The Best Areas in Yellowstone National Park

Here’s a little introduction of my trip before I give you all the details: I flew from Chicago to Bozeman to start my dream graduation trip with my friends. We covered the National Parks along the west coast down to Nevada. My timeline looked a little like this: Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, top of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, bottom of Utah, Nevada. I’ve written about each state to help you better navigate the trip. I road tripped for 15 days and covered 8 states with 4-5 friends. If I could do it, I know you can too!

Where to Eat

Before I get into Yellowstone National Park, I want to give you some of the foodie spots we absolutely loved! By the airport, we stopped at 19th Hole Grill. It was at the beginning of when Covid was taking out the mask restrictions, so we weren’t sure if we should enter with a mask or not. At the time, Montana had very few cases. The restaurant still had spread out seating, as did a great majority of our trip, so we got excited. 19th Hole Grill is a hole in the wall and had a sports bar atmosphere. I loved that we could easily stop by for dinner and some quick finger foods after our flight too!

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I did some research before heading to our Airbnb, because it would be in the middle of the mountains. We rented a car out of the airport for our trip. So we stopped for snacks, cases of water, and a whole outfit for one of our travelers. Funny story if you ask me! We didn’t laugh much when Giselle’s suitcase didn’t make it after our 4-hour delay from our connecting flight to Bozeman. Everything was figured out for it to be delivered at our place before exploring into Yellowstone National Park.

Before going into Yellowstone National Park, we had to stop for the most important meal of the day, right? We ate something quick at Book Peddler and I bought a cutie Yellowstone National Park guide book. It was mostly because I was excited it was our first park and the signal would be nonexistent. But it’s my future coffee table book, so worth the purchase! I also found a similar one online if you’d like to have it too.

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Before we walk into a world of national parks, there’s one more foodie spot we went to. It was a saloon type of vibe called Wild West Pizzeria and Saloon. They had some fun choices for beer, so I always just get what the waitress/waiter recommends. I really made it a point to explore what each state was known for. Especially when we get to take home leftovers and eat it during our game nights or hikes.

If you’re a cold leftover pizza kind of person, let’s be friends!

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Best Spots in Yellowstone National Park

It might seem more like a look book because I might have gone a little overboard with pictures, but they don’t do the trip justice at all! I’m actually surprised we stopped at the Yellowstone sign because it was a spur of the moment kind of stop right before entering the park, probably illegal to stop by there too. Our group grabbed the map and drove!

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These views will never get old. The day was beautiful, warm (but freezing in the morning, so I suggest you monitor the weather before coming on this kind of trip), and my hiking boots were the best investment ever! We’re going to touch up on a few spots I think would be worth your trip! Have you heard of Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, Artist Paint Pots, Excelsior Geyser, and Lake Village?

• Old Faithful: The heat that this geyser produces is about 30 to 40 times hotter than anywhere else on Earth. It erupts every 90 minutes and we got to see one erupt and all! We were actually on our way out to the next stop until we saw loads of people just sitting by a piece of land. My friends and I had to ask some strangers what was going on, so guess who stayed to watch too?! We did!
• Grand Prismatic Spring: As a heat-loving bacteria filled spring, the color of it makes it insanely beautiful. It’s the park’s largest spring too. We had a lot of fog during our time, but Giselle and Ashley caught their image at the best time. Look at those colors!
• Artist Paint Pots: The hike is incredibly short, but steep going up. On the way, you’ll see some geysers, but you’ll be able to balance yourself with the stairs it has leading up to the Paint Pots. They’re basically mud-like and fun to look at it boil. Disclaimer: it’s not wheelchair accessible. The view from the top is amazing!
• Excelsior Geyser: Erupts directly into the Firehole River. It looked like a bunch of rocks and redness was forming in that river- very cool to look at and get a nice mini facial. You know how when you open the dishwasher after it’s done or drain the pasta water, you get some steam on your face? It basically felt like that when it erupted by the walkway.
• Lake Village: A snowy, icy, watery view for miles! The lake was absolutely frozen!!! We parked *illegally* where the buses unload, but it was only for a few and other people did it with us! We were feeling some type of adventurous too, so we slid down the mountain to get a closer look into the blueness of our pretty planet. The pictures don’t do it justice and it was pretty chilly outside.

As the oldest National Park in the nation since 1870, Yellowstone is freaking beautiful!

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The drive around the park took about a day and a half because we made so many spots to truly enjoy it all. I wanted to take it all in! I know there are other spots if you wanted to end up in other states, but we were on a time crunch to drive to the next state.

Tip for my fellow travelers:

When you’re planning a trip a bit far from home, make sure to leave some wiggle room for anything having to do with your flights. We had a 4-hour delay in our connecting flight, which I planned perfectly for most of us to meet in, so we could be in Montana at around the same time. We had a lost luggage and had to work around other details. It’s crucial to separate time for that if you’re going with a checked bag and bring a few extra lightweight outfits! Personally, I like to wear all the heavy items to be able to make room in my luggage. Remember that you don’t have a limit to how much clothing you wear, but how much luggage you choose to bring!

Follow along to the next state: WYOMING!

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