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Yellowstone National Park

Geysers, hot springs and wildlife on a restless volcanic plateau.

Grand Prismatic Spring and its vividly coloured marginsWonder34
Grand Prismatic Spring and its vividly coloured marginsPhoto credits →

Summary

Yellowstone is a national park in the United States, known for geysers, hot springs and a large volcanic landscape. Forests, valleys and rivers also support substantial wildlife, connecting thermal features with a much wider ecosystem.

Yellowstone presents the Earth as an active system. Geysers and coloured pools are part of a much larger landscape that also supports striking wildlife encounters.

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The essentials

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Allow time

4 to 5 days

Choose a base

Park lodges or several gateway towns

Getting there

Fly to a suitable regional gateway such as Bozeman or Jackson, then continue by road. Choose accommodation according to the entrances and park roads operating during your dates, not just straight-line distance on a map.

Plan ahead

Check NPS road conditions and reserve lodging early. Stay on thermal-area boardwalks: apparently solid ground can conceal boiling water. Observe wildlife from the prescribed distance and never block animals' movement for photographs.

Guide edited 29 September 2026. About practical information

A closer look

Why it stays with you

Established in 1872, it became a defining example of the national-park idea. Its appeal extends far beyond Old Faithful. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, forested plateaux, lakes and open valleys support an extraordinary range of experiences, including opportunities to observe bison, elk and other wildlife at a respectful distance.

Time and patience are essential. Geothermal features operate to their own rhythms, and the park's distances make rushed circuits tiring. Divide your stay between regions if possible, visit popular boardwalks outside the busiest hours and leave time for quieter places where the landscape feels less like a sequence of famous stops.

Background reading: Yellowstone National Park.

Explore the collectionThe wild world →

The scope of this entry

What’s included.

  • The geyser basins beyond a single eruption
  • The canyon and its waterfalls
  • Wildlife watching in open valleys

Make this the moment

The essential experience.

Explore a geyser basin beyond its best-known eruption, then spend a separate morning observing an open wildlife valley.

Alex’s journey · VisitedFollow the journey →

Understand the wonder

Yellowstone is alive beneath the surface.

The geothermal features reveal heat and water moving through a complex underground system. Geysers, hot springs, mudpots and fumaroles express different combinations of those conditions. Colour often comes from microbial communities living at different temperatures. Wildlife and the larger plateau landscape broaden the visit beyond the most photographed basins. The changing nature of the system also explains why staying on authorised paths is a fundamental part of visiting responsibly.

Continue the background reading in the reference links below.

Visitors watching Old Faithful erupt in 2019
Visitors watching Old Faithful erupt in 2019Photo: Rickmouser45 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Slow down. Notice more.

Look for this.

LOOK 1

Different colours around hot-spring margins.

LOOK 2

The contrast between geysers and mudpots.

LOOK 3

Wildlife using habitats away from the thermal basins.

Beyond the familiar view

Look at a system in motion.

Yellowstone combines geothermal activity, wildlife and a very large landscape. A boardwalk view explains one small part of that system. The wider valleys and changes in elevation supply a different sense of scale. Conditions and animal behaviour can turn a familiar route into a different experience on another day.

The choice that changes the visit

Group visits by park area and build in driving time. Follow the current park guidance for boardwalks, roads and wildlife observation.

Follow the background and visitor sources →
A bison grazing in Yellowstone
A bison grazing in YellowstonePhoto: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0

Stay a little longer

There is more
to the picture.

Open the complete Yellowstone National Park gallery for 15 photographs, including further perspectives beyond this guide.

Explore the larger gallery →
Yellowstone’s Lower Geyser BasinA cloud forming above a wildfire in YellowstoneOld Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park

From inspiration to itinerary

Plan your visit

Sources & useful visitor links

Before you set off.

Your ticks stay in this browser. Use the official visitor and reference links below →.

Through the seasons

Get your bearings

A place in the world.

United States

A place in the world
Yellowstone National Park location mapYellowstone National Park location map

Select the pin to open a detailed map. Use Closer look to see the surrounding region. Drag to move a zoomed map.

Map: Natural Earth

Representative location: Yellowstone National Park. This wonder covers a wider area or several sites; the pin is a starting point for exploring. Location reference.

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A closer view

The places within the place.

Selected sights and gateways to help you understand the area.

3 selected places

Load the street map to zoom and explore. Map imagery is supplied by OpenStreetMap.

  1. 1
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  3. 3

A wide spread of points usually means separate outings or bases. Use current local guidance for the route between them. Report a map issue ↗

Go a little deeper

Further reading.

Wikipedia: Yellowstone National Park Wikivoyage: Yellowstone National Park

UNESCO World Heritage

Understand the designation.

The UNESCO property below covers this place or its principal historic or natural setting.

Yellowstone National Park

For tickets, permitted routes and changing access, use the official links in Plan Your Visit. Explore the wider reading list →

Think beyond a single stop

Combine it with…

The Canadian Rockies and Yellowstone can belong to a long North American road journey, with a border crossing and substantial driving days.