Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone is Wyoming’s flagship attraction.  Half the world’s geysers are here and a great concentration of wildlife.  The national park is 3,472 sq miles.  

Old Faithful is the most reliable of the geysers in the park.  It spews gallons of water 100-180ft in the air every 90 minutes.  The times are posted at the Lodge.  We were fortunate in not having to wait to long to see an eruption.  Having lived in New Zealand, I am familiar with such geothermal phenomena but the scale in Yellowstone is very impressive.

Mammoth Hot Springs part of the park has geysers that are different from the others.  These are travertines, like the ones we saw in Pamukkale in Turkey and in Egerszalok in Hungary.

Near the North entrance to the park is a lovely swimming hole at Boiling River where the steaming hot water from the geysers flows into the cold mountain river.  You can sit in the water and have both hot and cold available.

Yellowstone is interesting in the variety of things to see and enjoy.  The scenery is less spectacular than in the Grand Teton National Park, except when you get to the Great Canyon of Yellowstone, a deep canyon through which the Yellowstone River runs, with two impressive waterfalls.  Here are a series of scenic overlooks linked by hiking trails highlight the colourful beauty of the canyon.   Below are shots taken of the canyon and the river.  

Yellowstone River - Lower Falls and Upper Falls.