Your Perfect 2-3 Day Itinerary at Yellowstone National Park
Selfie taken at the Little Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
It had only been a few months since I’d moved out to Utah, and I was already eagerly planning several adventures to explore my new playground. The grandeur, the beauty, and the captivating aura of the National Parks was beckoning my name, but I had to choose one, and so I chose Yellowstone National Park to kick start my series of ventures.
Some background about the park:
Fun fact: Yellowstone was established on March 1, 1872 making it the world’s first national park.
The park is so huge that its total area still has yet to be scientifically verified, but according to the National Park Service (NPS) website, it’s sitting at 3,472 square miles. So, you’ve got a lot of ground to cover. I would highly recommend spending a solid week here if not more if your schedule allows it! But, with the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, sometimes the most time we can get is a weekend get away. It isn’t possible to witness all that the park has to offer in such a short amount of time (or ever really since nature is always changing and surprising us with its beauty), but hopefully this guide will help you make the most of your visit!
If you’re an avid hiker like me, Yellowstone isn’t really known for its hikes, just a heads up. I went there anticipating that I’d be climbing up mountains with some serious altitude gains (I obviously did my research) only to find out that there are limited trails with low pay-offs. Apart from a few trails like Storm Point, Mystic or Fairy Falls, those are really the most you have for hiking.
Although, what the park lacks in hiking it definitely makes up for with everything else. In those 3,472 square miles, you’ll find lush valleys, the most playful geysers, geothermal hot springs, colorful canyons, glistening rivers, and wildlife galore. What’s great about Yellowstone is that it’s very accessible to people of all ages. If your knees can’t handle walking downhill, the terrain is fairly level. Plus, well-built boardwalks make it easy for wheelchairs to access and for people to walk around to see a majority of the park’s attractions.
Vista overlooking the Yellowstone River beside Calcite Springs lava formations.
The Itinerary
Overview: The park is essentially broken up into two main loops—North and South.
<— Here’s a map so you can visualize what I’m talking about (click to enlarge). I’ve also linked a printable version here.
Entrances:
Yellowstone has multiple entrances, five in total. I drove from Utah and entered through the West Entrance and stayed at Norris Geyser Basin Campground. Depending on where you enter and where you find lodging, you may want to tweak my suggested itinerary to suit your trip best.
This blog post is specifically going to cover a suggested itinerary, but if you want more information about the logistics of visiting the park, you can visit the park website at here. I will probably publish a blog post about trip logistics at some point!
Day 1
Morning: Explore the northern loop of the park. Start your day driving up to Mammoth Springs. If you’re an early riser, catch the sunrise there and watch the steam glisten from the light of the morning sun. To get there, take Upper Terrace Drive—it’s a one way loop, so pay attention to the signs! You’ll see the main parking lot and an overflow lot at the bottom. The main parking lot is the second one that you’ll drive through on your left. There, you can park your car and walk around the boardwalks of the Lower Terraces where you’ll be able to view Mammoth Springs pictured below.
The park’s headquarters can also be found in this area along with the Albright Visitor Center. You can stop by here to pick up your souvenirs, pick a ranger’s brain, and learn more about the wild life in the park. Gas, lodging, and food are also available here.
Mammoth Springs
Boardwalk view of Canary Spring at the Lower Terraces.
Upper Mammoth Springs
Late Morning / Midday: From Mammoth Springs, drive East towards Tower Roosevelt. There are a couple pull outs along the way to view Undine and Wraith Falls heading to Roosevelt Lodge. There’s also the Petrified Tree apart from the two falls, but there isn’t really a whole lot going on at the Lodge area apart from horseback riding. The real destination is Lamar Valley. This is a great place for you to spot wildlife. I saw a ton of bison, ground squirrels, and some elk along the way. Binoculars are nice to have, but a lot of the times you’ll find a lot of wildlife on the side of the road like this elk pictured below. There are also wolves around, but their numbers are dwindling and aren’t as common to find.
Elk spotted on the way to Lamar Valley.
Caught bison-prise (lol) on the way to the Paint Pots.
Early Afternoon: Hike up to Mount Washburn to get a surreal view 360˚ view of the park from its highest peak standing at 10,243ft. You can also drive to it from Chittenden Road, but some walking is still involved to get to the top. Feel free to omit this if you’re pressed for time. For a 6.4 mile hike roundtrip, the payoff isn’t the best.
View of Lower Falls at Yellowstone’s Little Grand Canyon from Artist’s Point (click photo to enlarge).
Day 2:
Early Morning: Drive down to Lake Village—keep your eyes open for wildlife as you pass Hayden Valley. View the sunrise at Yellowstone Lake and maybe do a hike. There are a view options that I’ve link here. Storm Point is a short 2.3 mile loop that might be a good option if you’re looking to take a stroll with a nice view of the lake.
Late Morning / Early Afternoon: Head towards West Thumb and stop to see and walk around West Thumb Geyser Basin. Afterwards, drive towards Old Faithful to Upper Geyser Basin. Walk along the boardwalk and exercise some patience as you witness these holes in the ground blow water out of them. You could literally dedicate a whole day just simply geyser gazing. Here you’ll find a whole slew of geysers, and the most famous one, Old Faithful. If you have the time, I’d suggest making the hike up to Lone Star Geyser and chance it during a time when it’s ready to explode. Time tables of geyser predictions are available at Old Faithful Lodge.
Castle Geyser eruption ft. rainbow!
Late afternoon / Early Evening:
Head down to Canyon Village and grab a bite to eat or have a picnic before driving out to Yellowstone’s Little Grand Canyon. Take a stroll along the canyon’s Southern or Northern Rim or both! I’d recommend driving to Artist’s Point first which can be found on the South Rim. Park at the parking lot and catch a view of Lower Yellowstone Falls from the Artist’s Point viewpoint. Walk along the South Rim, and head towards Uncle Tom’s trail to get a close up view of the Lower Falls. If you’re pressed for time, you can also drive to the start of Uncle Tom’s trailhead.
There are a lot of other great views that you can see throughout the canyon like the Upper Falls viewpoint along the Southern Rim. If you’re heading back to Canyon Lodge, drive along North Rim Drive and stop at Lookout Point, Grand View, Inspiration Point, or all of them if daylight allows it!
Night: Turn in for the night or try to catch some animals down by the Yellowstone River or around Hayden Valley at dusk. Enjoy a nice bonfire and some s’mores before you head to bed!
Also, here’s a link to a close-up map view of Canyon Village.
More elk!
A tangent on geysers: Old Faithful is called Old Faithful because it’s very reliable and predictable as to when it will erupt which is about every 30 minutes or so. To fully enjoy this part of the park, my best advice to you is find a geyser gazer (yes, that is what they’re called), who is basically a person who knows all the ins and outs about how geysers “play” and follow them around. I found two on my way to the Paint Pots and because of them, I was able to see a number of geysers go off just in one day.
Late Afternoon / Early evening: Drive a little further north to Midway Geyser Basin. This is where you’ll find the iconic Grand Prismatic Spring which is basically the rainbow looking pool pictured below. If you’re looking to do some hiking and have the time, find the Fairy Falls Trailhead and hike to Fairy and Mystic Falls.
Note: The best view of Grand Prismatic isn’t actually from the boardwalk. Skip it and save yourself the hassle of trying to find parking and shoving your way through crowds. The best view, in my opinion, is from the short hike you can take up to the Grand Prismatic Overlook which is just .6 miles from the start of the Fairy Falls trailhead. The hike ascends about 105 ft and gives you a grand view of the Spring (see what I did there? ;] ).
The view of Grand Prismatic Spring from the overlook.
Simultaneous eruption of Beehive and Old Faithful geyser.
Beehive initial eruption.
Day 3:
Early Morning: Head to Norris Geyser Basin to catch the morning sun glow rolling off of the steam from the geysers. If you didn’t catch it for sunset, then definitely try to make this spot during either golden hours since the experience is just so surreal. You could spend a solid few hours just walking around the whole boardwalk in this area. It’s also worth driving through Firehole Lake Drive and Firehole Canyon Drive if you have the time in the morning before heading to Norris Geyser.
Late Morning / Early afternoon: Back track on the way out towards the West Entrance and take a stroll through Artist’s Paintpots. Take the rest of the afternoon off and head home.
Norris Geyser Basin at sunset.
Itinerary Recap:
3 day:
Day 1: Mammoth Springs, Lamar Valley, Little Grand Canyon
Day 2: Hayden Valley, West Thumb, Upper/Midway Geyser Basin
Day 3: Norris Geyser Basin, Artist’s Paintpots —> Home!
2 day:
Day 1: Mammoth Springs, Lamar Valley, Little Grand Canyon
Day 2: Norris Geyser Basin, Artist’s Paintpots, Upper/Midway Geyser Basin —> Home!
For detailed maps and more information visit the park website here. I hope you found this guide helpful! Feel free to message me via the contact form or leave your questions in the comments. Enjoy your trip!