Top Things to do in Yellowstone National Park
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8 Scenic Drives in Yellowstone National Park That You Shouldn't Miss
Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park is a national treasure. Located primarily in Wyoming, the park also extends into Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone has active geothermal features with geysers and boiling mud pots throughout the park. The most famous is Old Faithful, a geyser that has erupted on the clock for decades. Travelers be warned, July is the busiest month of the year, with almost a million visitors alone. The park has a tour bus system, nine visitor centers, and 2,000 campsites.
1. Lamar Valley
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2,998 reviews
Reviewed By FancyFree55 - Florida, United States
This route is an amazing drive into the park, with large herds of buffalo grazing in vast fields on both sides of the northeast entrance road. It seemed that our visit coincided with birthing season, when lots of calves were just joining families. They're an unusual orange-brown color, compared with the very dark fur of their parents.' Tourists parked all over the sides of the highway to stop for close-up photos these incredible animals. When I say close-up, I mean with a good zoom. Park signage warns you not to get nearer than 75 yards because the animals are very fast and, if they feel like their babies are threatened, they will charge. We were very fortunate to also spot a small herd of pronghorn elk grazing not far from the road and got some great pix. The drive itself is beautiful, with mountains off in the distance, and a river winding through vast green along and around the roadway.
2. Grand Loop Road
3. Firehole Canyon Drive
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 617 reviews
Reviewed By Nyormirror - Bay City, United States
Firehole Lake Drive is a 3-mile, one-way side road off the Grand Loop located between the Old Faithful exit and Madison Junction. It has many geysers and hot springs that you can see from the road. There is also a boardwalk around the Firehole Lake itself, leading you to small geysers and springs. We saw people swimming and some bison and pronghorn. I would recommend.
4. Grand Loop Road
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 758 reviews
A 140-mile scenic drive past some of Yellowstone's most famous sites.
Reviewed By 0617merS - Columbus, United States
We had one day to explore Yellowstone, we had never been there before and we wanted to take advantage of the day we had and see the most. We did our Yellowstone day on June Monday, June 10. It was very early in the season which was great in that the crowds were low and the traffic was as well and easy in and out of parking lots, allowing us to navigate the park at a good pace. Also, it is SO WORTH the $6 to get the GYPSY app of yellowstone. Download it before you go and enjoy the commentary along your drive through the park. We were staying in Teton Village, we got up around 2:30 and got on the road. We decided to only do the lower loop. We arrived at Old Faithful about 5:45 and it was perfect timing, because it erupted at 6am. We then walked the upper geyser board walks and made our way back to the car and on the way to the upper view point of grand prisim. It's about a mile walk and the view of grand prisim is perfect from up there. We then headed to the artist paint pots and walked the mile trail there. This was well worth our stop, the topography and colors are just very unique. We then stopped at Gibbons Falls and checked out the view from there. By this time we were heading to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and took the one way road off the beaten path to check out Virginia falls (thanks to GYPSY app) this is a beautiful drive and I highly suggest it, however you can only do it if you're traveling clockwise around the loop, or you can back track your drive. We got to Canyon Village about 11:15 and ate at the dinner in the general store, and did a quick little shopping and headed out to the trail that leads to lower falls, a spectacular view from the look outs there, went to inspiration point, and then over to artist look out and then made around way to our last stop on the loop, to West Thumb, parked and did the board walk 1 mile walk, this is a stunning look at lake yellowstone, it's blue waters and the geyesers that boarder it. We then left at the same south gate we entered and headed back. I believe we left the park around 5:30 and hit jackson Hole around 7:30 and ate there before heading back to teton village. We were nervous about doing YS in a day, but if you're able to get there early enough, it's more than doable....and early morning is when the wildlife is out. There's bathrooms at almost every trail head and if you pack food, and are able bodied, you can do this. I think we clocked 10 miles this day, but we all said, it was worth it!!
5. Firehole Lake Drive
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 213 reviews
Reviewed By DePere - De Pere, United States
Firehole Lake Drive is a one-way 3.3 mile loop between Old Faithful and Madison Junction. If traveling from the Old Faithful area it will be on the right side of the road. Buses and trailers are prohibited from traveling on this road. This was our third trip to Yellowstone in the past four years. Firehole Lake Drive is our favorite sideroad in the park and we turn-in the loop every time we pass it. It has a major geyser, a few minor geysers that erupt frequently, some hot springs, and provides a good possibility of seeing wildlife. Great Fountain Geyser is the major geyser and its eruptions are predictable. The estimated time for the eruptions are posted at the visitor center at Old Faithful as well as at the Great Fountain geyser site. (You may have to wait a while because I think the window for the eruption is approximately three hours). Of the predictable major geysers I vacillate between Great Fountain and Grand geyser as my favorite. Both are very, very, impressive. White Dome geyser – Is located just past Great Fountain Geyser. It has a very impressive cone, and the interval between eruptions is short (20 to 30 minutes). The length of the eruption is between 1 and 2 minutes. We always wait for an eruption. At Firehole lake there are three more minor geysers that seem to be in continuous eruption. There are boardwalks on both side of the lake. We have seen a variety of wildlife on this loop including elk, bison and coyote. This trip we arrived at the Drive perhaps 30 minutes after sunrise and were treated to a coyote hunting in the tall grasses just as you begin the drive. The coyote was an excellent hunter as we observed him catch two voles (or something else), as we watched.
6. Virginia Cascade Drive
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 22 reviews
Reviewed By 799danielan - San Antonio, United States
Short drive with beautiful landscape from the main road. We found a small beautiful fall. Road was narrow and interesting. We saw many people ate lunches. Would not mind to walk around the fall next visit to YS.
7. Blacktail Plateau Drive
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 80 reviews
A one-way dirt road where many wolf are found.
Reviewed By garydS3773JC - Livermore, United States
This drive is about 6 miles or so of one-way dirt road. We drove it easily in a Subaru, so it is not a challenge to drive. It is rough and washboarded in many places, but if you just take it at a reasonable speed (15-20 mph), it's not a problem. The scenery along this road is great (as is most of Yellowstone, of course). The road goes through a number of different types of areas, with varying geology and plant & animal life. It's all beautiful. I would not say that it's better than other places in Yellowstone, but there is a lot less traffic, it feels more isolated, and because you're best off driving it slowly, you get more of chance to take it all in. I'd definitely recommend this drive, especially if you've already driven the main roads in the area once or twice.
