Americaβs First National Park in 2 Days β Our experience
Day 1
Being the Nationβs first National Park, Yellowstone was an absolute must do. We made it our first stop after our stay in Grand Teton. (You can read about our time in Grand Teton HERE).Β Since we were visiting during the summer months, we were able to take the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway right up to Yellowstone. (Typically, The roads in Yellowstone and Grand Teton close for the season in late October and re-open in mid-May.) From where we stayed in Grand Teton, it was only about 25/30-minute drive to reach the South Entrance of Yellowstone. Upon entering you must travel about 20 miles before you really see anything other than forest. Our first stop was Old Faithful which took about an hour and twenty-five minutes from Grand Teton.
People from all over the world have traveled to see this famous geyser. It’s definitely a must see in the park. Even with never being here prior, when I hear Yellowstone, I picture Old Faithful. It erupts every 60-90 minutes and the prediction times listed are usually within 10 minutes. Be sure to check when visiting so you can plan accordingly and arenβt caught having to wait the full hour or so.
The viewing area around the geyser is wheelchair accessible and about a two-minute walk from the parking lot. In fact, you can basically see Old Faithful from the parking lot. There is plenty of bench seating around the geyser, and a beautiful visitor center that shows the prediction time for the next eruption. On the adjacent side another building which has a cafΓ©, gift shop and bathrooms is available as well.
After Old Faithful we headed North towards Grand Prismatic Spring. Something I found surprising when in this part of the park β the parking lots are not very RV friendly. We somehow got lucky and found a spot in the tiny parking lot for the Grand Prismatic Spring or Midway Geyser Basin. Youβre probably better off parking along the road if you have a bigger vehicle although that is a little difficult to get close to because there are wooden barriers in a lot of places. Once you park you walk along the boardwalk in a circle to see the Nationβs largest hot spring and the third largest in the world! Since you are essentially on the same level, itβs hard to see the beautiful colors that are encased in the spring and understand the sheer size. Β This walk will get you up close, but the best view is from the overlook. Be very careful and mind your children because the areas surrounding these springs are extremely hot and filled with bacteria which is how it gets its color!
We left the lot and headed towards the parking lot for the Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook hike which is the same parking lot as the Fairy Falls Hike Trailhead. When we arrived, there were signs for βNO RV PARKINGβ everywhere. We ended up asking a park ranger and were told you can park along the road anywhere you donβt see a βNo Parkingβ sign or wooden barrier in the park. We wound up parking on the road a little bit down from the parking lot and the walk to the actual trail was a little further away than we thought but with ground level views of the geysers the whole way. There are some smaller geysers all along the route which can still be very cool and pretty. The overlook hike is part of the Fairy Falls Hike because you get to the overlook on the way. It was about .8 miles from the trailhead to the overlook. (Everything I researched said it was .6 miles, but I clocked .8).
This was definitely worth it! Β Being able to look down on the Grand Prismatic Spring and really appreciate the colors and size was amazing!
We were surprised that most people didnβt continue to Fairy Falls because itβs a very easy, mostly flat hike through the forest that was about 2 miles past the overlook.
Fairy Falls
Fairy Falls is almost 200 feet high and one of Yellowstoneβs tallest waterfalls. It was so beautiful!
We spent some time there as it was a perfect spot to relax and have a snack before heading back. Remember not to feed the critters no matter how cute they are.
While driving from Fairy Falls to Fishing Bridge, there is a big stretch of road where we saw hundreds of bison. You eventually drive through Hayden Valley which is known as the place to spot Bison. You likely wonβt even have to get out of your car to see them here. **Please keep your distance! I couldnβt believe all the signs that were posted about not approaching Bison but low and behold we saw people out in the grasslands trying to take pictures and walking very far from their car. Remember these are wild animals!
We spent the night at Fishing Bridge RV Park. This is the only campsite in the park that offers full hookups. Β Because Grizzly Bears frequent the area, no tents are allowed. Since we were visiting during the summer months, we booked this campsite 6 months in advance. Reservations can be made here
Day 2
We were going to hike Dunraven Pass to Mt. Washburn but the fog was so thick from having rained all night into the morning, we wouldnβt have been able to see anything at the top.
Instead, we decided to make our way to Canyon Village. We hiked Point sublime via artist point trail. This was a 3 mile out and back along
the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It had some steep spots but wasnβt too challenging overall. The whole hike is along the rim of the canyon and once you get to Point Sublime, the overlook looks northeast down the V-shaped canyon carved by the Yellowstone River.
If you look at any article of βmust see in Yellowstoneβ, Lamar Valley will be on that list. Unfortunately, due to the flood in June 2022, we were not able to access Lamar Valley.
While talking to someone they mentioned that if you go to recreation.gov (or download to app), you can pay $2 to get a permit for βTower Junction to Slough Creek Corridorβ. Like Lamar Valley, it is in the Northeast section of the park which is where you can see a lot of wildlife.Β If you can access Lamar Valley, It’s about 30 minutes past Slough Creek. The park has now since fully recovered from the flooding but always check the weather or park website/Instagram for up-to-date info on road closures.
Although we mostly saw Bison (this did not get old) along the road, we did spot some Pronghorn and a coyote. We were glad we had the permit and was able to get to Slough Creek. Once we turned at Tower Junction, it was about 8 miles until we had to turn around due to the road closures. It was very warm this day so many of the Bison were just laying down along the road or digging in the dirt to lay down and keep cool.
For our final night during this trip, we stayed just outside the west entrance of Yellowstone at Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park. This campground was by far the nicest campground we stayed at. The grounds were immaculate- letβs just say we felt a little out of place in our small Cruise America RV.
This campground was walking distance to a ton of restaurants and shopping. We ate dinner at Madison Crossing Lounge, and we highly recommend! (Get the Bison Nachos!) We didnβt do too much walking around. We opted to pick up a bottle of wine and hang out at the campsite.
Another must visit in the area was Mountain Mamaβs Coffee House and Bakery! We went for a grab and go breakfast in the morning, and it was delicious. From here, we headed back to Idaho where we dropped the RV off. Thus, concluding this leg of our trip!
