A Drive Through Yellowstone National Park: What a Beautiful Place!
National Park Week is the best time to plan your trip to a bucket list national park as admission is free for an entire week! We knew we had to check out nearby Yellowstone, an easy 2 hour day trip from our current location: Idaho Falls. Admission is normally $25 per vehicle so this is a pretty good deal. April 21st-29th is National Park Week (dates vary every year) and many parks across the country offer free admission. We arrived in West Yellowstone around 10:00 A.M (The park opens at 8:00 A.M.) We wanted to try to get there as early as possible to see some wildlife. A scenic Yellowstone drive is the best way to explore the park. At the visitor’s center, we picked up a free driving map. The staff will also let you know about possible road closures and the best areas to spot wildlife.
We drove from the West Yellowstone entrance to Old Faithful. Along the way we made several stops viewing other geysers and mudpots. Along, the way we ran into some bison on the road. They passed right by our car! We got some really great up-close photos and videos. Yellowstone is home to the most bison in the country (on public land). Currently, 3000-6000 bison live at Yellowstone (according to the NPS), an impressive gain for a once nearly extinct animal. It’s a definite bucket list experience for any nature lover to see these beautiful mammals free roaming in this gorgeous national park. On another interesting side note, Yellowstone is the only place where bison have lived continuously since the prehistoric era!
We also saw several elk in a field. Unfortunately, we did not see any bear or moose, which would have been really exciting.
The most predictable geyser
Old Faithful geyser is said to be one of the most consistent geysers as eruption times are able to be predicted. Eruptions occur approximately every 90 minutes. We arrived about an hour prior to the scheduled eruption. There are several gift shops to browse through and cafés to stop by for lunch while you are waiting. There are also 2 free movies – one before the eruption and one after. The eruption is a spectacular sight which is worth the drive and wait.
We drove around for another 2 hours or so enjoying the nice weather and fantastic scenery. I was surprised that the park was not more crowded. I guess spring is a good time to visit! It was a really nice day out, much warmer than I expected for this area and time of the year. We plan on visiting the park again this weekend to take advantage of the free admission. Check out my next blog to find out if we saw more wildlife the second time around. Hopefully we will spot some bears next time!
