We spent about 35 minutes exploring the upper geyser basin, near the Old Faithful geyser. We…read morefollowed the boardwalk passing the beehive geyser, the plume geyser, the heart spring & beautiful turquoise pools.

This review is for Upper Geyser Basin & Old Faithful Observation Point Loop which was a ~4.9 miles…read moreround trip that took ~2.5 hours to complete. This was one of those unique hikes with various geysers and pools. The trails are located within walkable distances from the Old Faithful hotels and visitor center. Ideally, it would be best to start the hike early in the morning to avoid the crowd. Most of the trail consisted of flat boardwalks and paved asphalt. The boardwalks were icy in some spots during the morning. Observation Point part of the trail was somewhat pointless because there was no "wow factor" in terms of any view. It was still a nice stroll in the wooded areas, eventually reaching Solitary Geyser. Furthermore, this part of the trail had some inclines and declines. The steam from the geysers have an unpleasant sulfur smell. Carry bear spray; the chances of encountering a bear is lower at popular trails but you never know. Short video of the hike for those interested! https://youtu.be/WJGWI2obiwA

About roughly halfway during the Firehole Lake Drive off Grand Loop Road near Grand Prismatic…read moreSpring you'll reach White Dome Geyser. It is as the name suggests: it's in the shape of a white dome. It's definitely a lesser known geyser so if you're looking to avoid the crowds this will be a good geyser (along with the others on the road) to check out and hopefully catch an eruption.

Old Faithful is probably the most well known attraction at Yellowstone, but to be totally honest, I…read morethought it was a little overrated. It's cool that the estimated eruption times are pretty accurate, but the actual eruption wasn't anything earth shattering. In my opinion, there are at least half a dozen or more other attractions at Yellowstone that I was more impressed by. The Old Faithful area does have a huge parking lot, plenty of bathrooms, and multiple gift shops & dining areas. So that's definitely a plus in helping with crowd control.

This was our main site seeing destination inside Yellowstone National Park. We got to the area…read moreright on time because about 5 minutes after we got to the geyser it went off. It was a really cool experience and a must when visiting Yellowstone. I know when my family came this way when I was a child, while most others got to see it, I wasn't feeling well so my mom and I hadn't gotten a chance that trip to come to Old Faithful. I'm glad I was finally able to see it in its full glory. It is quite crowded, so when it comes to pictures just try to stay aware of your surroundings. Try to stay out of main pathways as well as being conscious of the fact it's practically impossible to get photos without others in the background and you'll probably end up in some photos too. If you're already here, don't skip past this well known spot, it's a fun experience for sure. The park is big so if you want to see it all I can see it taking days, especially since the fastest you can go is 40-45 miles an hour with a lot of areas actually being closer to 25. Both my husband and I were so glad we stopped by.

Biscuit Basin is Closed Due to a 2024 Hydrothermal Explosion! The parking lot, boardwalk, basin…read moreand Firehole River at Biscuit Basin, located north of Old Faithful, is closed to all travel until further notice due to the possibility of another event at this site.

This review is for Mystic Falls, Fairy Creek & Little Firehole Loop which was a ~3.5 miles round…read moretrip that took ~2 hours to complete. Trail begins along the flat boardwalks at the Biscuit Basin with a few smaller geysers and pools. This was where majority of the crowds were at. The dirt trail becomes narrow as you steadily hike towards the top and eventually loops down towards the waterfall. Stunning views of Mystic Falls and the surrounding areas of Yellowstone! Carry bear spray; the chances of encountering a bear is lower at popular trails but you never know. Short video of the hike for those interested! https://youtu.be/o2TcYheYtEk

This should be on everyone's bucket list. You can cover one of the loops in one day, but if you…read morewant to do the entire 'figure 8' tour, I'd allow for two days. It's an amazing experience. I remember going there as a pre teen but haven't been back in decades...I brought my partner who has never been here. We're both now in our 50s. I'm not sure what the admission fee is as we have an annual America The Beautiful pass that gets us in to all the National Parks. I didn't see much staff except for the entrance kiosk buildings and the tourist trappy visitor centers. Every once in a while we'd see a ranger vehicle driving around. One actually interposed itself between a large buffalo waltzing down the road and a motorcycle rider it was overly interested in. O.O! The crowd here can be very, very busy. I highly suggest getting here as early as possible - right when they open preferably. It's still busy but gives you a few hours start on the REAL crowd and makes the day much nicer.

I've visited Yellowstone National Park twice--first in 2016 and again in 2025--and both trips were…read moreunforgettable. On both visits, I stayed two nights in West Yellowstone and one night near Grand Teton National Park, which gave me plenty of time to explore both incredible parks. During my trips, I was fortunate to see grizzly bears, bison, wolves, and countless ravens in their natural habitat. Some of my favorite places included the Grand Prismatic Overlook (Vista Point) Trail, Grand Prismatic Spring, Lower Falls, Upper Falls, Tower Junction, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful, Norris Geyser Basin, and many other geysers throughout the park. Every stop offers something unique and breathtaking. Yellowstone is one of the most spectacular national parks in the United States. The combination of abundant wildlife, colorful hot springs, waterfalls, mountains, and geothermal features makes every visit unforgettable. Even after visiting twice, I still can't wait to go back. I highly recommend spending at least three days in the area to experience both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park.

If you're coming into Yellowstone through the North entrance, definitely make a stop here and check…read moreout the hot spring terraces. The limestone rock formations and water features are very cool. The trail isn't overly long so you can make the full loop in about an hour or so (two if you're a slow walker or likes to stop a lot for photos). Parking can be a challenge, like most other popular spots at Yellowstone, but just be patient and eventually you'll find a spot.

We followed the boardwalk along the terraces. The interactions of water and limestone create chalk…read morewhite travertine. These terraces are the fastest changing features in the park, emerging quickly and drying up just as fast. It looks like we are on another planet here.

The West Entrance to Yellowstone National Park was efficient every time we went through. We never…read moreencountered a longer WEEKDAY-delay at the entrance than 15min, on different weekdays approximately 6:30am, 8am, 8:30am, 10:30am, and 11am. (Jul 2026). On the other hand, even when we entered at 6:30am, traffic built up by the time we got to popular locations to the south between the entrance and Old Faithful. Not terribly bad, but enough that we would have started earlier if we could have. Studying traffic apps, it looked like traffic was better entering before 5:30am or maybe even 6am. We never saw bad backups (besides wildlife sightings) going north, or going all the way west between the north and south loops. We never started early enough to see sunrise inside the park. At the entrance, the far right lane was for pre-paid passes. With three other lanes open, the prepaid lane wasnt even twice as fast as the others. It was around two-cars faster when the other lanes were 6 or 8 cars. Pretty efficient. And they give you a useful park map, though you can buy more detailed maps and guidebooks at the park's visitors centers and around town. We used the free ones :-) We felt that the NPS app had info that's easier to access than their website. And believe it when they say cell service is limited to the major sights and visitor centers. Even GPS was spotty. So, after our first couple hours in the park, we made a point to download maps and info before the next leg of the trip, and on the second time in, we downloaded the night before.

If you end up trying to save money by staying in Idaho when visiting Yellowstone rather than…read morestaying in Wyoming, this is likely the main entrance you'll use to exit and re-enter the park during the days you visit. This community that the entrance is next to is also called West Yellowstone, and there's a lot of cute stuff there including a national park visitor center, gas stations, souvenirs and gift shops, and of course lots of restaurants and dessert shops. As for the entrance itself: if you come in during the most congested hours (usually 8-10am or so), despite the fact that there are usually 5-7 lanes open, the traffic will back up all the way down the road from the entrance to the main road of west Yellowstone. People do a decent job of spreading out to try to get in as quickly as possible, but you will have to wait at least a bit. It looks a lot worse than it is; I went in around 8:30 am or so and the number of cars was absolutely ABSURD, but the wait for me to eventually get to a ranger was only about 20-25 minutes. After you get through the entrance, there is a short length of two lanes, and then that becomes one lane. So long as there isn't an animal crossing, the lane does move just fine (at speed limit which is 35-45 mph). Overall - don't be too dismayed by the crazy line to get into the park at this entrance, it does move fast and the advantage of a nice visitor center and tons of food, gas and other resources like minutes from that entrance makes it a great spot to look for lodging or a break in between a visit to Yellowstone.

I was not sure about coming all the way out here because my original itinerary had me taking the…read moreroad on the other side of the park. However, I fortunately was informed by rangers that Bunsen peak (close to mammoth springs) was a better choice than the original trails I was gonna check out (they were still covered in snow!), so I came here because it's just minutes away from the Bunsen peak trailhead. I'm so glad I did! The formations of the hot spring are SO interesting, one of the coolest areas in the park in my opinion. The colors are lovely, and the path is very accessible (it's a big wooden boardwalk, like how the thumb geyser basin area is). There are a number of steps but parts of the path are flat/wheelchair accessible. There is sporadic parking throughout, and a lot of turnover so I got a spot reasonably easy. There are maps posted all throughout the area so you can walk the whole thing and not get lost. Overall, I would highly rec a visit to this area for anyone visiting Yellowstone, it's really cool and I've not seen any other natural springs before that are quite like it. 10/10!!!

# WARNING: lotta snakes at this section of Yellowstone. And temperamental geothermal ground. Stay…read moreon the boardwalk. Keep your eyes peeled. + Thank goodness for sufficient well-maintained restrooms. ~ Initially when I saw over 5 ppl lined up at the single vault toilet at the Upper Terrace Lot (X77R+PP Mammoth, WY), my heart sank. Since I really needed to go, I drove 5min farther north to MHS' other bigger parking lot, and huzzah! Enough restrooms to go around for everyone! (X7FW+X7 Mammoth, WY). + And about the bullsnakes or gopher snakes fighting, I'm glad they were doing it on the thermal ground, not on the boardwalk. Don't bring your pets, and watch your kids. Pets have died wandering off the boardwalk, and humans have suffered 90%-body severe burns following suit. Lotta aptly named palette springs here. Nature is wondrous!

I hadn't heard of this area before coming to Yellowstone but I saw a sign for it on the Rockefeller…read morefreeway and a lot of cars going toward it so I followed them. I'm glad I did, it's a really neat area and in my opinion almost a better bang for your buck than prismatic springs! You walk along a boardwalk in both areas since the geothermal area is both fragile, and potentially dangerous. There are several steaming pools in this area, including some that are cloudy/hazy, and some that are crystal clear and blue as the Caribbean ocean. This was also the only place I saw elk; there were some just chilling in the middle of the area. The parking lot is huge and easily accessible here as well.

This was a amazing place. I would recommend going to the top look out point then going down to the…read moreactual geyser basin I liked it a lot but I think I had already seen enough hot springs/geysers that I just kinda felt bored here but it was still really cool