Yellowstone National Park Guide: What to See, Where to Stay, and Park History

Yellowstone became the first national park in the United States back in 1872, signed into existence by President Ulysses S. Grant under the act that created the park. What does not make it onto the brochures is that this happened over the objections and at the expense of the Native people who had used this land for generations. The park's early leadership worked to erase that presence, and I get into that further down. For its first years, the park barely saw a visitor who was not a hunter or a squatter.

The park itself covers about 2.2 million acres and spills across three states: Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. Geologically it is one big, restless system. You get mudpots, hot springs, geysers, and fumaroles scattered across the whole place, all of it sitting on top of a volcano and its caldera. Native tribes knew this land intimately long before any of it got "discovered," down to using the hot springs to soften bighorn sheep horns into bows, a practice that goes back hundreds of years.

Silex Spring, a geothermal pool along the Paint Pots Trail in the Lower Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. It features a crystal-clear turquoise center ringed with white silica and vibrant orange and yellow thermophile bacteria along the edges.

🗺️ For help planning your trip, head to Granola Girl Collective's Trip Planner.

Things to See in Yellowstone

Here is the short list of what most people build a first trip around. Each one is getting its own full guide, so I will link those as they go live.

• Old Faithful, the predictable geyser and the boardwalk loop around it, in the Upper Geyser Basin.

• Grand Prismatic Spring, the giant rainbow-colored hot spring in Midway Geyser Basin. This is the one you have seen in every photo.

• Fountain Paint Pots Trail, a short boardwalk in the Lower Geyser Basin that packs in all four thermal feature types.

• Upper and Lower Falls, the two big waterfalls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

• Canary Spring, the bright travertine terrace up at Mammoth Hot Springs.

I actually did not get to hit Canary Spring due to the location of it being very north of everything so if you are planning to hit everything on this list you may have to backtrack one way or another.

A herd of bison grazing in a lush green valley along the Lamar River in Yellowstone National Park

Where to Stay in Yellowstone National Park

Camping

There are a handful of campgrounds spread throughout the park, but scoring a site is another story. To reserve one, you go to Recreation.gov well in advance, or you hope for a last-minute cancellation. Good luck.

In-Park Hotels and Cabins

The park has two historic hotels which are not pet friendly, plus some cabins. The Old Faithful Inn, built in 1904, sits right in the heart of the park, next to the main visitor center and the main walking boardwalk loop.

The other option is the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, out on Yellowstone Lake near Fishing Bridge and the Lake Lodge Cabins. It was built in 1891 and is a member of Historic Hotels of America. It has a formal, dressed-up feel, and the room rates run high.

Pet-Friendly Lodging

Inside the park, your only pet-friendly options are a few of the cabins marked pet-friendly, plus the campgrounds. Neither of the hotels takes pets.

For a pet-friendly hotel, I stayed at The Brandin' Iron Motel and would point you there. Free continental breakfast, staff who were genuinely kind and caring, a clean room, and A/C that actually worked (my husky approved). The location was great for getting around town too. When I stayed at the beginning of May for the park's opening weekend, the rate was $80 dollars a night plus a 25 dollar per-stay pet fee. By mid-June in 2026, rates run around $300 dollars a night, so timing matters.

Hiking in the Park

I hit up Lower Falls to get out and stretch my legs. There is a trail from one parking lot to the other. I drove to the end of the North Rim Trail road and parked at the first parking area. Once out, I walked down the steep Brink of the Lower Falls Trail which is .4 miles each way but 800 feet of decent and then ascent up and down and paved walkway. Other than it being a workout being for 9,000ft and in good shape, I didn't find it overwhelming by any means.

After hiking back up I decided to head to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone overlook by walking along the North Rim Trail. I walked down to Lookout Point, but was disappointed the stairs trail was closed. I later found out this was Uncle Tom's Trail and Lookout but is closed permanently due to rockfall. Lookout Point Overlook is intended to take it's place for good.

Lower Falls plunging into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, viewed from the steep Brink of the Lower Falls Trail.

Cell Service and Wi-Fi in Yellowstone

Cell service in the park is barely there. What little exists clusters around the developed areas and visitor centers, and it drops out fast once you are moving. Pre-download your maps and anything else you might need before you lose signal.

Groceries and Supplies Near Yellowstone

West Yellowstone has a quirky little grocery store that runs small and a bit pricey, but I still stock up there instead of relying on the "trading posts" inside the park. Gas was priced about normally at Canyon Gas in Canyon Village, both in the park and in town at West Yellowstone, which surprised me. There are also plenty of supply stops throughout Yellowstone, along with car and RV repair shops (like Canyon gas) if something goes sideways.

How Yellowstone Is Broken Up

I think of the park in about three sections. The photos you usually see come from the western side, with Grand Prismatic and Old Faithful. Then there is the northern section with the hot spring terraces at Mammoth. And the eastern side, out around Fishing Bridge and Yellowstone Lake.

Because I came in from the eastern side of the park and it was early May so Fishing Bridge wasn't open yet, I didn't get to see Fishing Bridge. I spent most of my time in the western area like many do.

Grand Prismatic Spring, located in the Midway Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. It is the largest hot spring in the United States

Visitor Centers, Geysers, and Hot Springs

The Old Faithful area is the hub most first-timers orbit, with the visitor center, the eruption predictions posted inside, and the boardwalk loop out back. From there the park opens up into its geysers and hot springs, which are the whole reason this place exists. I break these down by area in the individual guides, so watch for the Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin guide and the Grand Prismatic guide as they publish.

The Canyon Visitor Education Center is where I stopped on my into the park to learn about the true geology of the park which I was so happy I did because it gave me a sense of the types of geothermal features I'd be looking at for the rest of the trip.

History of the Park

Visitation to Yellowstone stayed thin for decades, until the Union Pacific Railroad pushed a line up from the Idaho side to West Yellowstone, then called Riverside, and the first passenger train pulled in on June 11, 1908. Before that, getting into the park was nearly impossible. It was so hard that one of the park's first superintendents and an early champion of the place, Nathaniel P. Langford, only set foot in it twice, according to lore.

The tracks were pulled up less than 100 years later, in 1981, after the car and the fade-out of the local guiding companies that used to be required to travel beyond the train stop at Riverside. You can still visit the original train depot in West Yellowstone, along with shops built to look historic and genuinely historic buildings scattered through town.

Lower Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, viewed from Lookout Point on the North Rim

Native American History of Yellowstone

Native people lived on and used this land for hundreds of years before the United States existed, let alone the park. The Mountain Shoshone, also called the Sheep Eaters, are considered the park's only year-round residents, and other tribes including the Crow, Blackfeet, Bannock, Nez Perce, and Shoshone moved through the region to hunt, gather, trade, and hold ceremonies. The hot springs and geysers were used and revered, not feared.

That last part matters, because the "Native people were scared of the geysers" story is a myth, and a deliberate one. Yellowstone's second superintendent, Philetus Norris, pushed to remove Native people from the park and downplayed their long history here, believing their presence would scare off tourists. Park administrators spread the idea that tribes avoided the thermal features out of superstition. Archaeology (more than 1,900 sites inside the park) has since blown that story apart.

For a deeper read on the Native American use and knowledge of this land, here is a great article from USGS.

Plan Your Yellowstone Trip

That is the park at a glance. As the area guides go live, this page will link out to each one, so you can build your days around whichever section you are staying near. You can use my trip planner for free to help plan your trip, route, packing list, and more here.

If I did this again I would make sure to go later in May when everything is guaranteed to be open, but before Memorial Day, so maybe the 2nd or 3rd week of May to make sure everything including the road to Grand Teton National Park is open, but also mid-week to meet reduced crowds.