Walking on a sine wave

Yellowstone National park was on my list for many years but I always wanted to visit it with ample time to experience the natural wonders of this 2 million acres of wilderness. One of the first trips I booked this summer was our week in Wyoming combining Yellowstone with The Grand Tetons National Park. This past week has been an unforgettable experience and there are so many musings that I will be writing about in this post and the next one. I have also listed some Pro-tips for those of you planning to go on this adventure.

We flew into Jackson Hole, WY and directly drove to Yellowstone entering the park from the South Entrance. We chose this entrance as it was closer to the airport plus the drive was through the Grand Tetons National park. It was a gorgeous drive passing through forests with Alpine views of mountain peaks and lakes. We planned our 3 days using the map and inputs from a park ranger at the visitor center upon entering YNF. We had already decided to see the Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic with our friends on Day 3 so it was easy to plan the rest of the itinerary.

Day 1 – On reaching the West Thumb Junction, we took the east road and drove along the Yellowstone lake – one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. Stopped and soaked our feet in the glacier waters and despite the cold, felt refreshed. Our next stop was the Yellowstone River rapids and a short hike from the rapids, we found a calm section of the river. Kids and I splashed in the water and played for a while. Next stop was Mud Volcano, Dragon’s Mouth and Sulphur Caldron and we got our first whiff of Sulphur. My son’s reaction – “Oooo it smells like Eggs with Chaat Masala”. # Desimomsuccess when your kid is unfazed by any kind of strong smells. 5 min after we left this area, we saw a huge crowd of people pointing their cameras towards a meadow. As we got closer, we saw that a bison was standing by the side of the road. It was our first Bison encounter and all 4 of us were enamored with the Fluffy Cow (as my husband called it). 20 minutes after seeing our first bison, we again saw 3 cars, parked on the side of the road next to the river. Lo and behold, it was a grizzly bathing in the yellowstone river. I was shocked that we saw a grizzly so soon after entering the park. What a rush it was to see the giant beast this close in person. Our last stop for the day was the Yellowstone Grand Canyon and it did not disappoint. We saw it from both the rims and walked to the brinks for both the lower and upper falls. Definitely one of our favorite places in the park. We decided to call it a day and drove towards the West exit to our home for the next two nights.

I can’t say enough about our experience staying at the Undercanvas Yellowstone West. #Glamping at its very best. No electricity, no heat, no internet, no television but 5 star lodging and service. The tent site was 10 miles from the west entrance with a view of the mountains and big Montana Skies. I finally understood what people meant when they said – You haven’t seen big skies till you see them in Montana! I hadn’t camped since I was a teen and this stay made me realize how much I loved camping growing up. Kids loved every moment of our stay and I was surprised how well they adjusted without their devices/ TV.

Day 2 – We decided to skip the morning rush at the West Entrance and after a lazy morning in the tent followed by a breakfast in the lodge, we entered the park at 9.30am. Our plan was to visit the Norris Geyser Basin, Mammoth Hot Springs, Hike to Wraith Falls and end at Tower Falls. Little did we know that we would spend most of the day in traffic jams. Took us 2 hours to get to Norris which was a 25 minute drive from the entrance. The site did not disappoint and the kids even spotted a small snake on the trail which was their highlight. The drive to Mammoth Springs was gorgeous and we stopped a few times to take pictures and see the animals along the way. Obsidian Cliff was disappointing and a waste of 5 minutes after which we spent 30 minutes admiring the Mammoth Hot Springs. The area reminded us of Palmukkale, Turkey and we wondered why we couldn’t swim in the Sulphur pools like Turkey. Saw a big herd of deer and then headed to mammoth Springs town for lunch. After seeing the sad lunch menu at the only food court in town, we spoke to a local who suggested the drive to Gardiner. It was a beautiful drive and I am glad we were able to see the charming town of Gardiner. After a delicious lunch of hot off the over pizza and some gelato, we headed back to the park for our hike to Wraith falls. Another traffic jam cost us about 30 minutes but the hike to the falls made up for it. The trail went through a meadow with colorful wildflowers and the air smelled heavenly of flowers and pines. The short 1.6 mile roundtrip hike was totally worth it and took you very close to the gushing waters of the falls. We would’ve spent more time there but we wanted to get back to the camp by 6 pm so we got back in the car and headed to our last stop of the day. As we were admiring the Blacktail Deer Plateau while driving, we suddenly saw something move from the right side of the road. We stopped the car in the middle of the road and there it was… the elusive Grey Wolf calmly crossing the road to the other side. After crossing, it stood in the bushes on the left side for a minute and then walked away. It was such a surprise that we didn’t even take a picture. High from this encounter, we briefly stopped at Tower Falls and it was very crowded. We decided to drive back through Dunraven Pass and touched the snowline. For Texans, snow in July is always a strange sight. Got back to the camp around 6.30 after another 20 minute traffic jam due to a moose in the middle of the street. The evening was spent roasting marshmallows, playing board games and reading Yellowstone Ghost stories from a book we picked up under the beautiful Montana Skies.

Day 3 – After breakfast at Ernie’s in West yellowstone, we said goodbye to Undercanvas and headed to meet our friends at the Old Faithful. I think we were more excited to see them than the Old Geyser :D. It was a fun reunion with lots of laughter and tones of pictures. I am sure people must have thought that we met after years though in reality it was only 4 days :D. The Old Faithful faithfully erupted and was very impressive. The entire Upper Geyser Basin was nice was super crowded. It was the same case with The Grand Prismatic. Beautiful but full of people. We decided to skip the Fountain Paint Pot and leave for Jackson to spend the next few days exploring the Grand Tetons National Park. The drive back was beautiful and not too crowded since most people enter and leave from the west entrance. We stopped at Jackson Lake which is magnificent and Colter Bay (overcrowded) on our way. Overall a wonderful 3 days in YNP and we covered it all except the Lamar Valley. Guess we needed a reason to come back and I hope it will be soon.

Here are a few tips for y’all:

Pro-Tip 1 – If you have a 4th grader, go on this link and get a free annual pass for all public lands – Every Kid Outdoors Program Provides Fourth Grade Students with Free Entrance to Public Lands – Office of Communications (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) Our 4th grader saved us $70 for these two parks and the best part is that its valid for 12 months and not the usual 7 days when you buy a regular park pass.

Pro Tip 2 – Stop at the first visitor entrance and speak to a park ranger to plan your visit itinerary based on your family’s interests. The ranger we spoke to provided us with fantastic suggestions on routes to take, spots that should not be missed and others that wouldn’t be of interest to us.

Pro-Tip 3 – Take your time and don’t just try to hit all spots on the checklist. We stopped anytime we saw 2 or more cars parked by the roadside and were rewarded with views of Bisons, Grizzlies, Elks, Moose and even a grey wolf.

Pro-Tip 4 – Use the physical map provided by the visitor center. There is no cellular coverage in the park and the map is your best tool to navigate the 8 loop covering all major attractions. This is what my map looked like on day 3.

Pro-Tip 5 – Don’t miss Gardiner at the north entrance. Cute mountain town with lots of food options compared to Mammoth Springs. Worth the 5 mile drive for food and beautiful scenery.

Pro-Tip 6 – Take reusable water bottles and refill them from the water stations which are at almost all major attractions.

Pro-Tip 7 – Definitely grab breakfast at Ernie’s in West Yellowstone. Buffalo Bill is a good option for dinner but portions are huge so order accordingly. Yellowstone Pizza in Gardiner is a small pizzeria and a good option for lunch.

Our 3 day #yellowstonenationalpark #YNP Itinerary at a Glance:

Day 1 – Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone River Rapids, Mud Volcano, Grand Canyon and Falls.

Day 2 – Norris Geyser Basin, Obsidian Cliff, Mammoth Hot Springs, Wraith Falls, Tower Falls, Dunraven Pass

Day 3 – Upper geyser Basin including Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic and drive back to Jackson, WY via the south exit