10 Best Sights in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Located steps from one another inside historic 1920s cabins by the Jenny Lake parking area, trailhead, and shuttle boat dock, these two ranger-staffed information centers serve different functions. The visitor center is inside a building that was once used as a studio by the park's first official park photographer, Harrison Crandall. Today it's filled with exhibits on the history of art and artists in the park. It also contains a bookstore and information about daily ranger programs. The smaller ranger station occupies a 1925 cabin that once held the park's first museum and is now a one-stop for backcountry and mountaineering advice and permits as well as boat permits.

At this impressive, contemporary, LEED-certified visitor center that's a jewel of the national park system, you can check out the interactive exhibits and children's area, read the latest geyser-eruption predictions, and find out the schedules for ranger-led walks and talks. Backcountry and fishing permits are dispensed at the ranger station adjacent to the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, across the street.

Bachelor quarters for U.S. Army cavalry officers from 1909 to 1918, the carefully renovated red-roof visitor center is a great source for maps, advice, permits, and free Wi-Fi. This hefty stone structure also contains a bookstore and exhibits about the park's history, flora, and fauna, including displays of bears and wolves that kids love.

This gleaming visitor center contains elaborate interactive exhibits for adults and kids. The focus here is on volcanoes and earthquakes and includes a room-size relief model of the park that illustrates eruptions, glaciers, and seismic activity. There are also exhibits about Native Americans and wildlife, including bison and wolves. The adjacent bookstore contains hundreds of books on the park, its history, and related science.

At this useful center near the shore of Jackson Lake, a small display shows off items from the park's collection of Native American artifacts. (Hundreds more are being conserved and stored for future displays.) In summer, rangers lead daily hikes from here. Nightly ranger talks on various topics are also offered.

This strikingly designed contemporary building contains interactive and interpretive exhibits dedicated to themes of preservation, mountaineering, and local wildlife. There's also a 3D map of the park and streaming video along a footpath showing the area's intricate natural features. Dozens of Native American artifacts from the David T. Vernon Collection are housed here. A plush, 155-seat theater shows a nature documentary every half hour.

If you can't distinguish between a Clark's nuthatch and an ermine (one's a bird, the other a weasel), check out the exhibits about the park's smaller wildlife at this distinctive stone-and-log building, built in 1931. Step out the back door to find yourself on one of the beautiful black obsidian beaches of Yellowstone Lake. Adjacent is one of the park's larger amphitheaters. Ranger presentations take place here nightly in summer.

Exhibits at each visitor center describe a small piece of Yellowstone's history—the ones here provide details about the 1988 fire that burned more than a third of the park's total acreage and forced multiple federal agencies to reevaluate their fire-control policies. Watch an informative video, and learn about the 25,000 firefighters from across the United States who battled the blaze. Bathrooms and a backcountry office are here.

In this stone-and-timber National Historic Landmark, park rangers share the space with a store that sells books, maps, and learning aids. You might find spotting scopes set up for wildlife viewing out the rear window; if this is the case, look for eagles, swans, bison, and elk. Rangers will answer questions about the park, provide basic hiking information, and issue permits for backcountry camping and fishing. Rangers also staff the Junior Ranger Station for kids here. Picnic tables, toilets, and an amphitheater for summer-evening ranger programs are shared with the nearby campground.

This 1925 log cabin houses a bookstore and doubles as a warming hut in winter. There are restrooms in the parking area. In summer, check for informal ranger-led discussions beneath the old sequoia tree.