How to spend a day at Yellowstone National Park
Before even thinking of visiting the Yellowstone national park in 2021, we had heard of crazy crowds all over the park. But Yellowstone was always on our bucket list, because it is so unique compared to the other National parks. We often thought we would join some of our friends and drive to YNP. But 2021 is a year to showcase some bias for action I guess!!!.
So here is our one day itinerary on our 10 day Montana/Wyoming road trip.
Being aware of the expected crowds , we started early from Dubois WY It took approximately 2 hours to reach the West Geyser Basin. We did our first halt at the Grant Visitor Center which is the west entrance to the park. The visitor center was closed but you can use the restrooms and clarify park related information. Our first geyser stop , the West Geyser basin. It was nice warm up of 0.5 mile loop around the geysers.
Our next Geyser stop was Old Faithful Geyser. Give yourself a good 2 hours to visit this one. We reached around like 9:15AM.The geyser had already went off at 9:10AM , so we had to wait for approximately 90 minutes before the next one. Old faithful is one of the most predictable of the geyser eruptions. So for the next 90 minutes , we roamed the old faithful surrounding area visiting other geysers.
Eruption at Old Faithful Geyser
A must do at the old faithful path of trails is this 0.6 mile one way hike from the observation point to the overlook at the top. This is an easy hike but provides a good top view of the Old Faithful. We went all the way to the top and we saw families waiting there to view the old faithful eruption. On our way downhill at a midpoint, you will reach a fork wherein on your right it will direct you towards the solitude geyser. This one goes off ever 30 mins. We were super lucky that the moment we reached Solitude geyse , it erupted. From there we walked back to the Old faithful at around 10:40 AM. At exactly 10:48AM the old faithful went off and we sat on the boardwalk astonishingly gazing at it.
Our next stop was grand prismatic geyser. It was noon and the park was at its peak traffic. Somehow we found parking along the roadside. We had local bought fruits as our lunch for the day. (At such super tourist national parks , we always carry one of our meals like fruits , berries and some protein bars. Because overtime we have realized that it's hard to find and make time for the meal when you are in the middle of a national park). Grand prismatic geyser was very spectacular and walk on the boardwalk was worth all the trouble of parking. We saw some people who were so mesmerized and busy taking instagram worthy photos that they blocked the line on the boardwalk overlooking the geyser.
Solitude Geyser
Our next stop was Norris Geyser, followed by Mammoth Hot Springs. But sadly we couldn't make to any one of those because of unavailability to park. Nevertheless as we were stuck in traffic we were able to watch a gentlemen painting the Yellowstone canyon and that truly humbled me.
All in all, my advice for one day at YNP is to start early and hit all the popular geysers early in the day. We ended the day with dinner in Billings and staying for the night at Helena ,Montana.
