Yellowstone National Park is 3,471 square miles. For those of you keeping score – that’s big. You could easily spend an entire week exploring the park without getting bored, but not everyone has that time. With only 24 hours to spend, we still managed to put together an unforgettable visit.
Areas to Visit
Doing Yellowstone National Park in 24 hours sounds daunting, but we somehow pulled it off. With so much beautiful scenery to see, it is important to plan your visit in advance and budget your time appropriately. In our opinion, Yellowstone is the most gorgeous area we have visited in the continental United States. Below are the sites we consider “must see.”
- Artist Point: The single most beautiful view in the park. We could spend literally all day just hanging out at the lookout and admiring the view. The surrounding landscape just frames the waterfall perfectly, and it makes for a great photo.
- Lamar Valley: While you’re bound to see plenty of wildlife throughout the park, Lamar Valley is your chance to get up close and personal with bison (not too close though!). Beyond the animal encounters, this area is simply stunning. Visiting in person is the only way to truly appreciate the vastness and surrounding hillside. We recommend going first thing in the morning to catch the best lighting.
- Grand Prismatic Spring: This site is unlike anything we had seen before. The array of colors coming out of a single spring really just shouldn’t be possible. It’s mesmerizing and beautiful and awesome. The best view is from overhead, so bring your drone if you have one.
- Old Faithful: Honestly, Old Faithful is a bit over-hyped. Don’t get us wrong – it is very cool and absolutely worth visiting, especially if you’ve never seen a geyser. Nevertheless, we would rank it fourth on this list of top sites. When planning your visit, we recommend you routinely check the predicted Old Faithful eruption times on the National Park Service’s website. The geyser erupts every 1 to 1.5 hours, so you could end up waiting a while or missing the show if you don’t plan appropriately.
Where to Stay
Once you’ve decided how to spend your limited time visiting the park, you should plan your accommodations accordingly. As we’ve already said – Yellowstone is big. Where you choose to stay can make or break your trip depending on how far it is from the areas you want to see. Luckily, you have a few different options close to various parts of the park.
- West Yellowstone: We spent one night at the City Center Motel in West Yellowstone. It was a zero frills option that had everything we needed in terms of location, as it was only 10 minutes from the park’s west entrance. Finding budget-friendly accommodation here is next to impossible, so be sure to look well in advance.
- Bozeman: Prior to first entering Yellowstone, we spent one night at the La Quinta in Bozeman, which is about 1.5 hours from the park’s north entrance. If you’re on a tight budget, this may be the best place for you to stay. It is not the most convenient in terms of location, but there are a number of affordable options as well as better restaurants.
- Inside the Park: If you have a high budget, you also have the option of booking a hotel or cabin within Yellowstone. This is without a doubt the most convenient option, as you’ll be right in the center of the action.
Other Tips & Tricks
- Dining Options: Within the park, you’ll have a hard time finding food that tastes great or is inexpensive. Pack snacks. Outside of the park, though, you have some options. We really enjoyed Firehole Bar-B-Que in West Yellowstone, and we also enjoyed Roost Fried Chicken in Bozeman.
- Avoiding Crowds: We highly recommend you get an early start when visiting the park. Crowds seemed to get worse as the day went on, and with crowds came slow drivers. There are few things more frustrating than getting stuck in a 40 car line because everyone is slowing to a crawl to take a picture of a moose.
- Bear’s Tooth Pass: If you happen to be passing through the northeast section of the park on your way into or out of Yellowstone, it is well worth taking the Beartooth Highway as a short detour. This road has incredible views and takes you nearly 11,000 feet above sea level.
- Gasoline: You are going to do A LOT of driving once you enter the park, so do yourself a favor and fill up your tank ahead of time. The few gas stations scattered throughout the park are not cheap.
- Bringing your Dog: Yellowstone, along with all United States national parks, does not allow dogs on hiking trails or more than a certain distance from roadways. As a result, we had to take turns doing certain walks while one of us waited with Arya. The park is best visited without your furry friend, but if you don’t have that option, don’t expect to get away with doing any hiking within the park’s boundaries.
Happy traveling!
Kitrina & Jordan (& Arya)