Yellowstone in two days
 

My family and I will be in Yellowstone for 2 days. Does anyone have any suggestions of the "must see" things to do? We are staying at the Old Faithful Lodge

Hi millertime
Probably most people would say that 2 days is not enough and, in an ideal world, they are definitely right. But when we visited, we only stayed for 2 nights (at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge) and managed to see heaps. We entered via the north entrance though and took in a lot on our way to OF and we exited to the east, on our way to Cody. Below are links to the relevant trip report pages - but definitely you should see Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris Geyser Basin, Old Faithful (of course), Yellowstone Canyon and try to drive the Lamar valley. Planning your route from a good map will be very beneficial. Hope you have a great time.

http://www.braininajamjar.co.uk/usac8.html
http://www.braininajamjar.co.uk/usac9.html
http://www.braininajamjar.co.uk/usac10.html

Here's a link to information we put together on Yellowstone. The button for the 2006 visit was a 3 day trip so similar to yours.

http://www.alandsuejohnson.com/yellowstone_home.htm

When are you going? Before or after August 17 makes a difference. The road north of Madison will close and complicate seeing the northern parts of the park. Before then its closed from 10PM til 8AM and subject to half hour delays.

You might be better off trying to get a change to the east side of the park at Canyon, Lake or Roosevelt in the north.

While there start planning your next visit. Two days isn't enough but you'll still have a wonderful time. We loved our 3 days and then back for a week.

Go to the www.nps.gov site and click on Yellowstone. This will give you a map of the park and information on closures etc. so you can plan your trip. It would be a shame not to get up to Mammoth Hot springs, but the park is very big and there are plenty of sights in the Old Faithful area too. You can get a taste of it and plan your next trip soon.

Thanks for the quick responses!! We will be there in early August. I will check out these links today. These forums are great...just joined this morning! thanks again

I would spend one day around the Geyser Basin right near your lodge. Be sure and go in the Old Faithful INN. I would spend the next day in and around Tower/Canyon area.

Lamar Valley is great, Lake area is nice, Mammoth area is our least favorite place(although it is cool and elk are everywhere). But, you are better off to stick with one area for each day than to start trying to drive a lot of places. Driving can be really slow as you will run into a lot of traffic jams while people watch the wildlife. This isn't a maybe, YOU WILL RUN INTO TRAFFIC JAMS.

So,
Day 1 Geysers, Old Faithful Inn, maybe some of the pools/springs, maybe paint/mud pots.

Day 2 Canyon area/Tower area/ maybe drive thru Lamar and Hayden Valleys. Have a picnic lunch somewhere along the way. Maybe have a meal @ Lake Hotel or Roosevelt Lodge.

Castle and Riverside are two fantastic Geysers to see. They are much better than Old Faithful, in my opinion. However, they do require more time waiting to see them. They are not nearly as predictable as Old Faithful. Old Faithful is predictable +/- 10 minutes. Castle is +/- 3 hrs, and Riverside is +/- 2 hrs.

My suggestion if you only have 2 days, do NOT sleep in :D, unless your agenda is geysers only. The best chance to see wildlife other then bison and Elk are in the early mornings or almost dark..

The last time we went, 10 years ago, it was on an early morning drive that I was able to see and get a picture of a Mama Moose and her calf.

Another suggestion/tip - don't get too frustrated by the jams, pull over and ask someone what they see, there's a reason folks stop in the middle of the road, either bison, elk or some other critter is crossing (or walking right down the middle) the road or someone spotted a Bear or other animal.

That same trip on our last day and on our way out of the park, we came up on the biggest "Bear" jam we had seen the 5 days we were there. I pulled over and got out because I saw a TON of people with their tripods, camera's, binoculars, spotting scopes out. Sure enough it was a Mama Grizzly with 2 cubs way out in the meadow. People were nice and they allowed us to look through thier scopes. It was AMAZING.

We're going agian this year and taking the now teenagers. My plan is to do the stuff that we didn't the last time we were there.

If you love the wild outdoors Yellowstone will continue to call you long after you've left, and you will go back. ;)

Have fun!!!