Parks Peaks & Paths

Bridge Bay provides camping and marina access on the north side of Yellowstone Lake. Nearby stops include the Natural Bridge bike route, lake overlooks, Fishing Bridge, and LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River.

Mud Volcano is a compact boardwalk area of bubbling mud pots, fumaroles, and turbulent springs, including Dragon's Mouth Spring. Its position beside Hayden Valley also makes bison sightings common around the thermal features.

Hayden Valley is one of Yellowstone's primary wildlife-viewing corridors, with broad meadows and wetlands along the Yellowstone River. Bison, elk, coyotes, waterfowl, and other animals are frequently visible from roadside pullouts.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone contains the Upper and Lower Falls and steep, colorful canyon walls. Artist Point and the overlooks near the brink of the Lower Falls provide the classic views into the canyon.

Mount Washburn is a major seven-mile round-trip hike to a 10,219-foot fire lookout. The open slopes provide wide views across Yellowstone and habitat for marmots, bighorn sheep, ground squirrels, and occasionally bison.

West Thumb's boardwalk passes hot springs, pools, and vents directly beside Yellowstone Lake. The lake backdrop distinguishes it from the park's inland geyser basins.

Upper Geyser Basin contains Old Faithful and a dense collection of geysers and hot springs connected by boardwalks and trails. We also watched predicted and unplanned eruptions from Daisy and Castle geysers.

Fountain Paint Pot's short boardwalk presents several geothermal feature types in one stop, including mud pots, hot springs, fumaroles, and geysers.

Midway Geyser Basin contains Grand Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser Crater. The boardwalk gives close views of the thermal runoff and vivid pools, though steam can obscure the springs in cool weather.

Norris is Yellowstone's hottest and most changeable geyser basin. The Porcelain Basin boardwalk crosses an open mineral landscape, while the Back Basin loop enters forest around features including Steamboat Geyser.

The Firehole River area covered several easy waterfall, river, and roadside stops on Yellowstone’s west side, including Kepler Cascades, Firehole Canyon Drive, Firehole Falls, and quiet river pullouts.

The Gibbon River area included roadside river views and Virginia Cascades, adding a quieter waterfall stop between the larger geyser basin visits on Yellowstone’s west side.

The Grand Prismatic overlook provides the best elevated view of the spring's full color. We reached it by bike from Fountain Flats and combined it with the hike to 200-foot Fairy Falls and a stop at Goose Lake.

Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of travertine terraces shaped by hot water flowing over limestone. Boardwalks and nearby roads provide access to the active terraces at the park's north end.

Lamar Valley is Yellowstone's premier open-country wildlife area. Our drives through the northeast section produced repeated black bear sightings along with bison, pronghorn, elk, osprey, and distant mountain goats.

Lamar River Trail crosses open grassland used by large bison herds and pronghorn before reaching Cache Creek. Our seven-mile outing provided an on-foot view of the valley's scale and wildlife.