17 Best Sights in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

The most celebrated viewpoint in Yellowstone, Artist Point frames the 308-foot Lower Falls and the kaleidoscopic canyon walls in a scene immortalized by painter Thomas Moran in 1872. His vivid watercolors of this exact vantage point helped persuade Congress to establish Yellowstone as the first national park. Today, two platforms, one wheelchair accessible, offer some of the most photographed views in the park, especially in morning light when rainbows arc through the mist. Rangers often give short interpretive talks here, and the South Rim Trail begins nearby, leading to other overlooks along the canyon.

On a busy day in summer, only a handful of parties will fill out the trail register at the Avalanche Peak trailhead, so if you're seeking solitude, this is your hike. Starting across from a parking area on the East Entrance Road, this rigorous 4.2-mile, four-hour round-trip climbs 2,150 feet to the peak's 10,566-foot summit, from which you'll see the rugged Absaroka Mountains running north and south. Look around the talus and tundra near the top of Avalanche Peak for alpine wildflowers and butterflies. From early September to early July, the trail is often impassable due to snow, and fall also can see grizzly bear activity. Stick to summer. Difficult.

Past the entrance to Bunsen Peak Road, this moderately challenging 4.4-mile round-trip trek climbs 1,280 feet to 8,527-foot Bunsen Peak for a dramatic panoramic view of Blacktail Plateau, Mammoth Hot Springs, the Gallatin Mountains, and the Yellowstone River valley. Allow about three hours. Moderate–Difficult.

The 2-mile narrow asphalt road twists through a deep canyon of curving lava-rock formations and passes the 40-foot Firehole Falls, which are most scenic in the morning when you're not looking into the afternoon sun. In summer look for a sign marking a pull-out and swimming hole. This is the only place where you can safely and legally swim in the thermally heated waters. Look for osprey and other raptors.

The oldest buildings here served as Fort Yellowstone from 1891 to 1918, when the U.S. Army managed the park. The redbrick buildings cluster around an open area reminiscent of a frontier-era parade ground. Pick up a self-guided tour map of the area from the Albright Visitors Center on Officers Row, and start your walking tour there.

This trail gradually climbs 105 feet up over 0.6 mile from the Fairy Falls Trailhead to a wooden platform overlooking the Grand Prismatic Spring. The elevated vantage point reveals the full sweep of orange, yellow, and turquoise colors that are impossible to appreciate from the boardwalk level. The best light is mid-morning or late afternoon when steam is less dense. From the overlook, hikers can continue another 1.5 miles on level trail to reach the base of Fairy Falls, a 200-foot waterfall that plunges into a forested amphitheater. Easy–Moderate.

You can reach Yellowstone's largest hot spring (third-largest in the world), 370 feet in diameter and arguably an even more dazzling sight than Old Faithful, by following a ⅓-mile boardwalk loop. The spring, in the Midway Geyser Basin, is deep blue with yellow and orange rings formed by thermophiles, heat-loving bacteria, that give it the effect of a prism. For a stunning perspective, view it from the overlook along the Grand Prismatic Overlook–Fairy Falls Trail.

Bison, bears, coyotes, wolves, and birds of prey all call Hayden Valley home almost year-round. Once part of Yellowstone Lake, the broad valley now contains peaceful meadows, rolling hills, and a serene stretch of the Yellowstone River. There are multiple turnouts and picnic areas on this 16-mile drive. Ask a ranger about "Grizzly Overlook," an unofficial site where wildlife watchers, including NPS rangers with spotting scopes for the public to use, congregate in summer. North of Mud Volcano are 11 unsigned turnouts. Look for the telltale timber railings, and be prepared to get caught in a traffic-stopping "bison jam" along the way.

Multicolor travertine terraces formed by slowly escaping hot mineral water mark this unusual geological formation, one of the most remarkable sights in the park. You can explore the terraces via an elaborate network of boardwalks, the best of which is the Lower Terrace Interpretive Trail. If you head uphill from Liberty Cap, near the lower parking area, in a half-hour you'll pass bright and ornately terraced Minerva Spring, and in an hour you can make your way up to the Main Terrace Overlook and the side trail to Canary Spring. Along the way you might spot elk grazing nearby. Alternatively, you can drive up to the Main Terrace Overlook on Upper Terrace Drive and hike down to the Lower Terrace. Distances are fairly short amid these terraces, but give yourself at least a couple of hours to thoroughly explore them—especially if you enjoy taking lots of pictures.

This 29-mile road has the richest landscape diversity of the five entrance roads. Just after you enter the park from Cooke City, Montana, you cut between 10,928-foot Abiathar Peak and the 10,404-foot Barronette Peak. Lamar Valley is home to hundreds of bison, and the rugged peaks and ridges adjacent to it shelter some of Yellowstone's most famous wolf packs. (Wolves were reintroduced to the park in the mid-1990s.) This is the park's best place for wolf- and bison-watching, especially in the early morning and early evening. Often you will spot large groups with spotting scopes pointed far away, and this is the best indicator of wolf and bear activity. As you exit Lamar Valley, the road crosses the Yellowstone River before leading you to the rustic Roosevelt Lodge.

A 2-mile round-trip route leaves Geyser Hill Loop boardwalk and becomes a trail shortly after the Firehole River; it circles a picturesque overview of Geyser Hill with Old Faithful Inn as a backdrop. You may also see Castle Geyser erupting. Even when 1,000-plus people are crowded on the boardwalk to watch Old Faithful, expect to find fewer than a dozen here. Easy–Moderate.

Almost every park visitor makes it a point to view the world's most famous geyser, at least once. Yellowstone's most predictable big geyser—although neither its largest nor most regular—sometimes shoots as high as 180 feet, but it averages 130 feet. The eruptions take place every 50–120 minutes, the average is around 90 minutes. Check the park website, visitor center, or the lobbies of the Old Faithful hotels for predicted times. You can view the eruption from a bench just yards away, from the dining room at the lodge cafeteria, or the second-floor deck of the Old Faithful Inn. The 1.6-mile loop hike to Observation Point yields yet another view—from above—of the geyser and the surrounding basin.

It's hard to imagine how any work could be accomplished with snow and ice blanketing the region, but this truly iconic hotel was constructed over the course of a single winter. Completed in 1904, what's believed to be the world's largest log structure is one of the most recognizable, and impressive, buildings in the national park system. Even if you don't spend the night, walk through or take the free 45-minute guided tour to admire its massive open-beam lobby and rock fireplace. There are antique writing desks on the second-floor balcony. You can watch Old Faithful geyser from two second-floor decks.

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.

On the northern end of this volcanic beach, look carefully for the large rock slabs pushed out of the lake bottom. Nearby trees offer shade and a table, or you can hop onto the level rocks for an ideal lakeside picnic. You may see bubbles rising from the clear water around the rocks—these indicate an active underwater thermal feature. The only company you may have here could be crickets, birds, and bison.

Partly paved and fairly flat, this 1¾-mile trail along the south rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone affords impressive views and photo opportunities of the canyon and falls of the Yellowstone River. It starts at Chittenden Bridge, passes by magnificent Upper Falls View, and ends at Artist Point. Beyond Artist Point, you can continue your adventures for another 1.3 miles along a less-traveled and stunning trail to Point Sublime, or cut inland through high mountain meadows along the Clear Lake–Ribbon Lake Loop. You'll see fewer humans and possibly more wildlife in this more rugged backcountry, so carry bear spray. Moderate. 

The primary Yellowstone caldera was created by one massive volcanic eruption, but a later eruption formed the West Thumb, an unusual and particularly photogenic geyser basin because its active geothermal features are on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. Two boardwalks loop through the basin and showcase a number of sites, including the stunning blue-green Abyss Pool and Fishing Cone, where fishermen used to drop their freshly caught fish straight into boiling water without ever taking it off the hook. This area is popular in winter, when you can take advantage of the nearby warming hut and stroll around the geyser basin before continuing your trip via snowcoach or snowmobile.