Without writing about 400 pages ad using a million photographs it would be impossible to share the complete glory of the scale, diversity and sheer beauty of Yellowstone National Park so I’ve decided just to focus in on the 3 days we spent there and the key thing we took in which gives you some hint as to just how incredible it is.

We went May 7 – the tail of Spring meaning some south areas were still closed to snow and crowds were lighter which of course for me was ideal but if planning to do same be aware of some limitations for travel, in park amenities and weather (i.e. prepare for the worst and rejoice if you get the best ).

With the South gate (high road) still closed we had to abandon the ideal route out North of Jackson and instead come back out south, then loop west and north in an anticlockwise direction to enter Yellowstone by the West gate, so we had planned for this and booked accommodation at the VERY cool Hibernation Station in the town of West Yellowstone.

As a gate town West Yell’ isn’t massive , in fact its pretty small, but has everything you might need regards places to eat, grab souvenirs, supplies and gas  and get information on the park itself and surrounding area. Situated in Montana you can be assured of a warm welcome , hearty food and lovely folks serving you. It has a real US Wild west town feel (to us Scots anyway) as well as mountain town feel.

We arrived around lunch time to decided to max our time and head straight into the park.. rain, sleet and  wind starting to die down, we were still well wrapped up and had our waterproof jackets on as we headed in the West gate (grabbing our tickets en route) and headed to the Springs area South West of the park , with Grand Prismatic as our main objective. The still very active thermal springs areas of Yellowstone are like another world – part incredible alien beauty and part post apocalyptic landscape!

I’ll keep the words short and focus on photos with captions explaining what you are looking at but I remind everyone – DO NOT STEP ON THE LAND , STAY ON THE BOARDWALKS. This is not only for your safety but for the protection of this wonder of nature.

For planning supposes , half a day was enough to be able to get around most of this section of the park. (Lower Geyser basin/Midway Geyser Basin/ Grand Prismatic Spring/Fountain Paint Pot)

For a full downloadable PDF of the park and its various areas, roads and amenities see this link

An amazing start to what was an incredible  3 days in the park, now it was time to head back into town, check in , get food… and go see Avengers End Game at the West Yellowstone iMAX!! What a way to top off Day 1 . Ps.. we did also see lots of Bison but I’ve kept those pics for the next post….