Did you know that Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the world? That’s right. We have this incredible place to thank for inspiring the preservation of public lands all over the world. Because Yellowstone is so beautiful and accessible, it is also extremely CROWDED. And if you’re not careful, it can feel like the Disney World of national parks, instead of a geothermal wonderland. So, these tips will help your next Yellowstone vacation be the bucket list vacation of your dreams!
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1. Get Up Early!
The ultimate best way to make the most of your Yellowstone vacation is to get up early! We’re talking ass-crack of dawn early. However, if you are like me, and on the getting up early struggle bus, then before 8 AM should be your goal. Especially when you are visiting very popular sites that are packed in by 10 AM. This includes Old Faithful, The Grand Prismatic Spring, and Mammoth Terrace Hot Springs. Otherwise, you will be stuck in lines to get into the park, to park your car, at restrooms and restaurants. Nothing kills a vacation buzz faster then having to wait in lines everywhere you go. Get up early, you won’t regret it.
2. No Holidays, No Weekends
The best time to visit the park, even during summer, would be outside of a holiday and a weekend. There are significantly more people in the park during this time. Holidays, especially summer holidays, are peak times for the park. And on weekends the park gets many visitors from neighboring states. We were really smart, and found ourselves at Yellowstone on a Saturday on July 4th. Yet, we still beat the crowds by getting up early! (I’m not going to say it again, get up early!)
Travel Tip: Travel insurance is an absolute essential for any time you travel. I buy my insurance through Travel Insurance Master and highly recommend them! Very easy and transparent, the perfect way to insure your Yellowstone vacation.
3. Seeing Wildlife Is Luck Of The Draw
No epic Yellowstone vacation is complete without seeing some of the incredible wildlife that the park has to offer. As wild animals don’t perform on command, seeing them is luck of the draw. You can increase your luck by heading to the Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley at either dusk or dawn, when the animals gather in larger numbers. Yet another reason to wake up early! (Okay, last time I swear).
The park has the largest concentration of mammals in the lower 48 states. The most iconic of which is the great American Bison. The bison population used to be 30 million strong, but now, due to over-hunting, the wild population is only several thousand. 5,000 of these amazing animals live in Yellowstone. Other notable wildlife the park has include pronghorn deer, bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, black bears, and wolves.
Pro-tip: Bring binoculars! I really didn’t want to take binoculars because they are so heavy for a carry-on, but my husband insisted and I’m so glad he did! Yellowstone is huge and the animals have lots of room to roam. You need binoculars to see them.
4. Download The Yellowstone App!
Y’all, I read several blog posts when planning my own Yellowstone vacation and not one of them mentioned the Yellowstone App. Not one! Instead it was Yellowstone’s own Instagram account that told me they had an app. It’s not the most user-friendly app in the world, but once you get the hang of it, it’s amazing! The app is a must prior to visiting the park.
For starters, the app has a map of the whole park, and you can save the things you really want to see. Once you are inside you can go to your saved items and the app will connect to Google Maps for driving directions. Second, the app has self-guided audio tours for some of the trails that give you so much information as you are walking. And lastly, the app gives you geyser eruption predictions! So you can plan your time around eruptions accordingly.
Pro-tip: There is very little internet access in the park. Download Google Maps offline!
5. Buy Your Park Pass Online
Again, I cannot tell you how shocked I was at how long the lines to get into the park were as we were leaving the park. It’s likely that every car in line was conducting the transaction of buying a park pass. You can avoid this by actually getting your park pass online! Then all you do is flash the receipt, grab your park map and newsletter, and head on in. The same can be said for making reservations for camp sites or other accommodations. Do as much online in advance as you can. This will save you a massive headache later.
Pro-tip: If you are visiting 3 or more National Parks within 12 months, buy the annual park pass. At $80 for the annual park pass, you break even after 3 parks. Plus you can have 2 “owners” of the pass and share it with another person!
6. Have Your Own Food
Once you’re in the park, absolutely everything is expensive. So having your own food not only saves you time, it’s easier on the budget. We purchased a small disposable cooler that we used for the whole trip. We would pack the cooler with our lunch, enough water, and enough snacks to last us for the day. Since we were traveling during a pandemic, I felt like being able to eat our picnics in the car kept us safer because we didn’t have to interact with as many people. With the added benefit of keeping our children from losing their shit as we drove from site to site because they had enough snacks to munch on.
7. Get Off The Boardwalks!
No NOT LITERALLY! What I mean by this tip, is to try some of the actual dirt trails the park has to offer. One of the greatest things about Yellowstone is how accessible it is. I really do believe the park to be one of the greatest in the country because there is so much infrastructure built in to allow everyone to enjoy the park regardless of ability. That being said, because it is so easy to enjoy the park from the boardwalks, that is also where most of the people are. As soon as you get onto a dirt trail, the crowds diminish by at least 80%. We would be hiking and wouldn’t come across other people for miles. If you are able, definitely hike some trails on your next Yellowstone vacation.
Pro-tip: Seriously do not get off the boardwalks. It is super dangerous and you run the risk of becoming a permanent fixture at Yellowstone. Leaving the boardwalks has killed more people than all the animal attacks at the park.
8. Be Bear Aware!
There are about 700 grizzly bears in the greater Yellowstone region. Black bears are even more common. So it’s really important to be “bear aware.” This includes locking up the food in your car in containers that prevent the bears from smelling it, not hiking on the trails with food, making noise while you hike so you don’t surprise a bear, and always hiking with bear spray. The Yellowstone app has all these reminders, as well as what to do if you do encounter a bear. Bear spray is available at most markets around the park, and is very important for you to carry with you.
9. Bug Spray and Sunscreen
As someone from Georgia, I had never experienced a daily change in weather like I did when in Wyoming. The day will start off chilly, even in the summer, and go to hot and sunny in the middle of the day, only to drop down again at night. As you start to get hotter and to peel layers off, you expose your skin to mosquitoes and sun. Therefore, unless you want a sunburn or a bunch of mosquito bites to ruin your vacation, sunscreen and bug spray are a must! Further, I always wore pants while hiking, because the mosquitoes were some of the most aggressive I’ve ever experienced. They were on the trails even in the chilly mornings, and I actually got a few bites through my clothes.
10. Have A Reliable Vehicle
Yellowstone National Park is HUGE! At over 3,000 square miles, you will do a lot of driving to get from place to place along several winding roads. Sometimes there is construction or snow which lead to main roads and entrances being closed. So, it’s very important to have a reliable vehicle. To give you an example, we stayed in Gardiner, Montana outside the North entrance to the park. This was close to the Mammoth Terrace Hot Springs, but 2 full hours away from Old Faithful! That’s how huge the park is.
Pro-tip: One of the best locations for accommodations would be around West Yellowstone, because it’s about 1 hour from everything. However, there will definitely be more people in this area than others such as Gardiner.
That’s it! These 10 tips will help make sure that your next Yellowstone vacation is everything that you’ve always dreamed it could be. Use them well!
Have you been to Yellowstone National Park? If so, what other tips would you add? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram @TheGlobetrottingAccountant.
Hello All! I wanted to add a quick pro-pro-tip that my cousin sent to me on Facebook. There is an initiative for every 4th grader in the country to be able to visit our Federal public lands. As such, every September 1st, 4th graders are allowed to apply for a free park pass that allows entrance into thousands of acres of public lands and waters for free! There is also resources for 4th grade educators to organize field trips and request transportation grants for under-served communities. All of this is an effort to make public lands more equitable and accessible to all children! you can find for information and apply for a free pass here https://www.nationalparks.org/our-work/campaigns-initiatives/every-kid-outdoors