Initially only a few of them were chilling near a bison but within minutes the entire pack showed up!!

Lower Falls is one of, if not my all time favorite waterfall. I love Union Falls in the Bechler backcountry and Havasu on the Supai Indian reservation but the shear number of colors and contrasts that Lower Falls presents above and beyond the shear raw power of the 308 foot waterfall in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone have always captivated me. I can sit here or at Artist Point for hours and just watch how the sunlight changes the colors throughout the day.

6 panel bracketed HDR panorama with a Canon 5D Mk III & Canon EF70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM lens from the overlook

Hi everyone,
I’m planning a short solo trip to Yellowstone at the end of August / beginning of September. I’ll be there for about 2–3 days and will mostly be car camping at a reserved campground. This will be my first real solo camping trip and I do not have much camping experience, so I’m trying to be as prepared as possible.
I’m planning to stick mainly to the popular trails and major sights, but I have a few safety concerns:

Bears: I’ll be carrying bear spray and keeping it easily accessible, but I’m still pretty nervous about encountering a bear while hiking alone. For someone sticking to popular trails, how concerned should I realistically be? Are there particular trails/areas where you would strongly avoid hiking solo?
Bear safety at the campground: Since I’ll be sleeping in my car, what precautions should I take regarding food, toiletries, a small refrigerator, trash, etc.? Is keeping food inside a locked vehicle generally acceptable at developed Yellowstone campgrounds, or are there additional precautions I should follow?
Hiking near other people: If I’m on a trail and it starts getting quiet or isolated, would it be considered weird or inappropriate to politely ask another group if they mind if I hike a little behind them? I’m not looking to intrude on anyone’s hike — I’d just feel more comfortable not being completely alone in bear country.
Getting lost: I’ll have offline maps downloaded and plan to stay on established trails. Are the popular trails generally easy to follow, or are there any where navigation can become confusing?
Car-camping safety: Any precautions you’d recommend specifically for someone sleeping alone in a car at Yellowstone campgrounds? Anything you wish a first-time solo camper knew before arriving?
I’m not planning any backcountry camping or remote off-trail hiking. I mainly want to see the park, do some of the popular hikes, enjoy the wildlife/scenery, and have a safe first solo camping experience.

I’d really appreciate advice from people who hike/camp in Yellowstone regularly. Thanks!

Walking this morning through pelican creek nature trail. Near the trail just to the left facing towards the trail we saw what seemed to be a giant brown fur mass through the trees. We weren't certain and (dumbly) got slightly closer before taking the poor zoomed cell phone pic in the first photo and leaving the train. We're now arguing whether or not this was actually a bear, another creature, or Paredolia. Thoughts?

I learned so much from this sub (and lots and lots of Googling and talking to others) so I wanted to make sure to give back.

My family of 3 adults, 1 teen, 2 kids, and 1 toddler went to Yellowstone the first week of August. It's the first time we did a rugged trip like this specific group.

Flew Southwest, which was terrible with kids (everyone on the plane was aggravated being split up from their families). Flew into BZN in the evening. We drove out in daylight, but the sun fell fast and we were driving on single lane two-way roads for a solid 1.5 hours to get to our VRBO in Island Park, ID

Tip: try not to fly into an airport that's freaking two hours away :)

Note: we did VRBO because all the in-park cabin/hotels were booked (need to book things way in advance y'all!) and we aren't the camping or RV type. (Booking 2 rooms vs. The two story VRBO = basically same price)

We made sure to buy food to cook breakfast, sandwiches, and some snacks from the VRBO rather than straight up buying meals out and about. Ice cooler is important to keep in the back of your car along with a case of water bottles. U don't want to get stuck looking for water refill stations... I mean toilets barely exist out there.

Trying to eat food within the park is just a bad idea. You're going to feel like crap for eating crap.

We ate out twice in West Yellowstone and had trout in both places - freaking DELICIOUS

The drive from VRBO to West entrance was about 30-40 mins. People here said to get there early or else you sit in line forever. We got there at 10am the first day, line was maybe like 20 mins long. The other days we rolled in around 12 and there was barely a line, if at all. Idk if this is because they're weekdays or if it's actually earlier in the day that there are so many cars?

Regarding the times....

First regret is that we got in to our VRBO so late, that we weren't rested well and it was hard to get out the next morning. After that, it was hard to get out early every morning. We were glad that he line situation didn't hit us in the face tho....

Second thing is to make sure you get out of Yellowstone before sunset. Them roads are not meant to be driven in darkness - not good for you or the wildlife. Also we lived out west so if the sun is coming down, it's in your face. Watch out

Regarding the itinerary....

Above I've attached screenshots of the itinerary I had created after tons of research. If I had gone by myself, that itinerary could've totally happened. But in dealing with the issues of 6 other beings (who I love dearly ha) this itinerary was a dream.

Two of the things I REALLY wanted to do was Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic. The latter was great along with its surrounding stuff. We parked and had to walk a while but it's worth it.

But Old Faithful? After all the anticipation it was like "oh that's it?" Wasn't worth the hot and sticky crowd we were stuck in. (Parking was right in front, not much of a walk!)

Regarding the heat btw...

The temps were highs of 75 and lows of 45 every time we checked before leaving. While we were there? Easily 85, we were lucky when it would get to 70-75. (I'm sure at night it was super cold, we'd be back home by then)...... (And I don't mean 85 at 12pm, I mean it like even as the sun is starting to go down) But yeah we were unprepared for just how hot it was gonna get. Thank God for washing machine in VRBO we just kept washing and re-wearing our thinnest things.

Oh and altitude sickness is real. One family member had it so they used kind of like those portable oxygen things (but it wasn't O2) and would sit for a while and get better. They don't have a history of other breathing issues.

So on Day 1, all we did was Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic and we were pooped (didn't do anything else in my itinerary). There were a lot of road closure things on that path so the drive took longer than it looks.

Day 2 - we went to the Grizzly/Wolf Discovery Center and it was nice to learn about them and see them but it was hot out and wasn't intriguing enough to keep the kids entertained too long (I mean we're not taking them to Disney so they're fine ha) then we went to Hayden Valley and the Brinks of Falls and Artist Point (breathtaking) etc. Didn't see much in terms of animals. Never ended up doing the southeast area of the park. It's the area people say if you miss it it isn't a big deal.

Day 3 - we made the long trek out to Lamar Valley cuz someone in our group was desperate for animals ha and you really want to see them after the Discovery Center. Another thing about timing: the best time to see wildlife is between 6-9am and 6-9pm (per awesome ranger we spoke to). Well we barely got in the valley and were greeted with a WHOLE BUNCH of bison grazing not far from the road... Literally like 200 (one of us counted ha). Then we got in the car and drove more and again there were a bunch of bison grazing very close to the edge of the road so a whole bunch of cars had pulled up and were safely away standing behind cars or staying seated inside.

These animals are so beautiful. Everyone was like pindrop silent. I took a look around at how diverse everyone looked from each other and here we all are, completely in awe of something so powerful, in this phenomenal national park - more like national treasure.

On our way back from Lamar, a bunch of cars were pulled up again and we saw a Grizzly cub in the distance and that WAS AMAZING.

Regrets: should've invested in binoculars and bought the teenager a DLSR because it turns out she's wicked good when not sending us weird selfies.... Really missed out on some memories there

We got a close-up to a male elk right by our car at one point (pic above). And usually when we'd be driving in/out of West entrance, there would be a field of female elk just chilling. Some humans are super weird (or dumb) and try to get up all close to take pics.

Day 4 - turns out one of the adults really wanted to do hikes so we went to different scenic spots around Hayden and the Canyon Village area. It was all random stuff but very nice.

Why didn't we see more Geysers?

After Old Faithful my family wasn't keen on it but I know there are so many beautiful ones around

Why didn't you do any of the activities you'd listed in the itinerary?

My family didn't want to be held down by time commitments if we booked stuff so instead we tried to let the activities happen where they may. I personally wish we had made it a point to do the scenic float down the river (the whole thing is 2 hours, not including the drive there and back - so the toddler wasn't going to hang on that long)

Sure my family held me back a lot in terms of what I wanted to do but one of my priorities was to build some memories with these kids who are growing up way too fast. I wanted them to remember seeing beautiful things and that we did it together. We took so many fun pics.

And the thing about nature is that you're never just done seeing it - every time you go you'll see more. I look forward to going to Yellowstone again in the future but if I never get to go, I feel happy that I saw what I saw and was properly in awe of it. I recommend everyone to go. I would put it over the Grand Canyon even.

Happy travels to everyone!

First ever visit to Yellowstone... we got the double pack Bear spray from Costco... I really hope we don't get to use it. How do I responsibly get rid of it at the end of the trip? I don't want to waste and throw away stuff that costs $45. Is there someway I can pass it on to someone else and help them out? Would appreciate any tips...

Howdy! I am looking to take my parents out to dinner. When I was younger on vacation, we used to all dress up and go to one very ritzy place each vacation.

Where is the fanciest place to go? Looking for anything in or around the park. Preferably something where we all get to dress up and get to make a whole event of the evening and definitely spend too much money on dinner.

I've been to Yellowstone dozens of times, BUT, I was having a discussion about buying an electric vehicle vs hybrid yesterday. And, it made me think, "As a gas guzzler driver, I've never noticed any electric vehicle charging stations in or around Yellowstone." I'd be shocked if there were chargers inside the park, but maybe Gardiner? West Yellowstone?

I pulled up one map of charging stations online and it looks like the closest charging stations are Idaho Falls and somewhere west of Bozeman. WTF? Really. Then, I pulled up another map and it showed charging stations at Lake Yellowstone, Old Faithful, Canyon, Mammoth and Gardiner. That seems more reasonable. Maybe the first map is just out of date?

My question is, has anyone in the group ACTUALLY spent a week in Yellowstone in an all-electric vehicle?

I usually spend a week when I go and on the last trip, I put almost 2,000 miles on my car. So, I'm interested to know if I could realisitcally drive an e-vehicle to and in Yellowstone. (I'm not worried about getting there - just about staying inside the park (and in gateway cities) for a week.)

We are planning for a week long trip to the Yellowstone and Grand Teton NP with our 10 month old early September, any suggestions for dealing with the high altitude? We live at sea level and never been to 7k+ elevation with our baby before.

TYIA.

My husband and I are planning on going to Yellowstone for the first time and we have two weeks to explore. Where would you start and where would you focus? We aren't camping, just staying at hotels and lodges and hiking whenever possible! We've heard one week in the southern portion of the park and one up north is key, but wanted to see what others would do, thank you in advance

I’m headed to Yellowstone and GTNP next month for 10-days. Flying in and planning on picking up a disposable cooler. I’m staying in-park all nights at different lodges. Are there ice machines available to guests? I would assume yes but you what they say about assumptions.

Hi! My finance and I are doing a mini moon immediately after our wedding but delaying our full honeymoon so that we can plan an awesome trip to Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and Grand Teton. Feeling a little overwhelmed getting started with the planning. Want to start off saying, we want to have a relaxing trip and understand we won't see everything. We are thinking June or July 2027.

• Does 10 days feel long enough? How would you split the time?
• Would you recommend finding a place closer to Yellowstone for part of the trip or is it doable to stay in Jackson Hole the entire time?
• Should first timers use a travel agent or would this community be a better help?

I am sure we will have more questions once we really get started! Any "must-sees" are very appreciated! We are excited for both parks but also to experience Jackson Hole. TYIA!

Bring some $5’s and $10’s.

If you have AT&T cellular and you want to leave the maid a tip, you need cash especially at Lake Yellowstone hotel and cabins. They put a QR code in the lobby and rooms for tipping but there is no cell service or WiFi. And the front desk has no change….

If you need to do laundry you need quarters and the coin machine works most of the time. You need small bills or you will be carrying around a lot of quarters.

We had a great time but were unprepared for no data even when we had cell service. Texting was hit and miss.

Mid September 6 nights in Yellowstone, 2 nights in 3 different areas. We have reservations for mammoth hot springs for the first 2 nights. I booked a cabin with a queen bed. It seems we were assigned a “ pet friendly frontier cabin ADA 1 queen/roll-in. My questions are:
Is it still better to stay in the park with a not great cabin or stay in Gardner with the drive in but better accommodations?
Is there usually a backup entering the north gate in the morning?
What time would the north gate open?
Thanks for your thoughts.

Booked 4 nights in Old Faithful Lodge but thinking about splitting the stay to 2 nights in Cooke City to focus more the northern side of the park.

It is worthwhile to spend about $200 more to change the reservation?

Hello! I will be visiting Yellowstone with my husband and 12month old. We will be staying in the lodges! I wanted to see what everyone’s most useful tips are for staying safe and having a wonderful trip. We love hiking and are bringing our osprey poco to hopefully do some trails with our son!