GUIDE TO VISITING YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Best Time to Visit Yellowstone : Visiting Yellowstone has been one of the best experiences of my life. Being there has made me connect with the Earth as it could have been before the arrival of man. Yellowstone National Park is a showcase of nature. Pride of the United States and an example that paved the way for other natural temples to follow in its footsteps and be protected.
Established as a United States National Park in 1872, a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, Yellowstone is the oldest protected area on the planet, my favorite national park and that of millions of tourists who walk innocently over the caldera of a super volcano. A place where magma is on the surface, giving rise to incessant geothermal activity that collects more than 10,000 hydrothermal formations.
And beneath the ground of Yellowstone lies a pool of molten rock 88 km long, which breathes through the ten thousand small holes in the crust, in the form of geysers, fumaroles and thermal pools where pressure and temperature keep the caldera under control. It is the largest set of geysers in the world, far surpassing the geothermal areas of New Zealand, Iceland or the Tatio in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
Thanks to the thermal waters of Yellowstone, a large colony of grizzly bears survives there, as well as lynxes, pumas, raccoons, elk, deer and bison. When the thermometer drops to -40ºC in the winter season, Yellowstone National Park becomes one of the most important refuges in North America. In short, a place of such importance that you cannot miss it on the West Coast of the United States.
Also Read : Best Places to visit in March USA 2025
ENTRANCE PRICE TO YELLOWSTONE
$35 per vehicle
The entrance fee to visit Yellowstone costs $35 and is valid for one week. The efficient management of the US National Park Service more than justifies the entrance fee, where you can find visitor centers with exhibitions, brochures, maps, camping areas, rangers who are not only dedicated to surveillance, but also to children’s education with activities for children. Although if you are traveling along the West Coast of the United States, you can use the Annual Pass.
The Annual Pass is a pass that allows you to enter all the national parks in the United States for 12 months. The Annual Pass costs $80 and is profitable when you plan to visit more than 3 national parks or more. You can find out all about how it works here.
Best Time to Visit Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is located at around 2,500 meters above sea level. It has a subarctic climate that provides very harsh winters and cool summers. So harsh that, unlike other national parks on the West Coast of the United States, it is forced to close its roads during the winter and part of the spring.
VISITING YELLOWSTONE IN SPRING
May and June are the best time of year to visit Yellowstone National Park. Temperatures in these two spring months range from 10 to 20ºC during the day. And at night, they do not drop much below zero degrees. These months are perfect for wildlife watching.
In spring, most of the mammals that inhabit Yellowstone wake up from their slumber. They come down from the mountains looking for pastures that are no longer covered by snow, allowing themselves to be seen much more than in summer, when the horde of tourists drives them back to more sheltered regions.
The days usually have two faces, dawning with radiant blue skies and as the day progresses, the evening clouds usually prevail, offering a much more attractive photographic game.
VISITING YELLOWSTONE IN SUMMER
July and August are the worst months to visit Yellowstone. Even though the mercury does not rise above 25ºC, due to the height at which the park is located, the thermal sensation is much higher. The sun plummets in the central hours, scaring away all living beings. The influx of tourists doubles compared to the previous and subsequent months. Prices triple and Yellowstone seems like an amusement park.
VISITING YELLOWSTONE IN AUTUMN
September and October are also very good months to visit Yellowstone. The autumn colours and the tranquillity at this time of year make it a spectacular time to visit Yellowstone. The stream of summer tourists diminishes as the weeks go by and the temperatures are increasingly pleasant. You have to be very attentive in October, since in the middle of the month the first snowfalls begin to fall and road closures begin.
VISITING YELLOWSTONE IN WINTER
From November to March, Yellowstone experiences heavy snowfalls that force the park to close and cease all activity. Beginning the first week of November, all vehicle traffic is prohibited, except through the North Entrance to the Mammoth Hot Springs hotel.
From December 15 to March 15, snowmobile tours are only available through Snowmobile Tours and Scenic Safaris. Snow buses are also available for reservation through Teton Science Schools, Inc.
On March 15, winter activity ceases and the park rests until mid-April, when some roads begin to be cleared of snow and the park gradually resumes its activity.
WHERE IS YELLOWSTONE AND HOW TO GET THERE
Yellowstone National Park covers an area of ​​eight thousand square kilometers in the northwest corner of Wyoming, also biting into the neighboring states of Idaho and Montana. This is why it is one of the largest in North America. It is one of the largest volcanic calderas in the world, with several basins that can be accessed through 5 entrances:
North Entrance: via Mammoth Hot Springs arriving from Bozeman.
West Entrance: to the west via West Yellowstone.
South Entrance: arriving from the Grand Teton.
East Entrance: via Yellowstone Lake from Cody.
Northeast Entrance: via Tower Roosevelt.
You can get to Yellowstone by plane and by car. If you do so by plane, the normal way will be to arrive at the West Yellowstone or Bozeman airport, which is located 1 hour and 30 minutes north of the park. Or, you will land at the Jackson Hole airport, 1 hour south of Yellowstone. Keep in mind that these are regional airports, so flying there is not cheap.
Another option to get as close to Yellowstone by plane as possible is to land in Utah’s capital, Salt Lake City, and from there, begin your road trip to West Yellowstone to enter through the West Gate. Or, arriving at Jackson Hole, to enter through the South Entrance. These are the two entrances you will use to enter Yellowstone if you travel by road from Moab.
Remember that if you enter the park through the South Entrance, you will be traveling through the Grand Teton National Park, which is next to Yellowstone. These two parks share the entrance. That is, if you pay to enter the Grand Teton, you will no longer have to pay again to enter Yellowstone.
WHERE TO SLEEP IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Unlike other national parks where sleeping inside the park itself is the best option, in Yellowstone it is not an advantage to sleep inside the park, because it is a huge national park and the location of the official accommodations may be ideal for visiting a region, but it leaves you very far from the rest of the park.
There are better options than sleeping inside Yellowstone, and my favorite place to sleep near Yellowstone is the town of West Yellowstone, where you will find restaurants and shops with classic Far West architecture, as well as supermarkets and gas stations where you can fill up. Its location is unbeatable for your visit to the northern and southern areas of Yellowstone.
Also Read : What is the best time to visit Hawaii?
