike down offers beautiful views of the upper falls, and the viewing point at the bottom offers a stunning view of the canyon. Stunning isn’t the right word, but I don’t know that there is a word fitting for the Yellowstone Canyon. It is absolutely remarkable, and I can’t wrap my mind around how it just…exists. Is just…there. For us to see. To enjoy. To be awed by. Thanks, again, Teddy Roosevelt.
Mud Volcanoes, Prairie Lands, and Yellowstone Lake
On our return drive to Flagg Ranch, we pulled off at the Mud Volcanoes area. Crazy. You don’t think Yellowstone National Park’s scenery can get any crazier, and then it brings you mud volcanoes. Dark, angry, stinky ponds of bubbling, steaming mud. Eww and wow.
The eastern side of the lower loop is miles upon miles of expansive prairie lands, and we were lucky to see hundreds of buffalo grazing on our drive. The prairie lands eventually turn into a view of the expansive, beautiful blue Yellowstone Lake to the east, and we stopped at the Yellowstone Lake Lodge as our last stop for the day in the park to walk down to the shore for a closer look. Like our picnic lunch, we were lucky to be enveloped in solitude on the shore of Yellowstone Lake, able to quietly soak in the beauty of yet another stunning space.
A Half Day In Yellowstone
Err…maybe a quarter day? Our full day in Yellowstone National Park’s lower loop was…full. So we decided to save the last attraction on the southeastern side of the loop for our departure day. After hitching up the camper at Flagg Ranch, we entered the park through the southern entrance again, and were pleased to find plenty of parking – even with our 30′ travel trailer in tow – in the West Thumb Geyser parking area.
With a big day of travel ahead, and plans to stop in Cody, Wyoming for a horseback trail ride, we chose the shorter of the two hiking trail options at the West Thumb Geyser.
I think it’s possible to feel a little bit of “you’ve seen one geyser, you’ve seen them all”, and I think some of our crew may have been experiencing that sentiment. But I remained intrigued. And I was really happy that we were able to visit all of the wild features of West Thumb before saying goodbye (for now) to Yellowstone National Park.
