by CLC

Yellowstone National Park

by CLC

This route took approximately 8 hours, with no stop for lunch. It starts at the west entrance, with stops all the way to Old Faithful, and stops on the way back to the west entrance.

It was an absolutely amazing day trip, accomplished at an enjoyable, leisurely pace. If you’ve never seen Yellowstone, I wholeheartedly recommend this route for your first time.

The steam vents were my first hint of what was ahead.

First stop was Fountain Paint Pots. This is a half-mile trail on a wooden boardwalk. It was my first time ever being so close to anything so hot. Wow! Hot springs and geysers and mud pots. Truly awesome!

Next stop was Midway Geyser Basin. I had been looking forward so much to seeing the Grand Prismatic Spring. This walk is also a half mile. I must’ve taken dozens of pictures before even reaching the hot spring. Beautiful! Everything—just beautiful. Pictures cannot capture it.

The Grand Prismatic Spring can also be viewed from above, so I stopped at the Fairy Falls trailhead parking lot, where the hike to the overlook begins. The parking lot was jam packed, so I decided to save it for the trip back.

Old Faithful was the next stop. On this day, it was as far as you could go because a wildfire had caused roads to be closed. I drove past gift shops and restaurants and parked in the Visitor Education Center parking lot. The visitor center was closed, probably because of the Coronavirus, but maybe due to construction.

The timing was pretty decent with only twenty-five minutes till the next eruption. I passed the time watching a bird that seemed to also be waiting for the show.

The Black Sand Basin was next. This was the only place I saw any wildlife. There was an elk grazing in the trees, but he was too far to get a good picture.

Biscuit Basin was next. It was hard to believe that after all I’d seen, there were still new and beautiful types of formations.

And then it was time to see the Grand Prismatic Spring from the overlook. The parking lot at the Fairy Falls trailhead was still full, but there was plenty of parking way down at the end.

This is supposed to be a fairly easy .6 mile hike to the overlook, but I am in really bad physical shape. It took me twenty-three minutes to do it, stopping at least three times to catch my breath. I knew it would be worth it though, and it was. Absolutely gorgeous!

I have to say that from beginning to end, this was an absolutely perfect route. I stopped in West Yellowstone on the way out for a bit of shopping and then headed back to my free campsite, which was in Island Park, Idaho. A wonderful adventure!

I took four hundred or so pictures, but deleted it down to two hundred and ninety-nine. I might make a gallery one day, but until then, if you would like to browse through the collection, they are located in this directory: Yellowstone National Park Pictures