The world's first national park, a volcanic plateau of geysers, hot springs, canyons and roaming bison, wolves and bears
Yellowstone is a high volcanic plateau where the ground steams, boils and erupts. The park protects at least 10,000 hydrothermal features: geysers, hot springs, mud pots and steam vents fed by the heat of the Yellowstone Caldera, which formed in a huge eruption around 640,000 years ago. Old Faithful, in the Upper Geyser Basin, is the best known of nearly 500 geysers, and nearby Grand Prismatic Spring, the park's largest hot spring at 113 metres across, rings its deep blue centre with bands of orange and yellow.
Beyond the thermal basins, the Yellowstone River has cut the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone through old lava flows, with the Lower Falls dropping 94 metres, and Yellowstone Lake spreads across part of the caldera at 2,357 metres above sea level. The park's valleys support the largest public bison herd in the United States, along with elk, bighorn sheep, wolves and grizzly and black bears, which makes it one of the most rewarding places in North America to watch large animals in the wild.
People have spent time in the Yellowstone region for more than 11,000 years, and the National Park Service counts 27 tribes with ties to the area and its resources, among them the Shoshone, Crow, Nez Perce, Blackfoot, Salish and Bannock. The English name comes from a Hidatsa name for the Yellowstone River, translated as Yellow Stone in 1797.
The Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition of 1870 explored the plateau and named Old Faithful, and Ferdinand Hayden's government survey of 1871 produced a report and photographs that helped persuade Congress to protect the area. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the act creating the park on 1 March 1872. The US Army built Fort Yellowstone as a post in the park's early years, and the Old Faithful Inn, a vast log hotel, was built in the winter of 1903–04. Wolves were eliminated from the park by the early twentieth century and returned in the 1990s; UNESCO inscribed Yellowstone as a World Heritage Site in 1978, and fires in 1988 burned more than a third of the park.
Small gateway towns ring the park: West Yellowstone, the nearest town, and Gardiner and Cooke City in Montana, with Cody and Jackson in Wyoming serving as larger bases with airports. Twenty-seven tribes have ties to the land and resources of the park, and their names for the area, such as the Crow 'land of steam' and the Nez Perce 'boiling earth', still describe it well. Inside the park, life in summer revolves around the historic lodges, above all the Old Faithful Inn, whose 327 rooms fill with visitors gathering on the porch to watch the geyser erupt.
Most visitors tour the park by car along its loop of roads, stopping at the geyser basins, the canyon rim viewpoints and the lake shore; there is no public transport inside the park and Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone are about 80 kilometres apart, so it is worth allowing several days. Boardwalks lead through the Upper, Midway and other geyser basins, and the visitor centre at Old Faithful posts predicted eruption times for Old Faithful and five other geysers. Wildlife watching from roadside pull-outs is a major part of any visit, and many people stay in the park's historic lodges or campgrounds. In winter most roads close to private cars, and guided snowcoach and snowmobile tours carry visitors to Old Faithful, alongside skiing and snowshoeing.
Peak season runs from May to September, when most roads, lodges and campgrounds are open; July is the warmest month, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms. May and June bring bison and elk calves, and September offers cooler nights, the elk rut and fewer crowds. Most roads open from mid-April to the end of October, while December to February brings deep snow, very cold temperatures, guided over-snow travel and good wolf watching in Lamar Valley.
Checked against the sources on 29 October 2026. Opening times and fees can change — confirm before you go.
General guidance from our specialists, not official information.
Mammoth Hot Springs, with its year-round visitor centre and hotel, lies in the north of the park, and the Lamar Valley stretches east towards the Northeast Entrance along the only road kept open to cars all winter. West Yellowstone and Gardiner in Montana and Cody and Jackson in Wyoming are the main towns outside the gates, and the scenic Beartooth Highway, reached from the Northeast Entrance side, is a summer route that closes in mid-October.
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United States · 9 nights4★ HotelUnited States · 8 nights3★ LodgeThis guide was researched from the sources below and reviewed by our team on 29 October 2026. Facts under “Verified information” link to the page they were checked on; travel tips are general guidance. Photos are credited on each image.
