Pass The Passport

Bucket List / Travel Goals

Admire Yellowstone National Park

Still to do

Geysers blasting skyward, rainbow-coloured hot springs and bison on the road, all on top of a restless supervolcano.

Admire Yellowstone National Park

The adventure

Yellowstone feels alive. Steam rises from the ground beside the road, mud pots bubble and belch, and the air smells faintly of sulphur. Then Old Faithful starts to stir, splashing and spluttering, before a column of boiling water roars dozens of metres into the air while the crowd gasps.

Walk the boardwalk at Grand Prismatic Spring and you're wrapped in warm steam, looking across rings of deep blue, green, yellow and orange created by heat-loving microbes; hike the short trail to the overlook for the full view. In the Lamar Valley at dawn, bison graze by the river while wildlife watchers scan the hills for wolves, and in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone a thundering waterfall drops between yellow canyon walls.

Why it’s epic

  • Established in 1872, it was the world's first national park.
  • It has more than 10,000 hydrothermal features, including over 500 geysers.
  • Grand Prismatic Spring, around 110 metres across, is the largest hot spring in the United States.
  • Wolves were reintroduced in 1995, and the park's bison herd is one of the largest and oldest in North America.

What it is

Yellowstone was the world's first national park and has more than half the world's geysers, including Old Faithful.

How to do it

Fly to Jackson or Bozeman and drive in. See the Grand Prismatic Spring and look for bison and wolves in the Lamar Valley.

Top tip

Stay on the boardwalks; the ground near thermal features can be thin and scalding.

Need to know

  • Book lodges and campsites inside the park up to a year ahead for summer, as they fill fast.
  • Keep at least 100 yards from bears and wolves and 25 yards from bison and other animals, and carry bear spray on hikes.
  • Most park roads close to cars from November to April, so May to September is the main season.

Plan this trip

Rough cost
£2,000 to £5,000 per person, including flights from the UK
Time needed
3 to 5 days
Best time to go
May to September
Fly into
BZN airport

Flights, a hire car and in-park lodges, which are pricey and book up early, make up most of the cost.

Sample itinerary

  1. Day 1Fly into Jackson Hole or Bozeman and drive to the park
  2. Day 2Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring and the Upper Geyser Basin
  3. Day 3Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Lower Falls
  4. Day 4Lamar Valley at dawn for bison, elk and wolves

Make it happen

Some of these are affiliate links: if you book through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. More about this.

Why it’s on my list

Not done yet. If you’ve done it and have tips, tell me about it.

Comments