I visited Yellowstone in October of 2026 while I swapped cars from the east and west coasts. I left my last post in the middle of my journey of the Grand Loop. The first part of the loop was along the west side of the loop from Grand Prismatic Spring to Norris Geyser Basin.  From there I continued on to several stops including watching ten different bison roaming the prairies and hot springs. These are not the herds of bison I saw in Custer State Park but lone bison grazing in the grasslands surrounding the world’s highest concentration of active geysers (over 500). It’s quite the backdrop as a lone bison wanders through a landscape full of steam rising in the background. 

As I left Norris Geyser Basin, I stopped at Roaring Mountain. This is a 8,152-foot thermal area on the side of a mountain. I posted a picture on social media and someone asked if it was smoke. I can imagine in the middle of fire season, this would be quite confusing. The chalky mountainside has what seems like twenty or thirty steam vents drifting up to the sky.

My next stop was Mammoth Hot Spring which is the most northern stop on the Grand Loop. Here the landscape changes dramatically to stark white and much less vegetation. There are hundreds of Travertine terraces which had warm springs dripping down over steaming hydrothermal openings. Here is also the smelliest portion of the park as it has a distinctive sulfur smell. There are hundreds of earthquakes throughout the year that shift the plumbing causing water paths to change, drying up some terraces and activating new ones. The whole process is truly fascinating.

I drove down the east side of the loop, traveled through Roosevelt, down to Canyon Village.  Since there isn’t the geyser activity on the east side of the park, there is much less traffic. It is scenic with view points overlooking the Mirror Plateau and Absaroka Range and random bison enjoying the prairie grass. 

My next stop was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This does not disappoint. There is a dramatic 20-mile-long river-carved gorge that drops a thousand feet below the yellow and orange canyon walls. The Yellowstone River flows below and creates the upper and lower Yellowstone Falls. I walked out to Lookout Point and saw the spectacular 308-foot Lower Falls. If there is one spectacular view of the canyon and the falls; this is it. 

Besides the lake front drive, the rest of the Grand Loop is not the exciting drive as the west side of the park. I went back to my hotel and planned my final morning in the park. 

I headed out to Black Sand Basin and walked the half mile boardwalk to see the Emerald Pool and Rainbow Pool. It was about 32 degrees so much of the boardwalk was safe to walk or was already heated from the hydrothermal features. 

Next up was the Grand Prismatic Overlook which is about a mile hike from the parking lot to have a bird’s eye view of Grand Prismatic Spring. I passed by a bison enjoying his breakfast next to steaming water features. This place is an amazing convergence of wildlife, water and heat. The overlook is worth the hike although because it was about ten in the morning, the cool air was still obscuring the colors of Grand Prismatic. From there, I headed out of the park on my way to Missoula Montana. I was shocked by the amount of bumper-to-bumper traffic at the west entrance and the town of West Yellowstone. I highly recommend approaching the park from Grand Teton as I had no problem entering the south entrance. 

In addition to entering from the south, if possible, I also recommend staying in the park as it is quite a drive to most places within the park. Another aspect to keep in mind is that the entire park is at least 6,000 feet of elevation and sits on top of the Continental Divide. I walked up one flight of stairs and was wondering why I was out of breath. Altitude is no joke and can be taxing over miles of hiking and exploring. 

If there is one national park to visit in the United States, this is it. It makes sense since it is the world’s first national park established in 1872. Come for the history, the wildlife, the waterfalls and the hundreds of hydrothermal features.