Yellowstone National Park is one of the most unique parks located in Northwest Wyoming and just north of Jackson Hole in the Tetons. Yellowstone is home to grand prismatic spring and home to Old Faithful. It is the country’s oldest national park with over 3 million visitors every single year and to me, it feels like the majority of people congregate in a few locations in the park but there are so many attractions in Yellowstone, it has so much more to offer than the hot spots so here I want to share my 10 most epic places inside Yellowstone.
The top 10 best spots inside Yellowstone national park includes Black sand Basin, Biscuit Basin, Grand canyon of Yellowstone, Norris Geyser basin, Grand prismatic spring and Midway Geyser Basin, Gibbons falls, Yellowstone lake, Lower geyser basin and Fountain paint pots.
Black sand Basin: Black Sand Basin was named after its sand derived from obsidian, which is a black volcanic glass. It’s one of the most attractive parts of the park with its most famous geothermal feature in the black sand Basin is the gorgeous Emerald Pool, Handkerchief Pool, Sunset Lake, Rainbow Pool, opalescent Pool and Whistle Geyser.
Biscuit Basin: Biscuit Basin is a small hike towards the magnetic Sapphire pool, this pool has the richest aqua blue colours here. Although this one pool makes it worth the stop, there are various other places such as the black opal spring, Black Diamond Pool and black pearl geyser.
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone: The Grand Canyon is one of the most iconic, picturesque places in this park. It’s so huge, larger than life and will make you feel so mundane, once you stand there and look at the waterfall. There are two spectacular waterfalls to look at and once you visit this place, you’ll never be the same again.
Norris geyser Basin: North Greyer Basin is basically your combo meal, you hike on one trail and get to visit various different kinds of Basins. If you want to see different views from one hike, this place is your go-to. Steamboat Geyser, Crackling Lake Blue Geyser and my favourite, Emerald Spring will leave your mind stunned.
Grand Prismatic Spring and Midway Geyser Basin: Grand Prismatic is one of the biggest tourist attractions out there. You’ll also get to look at the Excelsior geyser, opal pool, turquoise pool and foreground Prismatic. The grandeur of this place will stun you.
Gibbons Falls: Gibbons Falls should be your quick pit stop before moving on to the other part of the park. It is situated near the parking lot. Formed by a volcanic eruption, this majestic waterfall will leave you wanting for me and it will give you a fair idea of what scenic beauty lies ahead in the park.
Yellowstone Lake: Yellowstone Lake is perfect for boating and fishing enthusiasts like myself. A place with serenity and calmness works like magic for your mental health. The best part about this lake is that there is no hiking involved
Lower Geyser Basin and Fountain paint pots: This place is a personal favourite because of how many personalities it has, and its gorgeous views. Every now and then you can spot a life-changing sunset but you’ll also find spooky trees straight out of a horror movie. I personally love this place because there is just so much character here.
I’m going to share a few names of the many hot springs geysers and geothermal features. However, there are more than 10,000 hydrothermal features here. Although it was very difficult, I am going to share the 10 most unique places in Yellowstone. Let me give you a quick overview of Yellowstone park and tell you a few things you need to keep in mind before travelling there.
So firstly there are five entrances to the park and you will have to plan the itinerary accordingly. Before visiting make sure to check the National Park website to keep track of roadblocks or road work. The West Entrance is the most popular and it is also a great place to stay at night before you start your early morning journey into the park or after your trip in the park when you want to rest a bit before you head back to home. If you didn’t get to see the wildlife, You can visit the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center here, too see the wildlife, although it’s not the same thing but it’s definitely something.
The park is immense so you should try to stay at least three days there if possible. Don’t expect any Wi-Fi or mobile reception in the park, if you’re camping. Some of the lodges have Wi-Fi if you stay there, but most of the shops or campground headquarters had no reception.
The weather is very unpredictable in this so be prepared for all seasons specially rains. Make sure you have the right shoes even when you’re not planning to hike much. Bring enough warm clothing as well as a rain jacket. If you’re camping, bring a waterproof tent and some extra warm sleeping bags.
Black sand Basin
Black Sand Basin is roughly a one-mile Drive Northwest of Old Faithful Geyser along the main Park Road. The Basin was named for its sand derived from obsidian, which is a black volcanic glass. After parking to see every geothermal feature here, it’s only going to be a half-mile hike with little to no elevation game. You’ll be walking along more or less paved boardwalks, and you’ll notice that a lot of the walkways in the park are these boardwalks which are quite comfortable. The most famous geothermal feature in black sand Basin is Emerald Pool, but you’ll also get to see the Handkerchief Pool, Sunset Lake, Rainbow Pool, opalescent Pool and Whistle Geyser.
Biscuit Basin
Number two is going to be Biscuit Basin, which is a 1.8 1.8-mile drive North of black sand Basin. This is another relatively quick and easy stop where you’ll only be walking three-quarters of a mile here to see all of the geothermal features in the Biscuit Basin. The number one thing to see here is the sapphire pool, this pool is unbelievable and has some of the most rich aqua blue colors in the park. Just seeing this one pool alone is worth the stop on this Trail, but you can also find black opal spring, Black Diamond Pool and black pearl geyser, among a handful of others.
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
At number three, we have the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which is not a geothermal geyser, but it’s one of the most iconic places in the entire park. It consists of two waterfalls and the canyon itself with the Upper Falls dropping over 100 feet into the river below and the lower fall dropping 300 feet. The large rocks Upstream are remnants of the lava flow, and the colourful rocks are from hydrothermally altered sediments; there are many ways to see the waterfall in the Canyon. There are going to be two main roads connected by a driving Bridge.
There are viewpoints on North Rim Drive and South Rim Drive. My favourite place here is Lookout Point, which is just a short few hundred feet walk from your car, but there’s also a short and steep hike that will take you down a few sets of stairs to get a more eye-level view of the waterfall on the North Rim side. You can also hike to the brink of Lower Falls, take a roadside stop at Grand View Inspiration Point and then on the south rim; you can hike to Artist Point or see the Falls from Upper Fallsview.
Norris geyser Basin
Norris Geyser Basin is a very underrated spot in the park with multiple basins in one hike, so you get quite the bang for your buck here. Once you park, you’ll be in a relatively central location to the Basin, and you’ll have a few options where to go with walkways in a few different directions but mainly North and South.
The North End is called the porcelain Basin, and the South End is called the back Basin. They’re going to be four hike options to do a Norris geyser the shortest is porcelain Basin Trail which is 0.9 miles with roughly 100 feet of elevation gain the next hike is Norris geyser Basin Trail which is 1.8 miles and then there’s the back Basin Trail but this is 2.6 miles so at this point you might as well do the fourth and longest trail which is the Norris geyser Basin complete loop trail and that’s 2.9 miles with just under 200 feet of elevation games. You’re going to see countless geothermal geysers and pools. Some of my favourites include Steamboat Geyser, Crackling Lake Blue Geyser and my favourite, Emerald Spring.
Grand Prismatic Spring and Midway Geyser Basin
You’re really coming here for one reason and that’s grand prismatic, the main event of Yellowstone. There are a few ways to see grand prismatic spring. The first is hiking the boardwalk; the trail out to the springs is 0.7 miles with 50-ish feet of elevation game, where you will also get to see Excelsior geyser, opal pool, turquoise pool and foreground Prismatic.
It is the largest hot spring currently in the United States and the third largest in the world after Frying Pan Lake and Boiling Lake. The spring is known for its rich deep blue colour in the centre of the spring, followed by all of the colours of the rainbow. It’s an unbelievable sight and really looks like it could be the heart of our planet. This is one of the main reasons you probably wanted to come to Yellowstone after seeing photos of this, but don’t forget to enjoy the other pools and geysers in Midway Geyser Basin because they’re all stunning.
The second way to see Grand Prismatic is by hiking the Fairy Falls Trail to Grand Prismatic Overlook which is a 1.5-mile round trip hike with 200 feet of elevation game it’s mostly a flat hike until the last tenth of a mile or so where you will hike uphill and then reach the actual Lookout grand prismatic is maybe less than 500 feet in the distance but from here you get a beautiful view of the spring and the Basin as a whole from the higher Vantage Point. You’ll also notice the colours of the spring are much more rich and deep, so for anyone wanting a unique view of Grand Prismatic, I highly recommend this height.
The third and last and maybe the best way to see the Grand Prismatic is by taking a Scenic flight from Jackson where you get to fly right over this beautiful piece of Mother Nature. You can take two flights one around the Tetons during sunrise and a second in the afternoon above the Grand Prismatic Even when you’re flying it’s a long ride to the way to Yellowstone.
The entire way is stunning so if you’re staying in the west or north Yellowstone the Jackson Airport will be a long and hectic drive so you’ll have to decide if it works out logistically for your trip but if you’re also visiting the Tetons then you should absolutely add this to your itinerary because the airport is just around the corner.
Gibbons Falls
Gibbons falls is a really cool waterfall in the park and a quick stop so you definitely need to see it Gibbons Falls can be seen just a few feet away from the parking lot it’s a wide low sloping waterfall that seems like it just goes on forever almost like a mix of white water rapids and a large waterfall. The waterfall itself drops 84 feet in total to the river floor below.
You can walk along the paved walkways to get different Vantage points of the waterfall this hike is just going to be a half of a mile out and back with around 50 feet of elevation gain and the paved walkways here make this a very accessible destination in the park
Yellowstone Lake
It is the biggest lake in the Park. It’s a great place for boating and fishing. You can hike along the lake, see the lake behind geysers at West thumb or take a scenic drive along the north side of the lake on Highway 20. The lake is more than 7,500 feet above sea level so you may feel the altitude with the lake being higher than 7000 feet. It actually makes this the largest high-elevation lake in North America.
The lake also has the largest population of wild cutthroat trout in North America so it’s a great place for fishing and really just an amazing lake with so many different ways to enjoy it I also really like that it’s an easy place to visit where there’s no hiking involved unless you want there to be so it’s another quick stop on your trip.
Lower Geyser Basin and Fountain paint pots
This is a great stop in the centre of the park, right off Grand Loop Road. To hike the entire Boardwalk here’s going to be just over half a mile round trip, and it’s mostly flat. Every time I’ve been to this Basin, there’s always been so much Steam, and some of the geysers are very colourful. It’s a great place to catch Sunset, and there are a lot of dead trees here, which always kind of gives a spooky feel to this spot.
Aside from the fountain paint pots in the lower geyser Basin, you will also see a leather pool, Celestine pool, jet geyser, and Fountain geyser. This is a relatively easy and quick stop and is accessible to most. You’ll see hot springs and geysers here like most of the other basins, but this is unique because additionally, there are geothermal features with limited water, which not every Basin has, so these are going to be seen in the form of mud pots fumarole.
Wildlife
Yellowstone’s Wildlife is one of the most amazing things about this park, it’s not something you can necessarily plan for, however, you are almost guaranteed to see wildlife at some point most of the time it’s always been bison or Buffalo but we have also seen bears and even wolves in the distance so keep an eye out while you drive because you may encounter elk, mule, deer, moose, sheep etc.
Bring a set of binoculars or a good camera with a zoom lens for wildlife watching. Carry bear spray and mosquito repellent; you’ll thank me later! If you’re planning a Yellowstone National Park trip, I recommend keeping things organized with our interactive travel planner and just have fun.
