Yellowstone National Park

Campsite

We stayed at Indian Creek Campground on the north side of the park. The sites were large, we didn’t even use the back half of ours because vehicles (including trailers) were not permitted outside of the parking area of each site.

If you need network for any reason this is not the place for you. We have a pretty souped up mobile internet solution and we got zilch here. We even pulled out the big guns; the 25 ft telescoping pole with the extra antenna. Nothing.

Old Faithful

On the first day in Yellowstone we decided to go see Old Faithful. Come to find out later this was a very good decision; it was raining most of the day so the crowds were minimal. We got there a little before OF was scheduled to blow so we went and explored Old Faithful Inn. The Inn is super impressive with thick heavy wood everything. It’s amazing that they built it in 1903! We managed to get a spot on a bench about 15 minutes before the window for eruption opened with the reduced crowds.

After the main event, we went out and explored the smaller pools, springs, and geysers in the area. The names of some of them were super cute. Nick seemed extra interested in Ear Spring.

On the way back to the campsite from Old Faithful (about an hours drive, this place is giant.) We visited the Gibbon Falls lookout and got stopped by a bison!

Sunset Kayak @ Yellowstone Lake

This was a blast, and might be my favorite thing we did in Yellowstone. We splurged on a guided sunset kayak tour of Yellowstone Lake’s West Thumb area. It was worth it, the guides were hilarious and super informative (shoutout to Max and Tom of Geyser Kayak for being awesome!) This was 6 miles round trip and we got to see some geysers that were only viewable from the lake, so that was cool.

Roosevelt Arch

Yellowstone was the first established National Park in the U.S. and the Roosevelt Arch was the original entrance. It is located at the north entrance up in Montana. The arch’s cornerstone was laid by Teddy Roosevelt, how cool is that! We also stopped by the current north entrance sign, because we’re touristy.

Mammoth Springs

Mammoth Springs has a little town attached to it with a gas station, dining options, and I think even lodging. This little slice of civilization was about 15 minutes north of our campsite and had cell service so we were up in the area often. We managed to see some elk grazing in the development and they did not care about humans!

The springs that the town was named after were amazing to see. This grouping of springs was otherworldly. Many of them had space themed names and it was easy to see why. While most of Yellowstone was lush, green, and full of life, this part of the park looked barren by comparison. I would classify this as a must see if you are visiting Yellowstone. Like much of the park, it is a path made of mostly boardwalks because of the fragile thermal land that you are exploring.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

We decided to make one of the rainy days in the park a driving heavy day. The dogs came with us, but had to stay in the car most of the time because they weren’t allowed on any of the paths. This mostly worked out, except the lookouts were windy, cold, and very wet. The views were gorgeous though! Some lookouts of note: Artist Point, Uncle Tom’s Point, Brink of Lower Falls, and Grand View. But really you can’t go wrong with any of the lookouts. Just drive both rims and pull over at any designated spot. You won’t be disappointed.

Hayden Valley

Hayden Valley is largely known as a wildlife viewing spot. While it was cool to see the valley and we got pretty close to some of the bison, it didn’t measure up to having one cross the road right in front of the Jeep. We were super lucky to have that happen to us early in the trip, but this would have been more impressive if we weren’t comparing it to that. We had the dogs in the car though, and Storm was so excited to see all of them. That made this outing worth it on its own!

Mud Volcano and Dragon’s Mouth Spring

This was so cool! I can’t believe this isn’t on more of the “Top Things to do in Yellowstone” posts. The Mud Volcano was bubbling and almost cauldron like. It was cold so we didn’t so the whole loop, but there was actually a few attractions with Cauldron in the name further up the boardwalk.

Dragon’s Mouth Spring was incredible. The water gurgled up and hit the sides of the wall of the cave and it actually sounded like a dragon breathing and snorting. We went during a cold, rainy day and the extra steam from this area did not disappoint. I would 100% suggest making a stop by this area if you’re in the park, especially if you have little ones or like dragons 😀

Bunsen Peak

P.S.A. for everyone out there that likes to hike, bike, or any other outdoor activity: go put Benadryl in your pack ASAP. I had a scary run in with a very large bee on this trail and it forced us to head back early without getting to the summit. It’s not fun at all to hike 4 miles back to the car with a swollen throat making it hard to swallow.

Bunsen Peak Loop is the trail that we attempted (there is a shorter 4.4 mile out and back trail if you just wanted to climb to the peak though.) We started on the flat walk around before heading up. This part of the trail is actually listed as a bike path, and would have been lovely to bike! There was even a deer right on the path as we rounded a corner. The bee interaction occurred just after we starting ascending. Maybe we’ll try to get to the peak next time.

Grand Prismatic Spring

The Grand Prismatic Spring kept getting pushed back and back because all the blogs said that a rainy day is not a good day to see it due to the added steam clouding the colors. Similarly the morning and evening times were not ideal for the same reason. We ended up going in the evening, because I took a 3 hour Benadryl induced nap after we got back to camp for lunch. The light reflecting off of the water was a cool plus to going as the sun was getting low, but there was quite a bit of steam. Originally we had planned to see the spring from the ground viewpoint and then hike Fairy Falls to see it from the overlook up above. I was beat by the time we got there though, so the hike was out of the question. Oh well, something for next time.