Top Things to do in Yellowstone National Park
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Things to do in Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone National Park: The Best Points of Interest & Landmarks
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. Artist Point
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,292 reviews
Reviewed By Tommy599 - Two Rivers, United States
We crossed Chittenden bridge across the Yellowstone river; stopping first at Uncle Toms to view the smaller upper Falls, then on to Artist Point to view the MAGNIFICENT lower falls and the unbelievable colors of the canyon. It is IMPOSSIBLE to describe the majesty of this waterfall and canyon colors, so we will not even try,
2. Specimen Ridge
3. Union Falls
4. Palette Spring
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 16 reviews
Reviewed By db7477 - Carlsbad, United States
The Palette Spring area of Mammoth Hot Springs is easily accessible from the lower parking lots and includes the 37 FT tall Liberty Cap (imagine an erupting Geyser frozen in time), Devil’s Thumb (a smaller cone), Palette Spring and Terraces. It’s one of the more striking and active areas within Mammoth Hot Springs. Water soaks into the limestone, meets the liquid magma, evaporates, reacts with the limestone and forms calcium carbonate deposits as it cools... it’s a fascinating example of the wonders of our Earth.
5. Roosevelt Arch
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 417 reviews
Reviewed By O4725EKbrianb
This is at the North Entrance at Gardiner, MT. Great place to enter the park, as it is close to Mammoth Hot Springs.
6. The 45th Parallel
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 11 reviews
Reviewed By jesseo582 - Jackson, United States
For decades it was said that the exact midpoint between the North Pole and the equator was the Wyoming/Montana state line, where parking is for the Boiling River. Then, twelve years ago, it was recalculated to be ~1 kilometre north of the state line, though the current sign is .33 km. further north than the actual gps located spot for the sake of safety at a turnout. Oops.
7. Clepsydra Geyser
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 5 reviews
Reviewed By jesseo582 - Jackson, United States
If you walk around the fountain paint pots trail in a clockwise direction, Clepsydra is on your right just after Fountain Geyser. If you go clockwise it will be on your left after you crest a hill, immediately after the now unmarked Jelly geyser. You will read it’s become erratic. In fact, new behavior is just that: it is still very reliable. Instead of a common shutdown period of five or so minutes about 15-30 minutes Fountain ends, now it have several breaks but as the energy in the multigeyser system builds, it erupts steadily and dependably until after the next fountain cycle ends. On Saturday, 12 May, there were three off periods lasting from 5-7 minutes which is similar to what I recorded last October and a year ago on 15 May, the day before Sidekick Geyser, just to the right and slightly closer, is reputed to have begun erupting, but I saw sidekick’s pool level rising and falling, modifying Clepsydras behavior the day before. Please read of how it changed dramatically in the past 58 years ago in the $1 self guided booklet at the trailhead. Outside of the pamphlet, there is a lot of information out there that doesn’t hold water. One tour guide who was born and raised in the region told his guests before the change last year that “Clepsydra never shuts down.” By definition a geyser is periodic, even if shutdowns are short. He’d just never taken the time to see for himself. Other guides pronounce it Clep-sigh-druh which makes sense if you consider hydra means water. But Ckepsydra (water clock) is a Greek word, not Latin: it is pronounced Clep-See-Druh. Funny thing, “Clep” is Greek for thief not clock but the meaning has taken hold and is accepted: it “steals” water so predictably, you could almost set your clock by it, before 17 August, 1959. In the Gugong, the “Forbidden City” in Beijing, China, imagine my surprise when I came upon a large brass ball full of holes labeled clearly as a “Clepsydra!” But the beauty of this place is you can see this for yourself if you take the time. Clepsydra is an eminently dependable geyser, for now. If it’s not erupting as you approach it just wait a few minutes. Until the next big change, I expect it will start up again in five or slightly more minutes, as it has been doing for decades.
8. Petrified Tree
Overall Ratings
3.0 based on 79 reviews
Reviewed By 262keithd - Richardson, United States
In and of itself, this is just a simple petrified tree just outside the Tower-Roosevelt area on the road to Mammoth. It is fenced in, doesn't make for good photos, and the parking lot is hard to get in and out of. The tree is a redwood though, and is really out of place so far from California. It makes you stop and wonder how it got there, what was the United States like before volcanic activity petrified the tree, and why you don't see more of them. It is also a reminder to leave the park worthy of future visitors when you learn that there was another tree that visitors collected for themselves as souvenirs over time, and now this one must be fenced in to keep it their for future generations. So ode to a tree, even if the exhibit is not as worthy itself.
