Day 1
Coming in from the South
Yellowstone is a monster of beauty, rarity, and masses of people. We were seeing what we could explore with two nights in the park at the Canyon campground. We came from the South entrance in the morning with no wait at all (we had heard the East entrance can get backed up). The drive up along the Lewis River was one of the first beauties. It was a huge canyon with trees popping up at all angles, so we briefly stopped to look around and again at Lewis Falls, a good teaser of a fall before the more massive ones near Canyon.
Driving by Lewis Lake was our first inclination to understanding the massive scale of the park. It looks like merely a pond on the map, but it could have been similar size to Lake Jackson in Grand Teton which we had just come from.
Grant Village and West Thumb Geyser Basin
Our next stop was the Grant Village store quickly to get a few souvenirs and food. It had loads of hats, t-shirts, mugs, and a decent grocery section. Next stop was West Thumb Geyser Basin, a good first introduction to the many geysers and springs all over the park, with the lake as a backdrop against the steaming colorful dirt holes. It was rather crowded with a large, full parking lot but we soon learned that’s the norm for most of the park after 10 AM.
Bison everywhere in Hayden Valley
At this point we decided to head to our campsite to check in and then backtrack to what we wanted to check out. Yellowstone Lake as we drove by looked as expansive as the sea except the subtle outline of mountains in the distance. Near Hayden Valley is where we encountered our first bison traffic jam. It seemed marvelous at first (I thought bison were extinct until recently), but as we went along the road and back later, bison were practically sticking their heads in windows. Do not worry about not seeing bison if you head through Hayden Valley.
Mud Volcano and Sulphur Caldron
We had a quick easy check-in to our woodsy (slightly packed in) campsite in Canyon Village before heading back to the Mud Volcano area. There was a boardwalk trail that circled around to many muddy, bubbly geysers. It was a different sight than anywhere I’ve been, but with the barren landscape (because the soil is too hot for trees) and the steaming mud all around, it wasn’t the most beautiful. Similar description for the Sulphur Caldron, but with a stronger small as can be imagined from the name.
Canyon Falls from South Rim Drive
Next we checked out the falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone near our campsite. We took the Southern road called South Rim Drive and pulled to the right in a lot first to get a better view of the river and bridge just after the turn.
To see the falls we parked at Uncle Tom’s point which had an upper falls viewpoint just off the lot (which was a better view than the trail that went down the hill to the left). We continued on a trail to the right that followed along the edge of the cliff and ended up on the southern rim trail, which usually would lead to Uncle Tom’s Trail to a good view of the lower falls, but was closed. We were unaware however and continued until a view point of the lower falls happened on this rim trail. It was wildly less crowded on this trail since it didn’t exactly say there was a viewpoint on the map, which made it even better.
Artist Point at end of road
We continued down the road to Artist Point. It had a nice view looking into the canyon at the lower falls, but it was a bit hazy that day, and we were worn out from the long day, so we decided to call it a day and headed to our campsite.
Day 2
Old Faithful first thing
We got up bright and early the next morning to hit the farthest (and most crowded spot), Old Faithful, and worked our way back. It was about a 45 minute drive from Canyon, and we made one detour along the Firehole Falls scenic drive which was a nice road for viewing the creek and small falls rather than the main road. All the geysers were very dramatic in the morning light. The chillier temperatures meant more steam and were illuminated by the sun. For this reason and the very noticeable lack of crowds everywhere before 8 AM, I think it’s worth the effort and cold of going out early.
We got to Old Faithful at about 8 AM and were surprised no signs said when the next eruption should be. We overhead people saying 8:29 AM so we waited it out, and after a few small teaser blows, it erupted for about 10 minutes at 8:35 AM or so.
Black Sands Basin
We started to work our way back by checking out the Black Sands Basin, which still had very few people, and had a variety of colorful geysers along a short boardwalk stroll.
Midway Basin Trail to Fairy Falls and Viewpoint
The plan was to see the Grand Prismatic Spring next in the Midway Basin, but I read the map wrong and we ended up 2 miles on a trail in the area before we realized we were going the wrong way. We made the most of it however and took a side 1.5 mile trail that led to Fairy Falls. After a nice flat stroll through the woods we came upon a 50 foot dripping beauty into a pool at the base of the cliff. In the pool, to my amazement, was a family of otters swimming and frolicking about.
On the way back there was another side trail that went up to give a viewpoint of the Grand Prismatic Spring. We took that up in lieu of making a stop at the boardwalk around the spring, and finished out the walk on the crowded trail back to the parking lot, very worn out and hungry.
Picnic by Firehole River
We stopped at a pullout along the Firehole River and made a lunch picnic on the edge of the river. It was a nice serene spot away from all the busy picnic areas and main attractions.
Gibbon Falls
A quick stop was at the roadside for Gibbon Falls. There is just a short walk down the hill to get a great view of this cascading fall.
Artist’s Paintpots
Our last stop before heading to the campsite was at the Artist’s Paintpots. Though we had some expectations of neat clay formations, it was more colorful small geysers. There was an even wider variety of mud and multicolored streams all packed in together, so it was an interesting spot and not as crowded as most of the others.
Canyon Views on North Rim Drive
After a nap at the camp we took one last drive on the North Rim Drive to check out the viewpoints farther along the canyon at Golden Hour at about 6 PM. It was very worth it, with amazing, clear views, and very few people out and about. The trail there, North Rim Trail, would be very worth it. It winds along the cliff, giving great views along and leads to each viewpoint accessible by the road. Though we were too worn out to walk the whole thing, it would be a very nice hike.
Day 3
Mammoth Hot Springs and stops
On the way out the next morning, we made a few stops for photos and took the Mammoth hot springs scenic drive. The boardwalk trail there around the large white formations would have been neat, but we had a long drive ahead of us.
To check out the rest of my road trip click here or to read about other travels click here.
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