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    Yellowstone National Park

    United States

    Yellowstone National Park

    Point of Interest

    Yellowstone National Park is located in the Rocky Mountains, predominantly in northwest Wyoming, with small parts in Montana and Idaho.

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    9. Yellowstone National Park
    Yellowstone National Park is located in the Rocky Mountains, predominantly in northwest Wyoming, with small parts in Montana and Idaho. Founded in 1872, the park is considered the world's first national park, and you come for the hot springs, geysers, and free-ranging bison.The park boasts over 10,000 hydrothermal features, including more than 500 geysers. The most famous, Old Faithful, erupts on average approximately every 90 minutes. In the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Lower Falls plunge 94 m, and Yellowstone Lake is situated at an elevation of 2,357 m. The park has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978.The approximately 230 km long Grand Loop Road connects the main areas. Most roads are closed to regular vehicles from early November to late April; only the route from Gardiner to Cooke City is passable year-round. Admission costs 35 US dollars per car for 7 days. Visitors without US residency pay an additional 100 US dollars per person from age 16. A reservation is not required.

    Sights in Yellowstone National Park

    Discover the most important sights and attractions

    Old Faithful
    Attraction

    1Old Faithful

    Since 2000, the geyser erupts on average every 90 minutes, with intervals of 44 to 120 minutes. The fountain rises 32 to 56 m high, an eruption lasts 1.5 to 5 minutes. It was named in 1870 by the Washburn Expedition.
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    Old Faithful Inn
    Historic Landmark

    2Old Faithful Inn

    The hotel opened in 1904, designed by 29-year-old Robert C. Reamer from local pine logs and rhyolite. The lobby measures approx. 28 m to the gable, and since 1987 it's a National Historic Landmark.
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    Grand Prismatic Spring
    Attraction

    3Grand Prismatic Spring

    The hot spring in Midway Geyser Basin is approximately 110 m in diameter, about 50 m deep, and around 70 °C. The color rings at the edge are formed by mats of thermophilic microorganisms, the deep blue center by the water's inherent color.
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    West Thumb Geyser Basin
    Attraction

    4West Thumb Geyser Basin

    The largest geyser basin on the shore of Yellowstone Lake lies within a roughly 162,000-year-old caldera inside the larger Yellowstone Caldera. On the shore stands the Fishing Cone; fishing is prohibited there today.
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    Restaurants in Yellowstone National Park

    Culture and History

    Long before park establishment, indigenous groups used the high plateau, including Shoshone, Bannock, Crow, Nez Perce, Blackfeet, and Salish. The Tukudeka, also called Sheepeaters, were the only ones living here year-round. Obsidian from Obsidian Cliff traveled via trade routes to present-day Ohio. Today, the park counts 27 tribes with historical and contemporary ties.Following the Washburn expedition in 1870, which named Old Faithful, and the Hayden expedition in 1871, President Grant signed the act establishing the first national park on March 1, 1872. From 1886, the army managed the park; their buildings are preserved as Fort Yellowstone in Mammoth. The National Park Service began in 1916.Old Faithful Inn (1904): Robert Reamer designed it from pine logs and rhyolite; the lobby is 28 m high.Wolves have lived in the park again since the 1990s; in 2024, there were 108 animals in nine packs.

    Getting to and Around the Park

    Yellowstone has five entrances: North (Gardiner), Northeast (Cooke City), West (West Yellowstone), South, and East. Year-round flights are available to Bozeman, Billings, Cody, Jackson, and Idaho Falls. West Yellowstone only has flights from Salt Lake City from early May to mid-October. There is no public shuttle in the park; you will need to use a car or take a tour.Travel Times: North Entrance to Mammoth 15 minutes, West Entrance to Madison 30 minutes, Madison to Old Faithful 35 to 45 minutes.Most roads are closed to regular vehicles from early November to late April; only Gardiner to Cooke City via Tower Junction is passable year-round.From mid-December to mid-March, only guided snowmobile and snowcoach tours are possible.In 2026, there will be construction sites on bridges near Bridge Bay, Old Faithful, and Mammoth.You can pay the entrance fee with cash or card. Accommodations within the park should be booked well in advance.

    Accommodations in Yellowstone National Park

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    Campgrounds in Yellowstone National Park

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    Wyoming

    Wyoming

    Wyoming is located in the western USA between Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, and is traversed by chains of the Rocky Mountains. With approximately 589,000 inhabitants, it is the least populous state, and you come for its national parks, high mountains, and towns steeped in Western history.In the northwest, next to Yellowstone, lies Grand Teton National Park, about 16 km south of it and connected via the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Grand Teton reaches 4,199 m, and Jackson Lake is the park's largest lake. In the remote Wind River Range, over 40 peaks rise higher than 13,000 feet, including Gannett Peak, the state's highest mountain.In the northeast, Devils Tower rises 386 m above the Belle Fourche River. Theodore Roosevelt declared it the first US National Monument in 1906. Cody, founded in 1896 with the involvement of Buffalo Bill, is located at the entrance to Yellowstone's East Gate. The capital and largest city is Cheyenne.
    Utah

    Utah

    Utah lies between Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho in the heart of the American West. You travel here primarily for the five national parks in the south, known as the "Mighty Five," and for the ski resorts in the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City.The capital, Salt Lake City, hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002, and they will take place again in Utah in 2034. Northwest of the city lies the Great Salt Lake, a remnant of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville. The state is predominantly dry; its highest peak is Kings Peak in the Uinta Mountains.In the south, the parks are close together: Zion with the Narrows of the Virgin River, Bryce Canyon with hundreds of Hoodoos, Capitol Reef along the Waterpocket Fold, as well as Arches and Canyonlands near Moab. Monument Valley and Lake Powell are in the border region with Arizona.
    Calgary

    Calgary

    Calgary is the largest city in Alberta and is located where the prairie transitions into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The city is known for the Calgary Stampede in July and, with its airport, is the main gateway to Banff, which lies approximately 130 km to the west.
    Nevada

    Nevada

    Nevada is located east of California, between Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona. The state is primarily known as the home of Las Vegas, but you'll also find desert mountains, red sandstone canyons, and one side of Lake Tahoe here.With an average of around 180 millimeters of precipitation per year, Nevada is the driest state in the USA. Most of it belongs to the Great Basin, the south to the Mojave Desert, and over 80 percent of its area is federally administered. Its highest peak is Boundary Peak at 4,007 meters. Carson City is the capital, Reno is the center of the north, and about one-third of Lake Tahoe's water area lies in Nevada.To the east, the Great Basin National Park protects bristlecone pines, which are up to 5,000 years old, as well as the Lehman Caves. Around Las Vegas are the Hoover Dam from 1936, the Valley of Fire, Nevada's oldest State Park, and the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. A part of Death Valley also belongs to Nevada.
    Kootenay National Park

    Kootenay National Park

    This diverse national park, east of the main chain of the Rockies, features dramatic canyons, colorful mineral springs and alpine meadows and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.