Yellowstone National Park is a fantastic geothermal wonderland that is simply bursting with amazing things to do.
Erupting geysers, bubbling mudpots, hissing fumaroles, boiling springs and absolutely gorgeous thermal pools are scattered throughout this incredibly unique landscape. Not to mention Yellowstone’s jaw-dropping formations, terrific hikes and fantastic wildlife that’s everywhere you look.
Yellowstone truly is a spectacular destination to visit.
Yet, with more than 2 million acres of land, over 10,000 hydrothermal features and more than 500 active geysers (which is more than half of the entire world’s geysers) it can be completely overwhelming to plan a visit. Where should you go? What should you see? And how do you even start?
This is where I’d like to help.
Below, I’ve included 15 of our top favorite things to do in Yellowstone National Park. Each of these amazing sites seriously impressed our family and I would love to share them with you, in hopes that you too can plan an amazing trip to Yellowstone National Park!
1. OLD FAITHFUL GEYSER
When most people think of Yellowstone National Park, their first thought is usually that of the world famous Old Faithful Geyser. This geyser is not only impressively predictable but it is also one of the main thermal features that inspired the establishment of Yellowstone National Park itself as the world’s first national park in 1872.
The Old Faithful Geyser is one of the most popular spots to visit in all of Yellowstone. This is because here at Old Faithful, you can basically be guaranteed to see its incredible eruption every 1 to 1.5 hours. This consistent, habitual, natural geyser eruption is absolutely mind-blowing and is definitely a must-see site in Yellowstone!
- Currently, Old Faithful predictably erupts between every 60-100 minutes (lasts about 1.5 to 5 minutes) and shoots up approximately 106-184 feet in the air.
- To Find Old Faithful’s next eruption time check at the Old Faithful Visitor Center, any of the lodges or on Yellowstone’s Website under Current Geyser Activity.
WHERE TO VIEW THE OLD FAITHFUL ERUPTION
THE OLD FAITHFUL VIEWING AREA: The main area to watch Old Faithful erupt is on the large boardwalk that surrounds this geyser.
Traveler Tip: About 30 minutes before the next eruption, people will begin filling the seating area surrounding Old Faithful. So, if you are wanting to sit to watch the show, you’ll need to grab a spot at this time.
OBSERVATION POINT: If you are looking to escape the crowds, hike to Observation Point for a bird’s eye view of Old Faithful’s eruption.
This is a moderate 0.7 mile uphill one-way hike to the viewing area.
HOW MUCH TIME IS NEEDED TO VISIT OLD FAITHFUL?
With Old Faithful, the amount of time needed depends on how soon you arrive to the next eruption. This means that you could need anywhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours at Old Faithful.
While you wait for Old Faithful to erupt, you can…
- Visit the Old Faithful Visitor Center
- Pick up a Junior Ranger or Young Scientist book here for kids.
- Walk through the Historic Old Faithful Inn
- Get some food in one of the several restaurants here.
- Or begin exploring The Upper Geyser Basin (which lies only steps away but can take a couple of hours to fully explore.)
2. UPPER GEYSER BASIN & GEYSER HILL
(Only steps away from the famous Old Faithful Geyser)
The Upper Geyser Basin is an absolutely spectacular site to visit in Yellowstone National Park. This area is completely jam-packed with amazing hydrothermal features, from impressive geysers to gorgeous hot springs, so make sure you don’t miss this even if you are extremely limited on time.
At the Upper Geyser Basin, you can easily walk among 150 hydrothermal wonders within just one square mile!
This is the largest concentration of geysers on Earth!
On top of this, there are five geysers in the Upper Geyser Basin (Castle, Grand, Daisy, Riverside, and of course Old Faithful) that can be regularly predicted by the staff. So before you head out on this approximate 4 mile trail, make sure you check out their predicted eruption times so that you can best plan your route to see the most action.
Traveler Tip: Please note that this trail is very exposed, so don’t forget a sun hat, sun screen, plenty of water and possibly snacks while walking this incredible trail.
UPPER GEYSER BASIN HIGHLIGHTS
THE BOARWALK & LANDSCAPE ITSELF:
Walking through the Upper Geyser Basin is like walking through another world! And the colors lining the boardwalks here is simply unreal! It’s hard to believe, but all of these incredible designs are actually due to tiny thermophiles (heat-loving microscopic organisms.) It’s completely eye-opening as to how amazing such tiny organisms can be!
GEYSER HILL IN THE UPPER GEYSER BASIN
Geyser Hill is simply bursting with activity and colors. Water was gurgling and spitting everywhere. The land was so alive and the colors were simply out of this world.
THE TRAIL PORTION GOING OUT TO MORNING GLORY POOL
Grotto Geyser erupts every 8 hours and this eruption can last anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours! We loved how uniquely shaped this geyser was. It’s fantastically bizarre looking!
Castle Geyser erupts every 10-12 hours, lasts for 20 minutes and can reach 90 feet in the air! Then after this water eruption, noisy steam can be released for another 30-40 minutes. It’s spectacular!
OTHER NOTABLE UPPER GEYSER BASIN GEYSERS
RIVERSIDE GEYSER erupts every 5.5 to 6 hours
DAISY GEYSER erupts every 2 to 3 hours 20 minutes.
GRAND GEYSER erupts every 7 to 15 hours. This is the tallest, predictable geyser in the world.
HOW MUCH TIME IS NEEDED TO VISIT THE UPPER GEYSER BASIN?
It takes about 2.5 hours to explore the Upper Geyser Basin boardwalks and trail. This includes to time explore Geyser Hill, walk the trail to Morning Glory Pool and watch any erupting geysers. (This does not include the time needed to see Old Faithful.)
If you are looking for an even longer hike in this area, then you could in fact walk along this trail all the way to Biscuit Basin or Black Sand Basin. This would be an incredibly long walk and these two basins can also be reached by car, but I thought I’d mention it anyway in case this is something that would interest you.
3. GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING OVERLOOK
Grand Prismatic is an absolutely spectacular spring that is completely bursting with intense, gorgeous colors. Even standing here in front of it, it’s hard to believe that this spring is actually real. And what’s even more amazing, is that this rainbow of beauty is simply due to different species of heat-loving thermophile bacteria! How incredible is that!
Grand Prismatic is also seriously impressive because it is the 3rd largest spring in the world. It’s larger than a football field! This is one stop in Yellowstone that you won’t want to miss.
HOW DO YOU GET TO GRAND PRISMATIC OVERLOOK?
To reach Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook, go to the Fairy Falls Parking lot and trailhead. This is about 5 miles north of Old Faithful. It is then a 1.8 mile roundtrip hike to the Overlook.
FAIRY FALLS TRAIL/ GRAND PRISMATIC OVERLOOK TIPS
Hiking Tips:
- This trail starts off pretty flat, but the last 0.2 miles (on a dirt uphill path) gets pretty steep.
- At 0.6 miles into the trail it will split. Go left here for the overlook.
- This trail gains 230 feet when climbing to the lookout.
Timing Tip:
- Grand Prismatic is best viewed near mid-day, when the sun is high and the mist is minimal.
Traveler Tip:
- We did not see a bathroom anywhere at this parking lot or trailhead, so don’t expect to find one here.
- This is an extremely popular/ crowded site in Yellowstone and parking can be difficult. Keep your itinerary flexible, and if you can’t find parking just go to the next site and come back later. All of the sites listed for this day are within minutes of each other.
HOW MUCH TIME IS NEEDED TO VISIT GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING OVERLOOK?
Allow approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour to hike Fairy Falls Trail and visit this overlook.
4. GRAND PRISMATIC SPRING/ MIDWAY GEYSER BASIN
The most notable way to view Grand Prismatic Spring is at ground-level in the Midway Geyser Basin. This is such a spectacular perspective, walking along the edges of this gorgeous rainbow-colored thermal pool. And it’s not hard to see why walking Grand Prismatic Spring’s boardwalk is one of the top things to do in Yellowstone National Park.
It’s absolutely amazing to think that all of these vibrant colors come simply from tiny microbial organisms that live along this spring’s edges. And what’s even more incredible is that these colors change depending on the temperature of the water! In the summer the edges tend to be this brilliant orange (as shown here) and in the winter the edges tend to be a dark green!
Family Tip: This boardwalk has no railings when walking by Grand Prismatic and it would be quite dangerous if one should step off the path. (See picture above.) So please keep any younger children extremely close if walking this trail.
Other notable thermal features along this 0.8 mile one-direction boardwalk loop are the Excelsior Geyser Crater, Opal Pool and Turquoise Pool.
PARKING TIPS FOR MIDWAY GEYSER BASIN/ GRAND PRISMATIC
Parking is a huge problem at Grand Prismatic & the Midway Geyser Basin. The small parking lot here only has 55 spaces in total and yet practically everyone that visits Yellowstone wants to visit this site. Therefore, you will most likely see people parking in the large turn outs along the road near the parking lot and all along the road leading up to it. If you visit in the summer between 9-5pm, you’ll most likely have to park this way as well.
What We Did: For our family, we delayed our visit to Grand Prismatic until 5:30pm. We found that the crowds were a lot less than earlier in the day and we were actually able to park in the parking lot here. I don’t know if this is usually the case, but it might be worth it to not visit at the prime viewing time, which is mid-day when the sun is shining bright.
- Know that in the morning a mist tends to hang over Grand Prismatic and it’s hard to see it’s brilliant colors.
- At mid-day, when the sun is shining bright is when the colors are the most spectacular.
- In the evening the mist will begin to return, but as you can see from our pictures, the colors are pretty great at 5:30pm as well.
HOW MUCH TIME IS NEEDED AT MIDWAY GEYSER BASIN?
5. NORRIS GEYSER BASIN
Norris Geyser Basin is the most active and audible basin in Yellowstone and the landscape here is completely unreal! It’s like you’re walking on another planet!
At Norris Geyser Basin there are two separate, yet connected basins to explore.
- Back Basin is a 1.5 mile loop that cuts through wooded area and passes by the famous Steamboat Geyser. This is the world’s tallest active geyser (at over 300 feet) but it has completely unpredictable eruptions.
- Porcelain Basin (which is just bubbling with activity) is a 0.75 mile gorgeous loop. This is a great place to just sit and listen to all of the geysers, pools and fumaroles hiss, gurgle and spew all around you. The power of nature here is incredible!
BACK BASIN TRAIL HIGHLIGHTS
Back Basin Trail is the larger of the two basins. Here, you can find gorgeous turquoise-colored hot springs, possibly see the famous Steamboat Geyser powerfully letting off some of its steam (even when it’s not erupting), and witness the deathly beauty of when one of these gorgeous springs and the forest meet.
PORCELAIN BASIN HIGHLIGHTS
Porcelain Basin Trail is the smaller of the two basins but it is extremely lively. Here the Black Growler Steam Vent will loudly greet you as you enter onto this trail. (This vent’s power is seriously impressive.) Small geysers & churning pools seem to bubble everywhere, thus creating a fantastic landscape that has simply come to life with rising steam and audible gurgles. And the colors here are simply unreal.
HOW MUCH TIME IS NEEDED AT NORRIS GEYSER BASIN?
Allow at least 2 hours to fully explore the Norris Geyser Basin.
Timing Tips:
- If you arrive too early in the morning, this basin will have a lot of steam and it can be hard to see everything.
- If you arrive later in the day, Norris Geyser gets very crowded and it may be hard to find parking.
- We arrived at about 9:45am and it was busy but we had no trouble finding parking. When we left at 11:30am it was absolutely packed. (Experiences will vary, this was just our experience so that you can better plan your time.)
Visiting Tips:
- Bring plenty of water with you because this trail is mostly exposed and the sun here can get really hot.
- Try and keep your camera lens away from all of the thermal steam here while photographing everything (because silicone dioxide deposits are not good for the lenses and they are hard to remove.)
6. MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS
Mammoth Hot Springs is a fantastically unique geothermal feature in Yellowstone. With steaming hot water slowly cascading over these travertine terraces, it simply took my breath away.
And after my children kept comparing it to a delicious dessert with hot fudge and caramel sauce flowing down it, how could I not love it even more.
To visit Mammoth Hot Springs fully, walk the 1.75 mile boardwalk that loops around the Main and Lower Terrace. Then drive the 1.5 mile one way Upper Terrace Loop with your car.
HOW MUCH TIME IS NEEDED AT MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS?
Allow at least 1.5 hours to visit if you are going to be walking the entire lower loop and then driving the upper loop.
If you are short on time, you could walk straight to Palette Springs and then to Mound Spring/ Terrace. These were our favorite spots.
Traveler Tip: Palette Springs is located on the far right of the Lower Terraces (on the northside) and it’s not part of the main loop, so make sure you don’t miss this spectacular formation.
7. LAMAR VALLEY
Lamar Valley is a wildlife lover’s paradise.
This is an amazing spot to find animals in Yellowstone like bison, black bears, bighorn sheep, elk, grizzly bears, mule deer, pronghorn and even wolves.
Visit early in the morning or in the early evening hours for your best chance at seeing the most.
For our family, we found a few animals on our drive out there (during the 5-6pm hour), but when we headed back towards Mammoth, on the same road between 6-7pm, there were animals everywhere!
LAMAR VALLEY ANIMAL HIGHLIGHTS
We also passed by a Momma Grizzly Bear and her cub but we were too far away for me to get a good picture.
And what’s crazy is that we saw all of these animals above, plus more in just over 1 hour! Lamar Valley was amazing!
HOW MUCH TIME IS NEEDED AT LAMAR VALLEY?
Lamar Valley is on the northeast side of Yellowstone National Park and it is a decent trek out there. Just to drive there from Mammoth Hot Spring is 1 hour, one way. So if you are coming from this direction, then you’ll need a bare minimum of 2 hours. But this does not include time to sit and watch the animals you find.
In reality, you could spend several hours to all day just watching the animals here. We even saw many people with tripods set up, looking for the elusive wolves that live in this area.
Just for reference, our family spent about 3 hours total to visit. This includes our time to get out there from Mammoth Hot Springs and get back. For us this was an out-and-back drive because we were staying at the Yellowstone Riverside Cottages in Gardiner, Montana (which is just north of Mammoth Hot Springs) that night. But I’m so glad we drove this road twice because we saw so many incredible animals on our way back that we had not seen on our way out to Lamar Valley.
8. GRAND CANYON OF YELLOWSTONE
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is a beautiful 23 mile long chasm carved by the Yellowstone River.
To best see this canyon there are 2 drives you can take.
- North Rim Drive – This is a one-way road that takes you to the Brink of Lower Falls, Lookout Point, Grand View Point and Inspiration Point.
- South Rim Drive takes you to Upper Falls View, Uncle Tom’s Trail (which has been closed for a while as of 2021) and the iconic Artist Point (see picture above.)
- This area of Yellowstone can get extremely busy so expect big crowds.
- If you are limited on time, and can only drive one rim, I suggest driving the South Rim for its iconic views.
9. WEST THUMB GEYSER BASIN
I really loved visiting West Thumb Geyser Basin. It is so unique and picturesque and surprisingly relaxing. This barren landscape, dotted with brilliantly colored hot springs, all lying right next to the calm beautiful waters of Yellowstone Lake. I simply couldn’t get enough of it.
WEST THUMB GEYSER HIGHLIGHTS:
Black Pool – which ironically now is a brilliant-turquoise blue pool. In 1991 this pool’s temperature began to warm, thereby killing the cyanobacteria that had caused it to be black in color. And today we have this gorgeous blue, lakeside hot spring.
The Fishing Cone – This is a chimney shaped geothermal pool that lies out in the lake. In the old days, fishermen would stand on the side of this geothermal and fish. And when they caught a fish, they would plop it right into this fishing cone and cook it in its boiling water!!
West Thumb Geyser Basin is a 0.7 mile loop.
Allow 30 to 45 minutes to visit West Thumb Geyser.
10. FOUNTAIN PAINTPOT
Fountain Paint Pot is a spectacular trail where you can see all 4 geothermal features: Erupting geysers, bubbling mudpots (that can shoot 30-40 feet in the air!), hissing fumaroles and boiling springs all in an action-packed 0.6 mile boardwalk.
Located only minutes away from Grand Prismatic & Old Faithful, Fountain Paint Pots is one quick stop that you won’t want to miss.
Allow 30 minutes to walk the trail at Fountain Paint Pot.
11. MUD VOLCANO
The Mud Volcano area quickly became one of our favorite things to do in Yellowstone the second we discovered Dragon’s Mouth Spring. This is a true hidden gem that is a must-see, especially if you have kids.
Here at Dragon’s Mouth Spring there is a rhythmic belching of steam, swishing of water and a gurgling noise that echoes throughout the cave and it seriously sounds like a dragon is eating! Our whole family absolutely loved this and honestly I was just waiting for this dragon, that we could all hear, to pop his head out of this cave at any moment!
Another highlight here for our family was seeing a bison, simply relaxing, next to Mud Volcano!
While you’re at Mud Volcano, make sure you walk across the street from the parking lot to see Sulfur Cauldron. Here you’ll see a bubbling pool where sulfur rich gases rise furiously and churn this pool. (And the smell of sulfur fills the air.) This churning pool is ten times more acidic than lemon juice, and yet it is still somehow full of an abundant amount of life! (Organisms called Thermoacidophiles live here.)
Allow approximately 30-45 minutes to visit Mud Volcano Area.
12. FIREHOLE LAKE DRIVE
Firehole Lake Drive is a 3.3 mile road, that lies right off of the Grand Loop Road near Grand Prismatic Spring, Fountain Paint Pot & Old Faithful. This road meanders quietly past some beautiful thermal features and somehow manages to leave the crowds behind.
Firehole Lake Drive is also great for families when kids need a little break from walking or just want to sit in an air-conditioned car for a little and rest. This is because all of the sites along this short drive, are directly next to the road, which is perfect for tired kids.
There are beautiful hot springs, picturesque landscape and some fun geysers here too. And if you are really lucky, you can get to see the Great Fountain Geyser go off here. This geyser erupts every 9 to 15 hours, reaches heights of 75 to 220 feet and can last for 1 to 2 hours! Unfortunately we have not seen this geyser go off, but we did see White Dome Geyser erupt here and that was a lot of fun.
Side Note: There are probably more crowds here when Great Fountain Geyser is scheduled to erupt soon.
For our family, it was simply amazing how just taking 15-20 minutes to make this short drive, let everyone reenergize (and regain our sanity from battling the crowds) before heading to our next site.
13. HAYDEN VALLEY
Hayden Valley is another great place to spot animals. Animals you may find here include bison, black bears, elk, grizzly bears and wolves.
These animals are best seen early in the morning or in the evenings.
For our family, the bison here were always off in the distance and we really didn’t see any other animals. We weren’t able to visit during the prime viewing hours, so this is probably why. But I have heard that there can be huge delays due to “animal jams” when trying to drive through this valley.
14. SHEEPEATER CLIFF
Sheepeater Cliff is a fun hidden gem in Yellowstone National Park. Here, mysterious columns of basalt line a cliffside. And with picnic tables lying right at their base, it makes for a unique and memorable place to eat lunch in the park.
Yellow-Bellied Marmots live here too, so hopefully you’ll get to see one scurrying around.
Tips: This picnic area can get crowded during lunch time, so don’t expect to have it all to yourself. Also, if you have a big vehicle it would be extremely hard to turn around here on this out and back road.
15. ARTIST PAINTPOTS
Artist Paintpots is actually one of my favorite memories of Yellowstone.
Artistically Colored landscape, mysteriously steaming forests and a gorgeous view from the boardwalk make Artist Paintpots a wonderful place to visit in Yellowstone. But for me, it was the mesmerizing bubbling mudpots here that still makes me smile every time I think about them.
I don’t know what it was about these specific mudpots (because we had seen several others throughout Yellowstone), but these were completely addicting to watch. Here the mud would pop up high in the air and then splat back down onto the ground in a rhythmic fashion. It was absolutely captivating and for some reason I couldn’t take my eyes off of it!
(Unfortunately it is very hard to get a picture of a popping mudpot because honestly it just looks like a big bowl of mud. This is something you’ll just have to see for yourself.)
Allow approximately 45 minutes to walk the trail at Artist Paintpots.
Now you’re all set with 15 Amazing Things to Do in Yellowstone National Park. I hope you enjoyed this list and even found a few new sites to see. Let me know if you have any questions below.
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