How to plan a road trip to yellowstone national park
How To Plan Your Yellowstone Trip! | National Park Travel Show
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in this video we're gonna teach you how to plan a trip to Yellowstone
Hey you guys! Thanks for joining us on another journey. Today we're at Yellowstone National Park.
I'm April this is Wayne, we're Go Travel On The Cheap. So sit back, relax and enjoy the journey!
Yellowstone national park is huge huge massive it is 251 miles of roads and 2.2 million
acres of rapidly changing land and covers three states Idaho Wyoming and Montana i highly suggest
checking the national parks website before your trip and as you're traveling things change
often on there and your plans are going to need to change with it especially during the covid times
when packing for your trip make sure you have clothes of all kinds because the weather is
very volatile and it has been known to snow there in the middle of the summer ideally bring layers
especially if you're going to go on a hike you're going to want to have more than just shorts and
a t-shirt even if you're there in the summer and even if it is a typical warm summer day it still
get cools off pretty quickly yeah if you can bring a cooler with you to make sandwiches i highly
suggest it there are places to eat in Yellowstone it's difficult to get in and out of the park
to find a restaurant yes and they have plenty of picnic areas side note make sure you bring plenty
of water and wear some hiking boots yeah we always suggest getting a camel bag you can pick one up at
any of your sporting stores where you have plenty of water they typically hold a liter or more
that way you don't run out of water and and the reason for the hiking boots is so you don't fall
down the trail wait what that's why you wear no i had no idea most people don't understand
look look when Izzy came out he's got flip-flops on trying to hike in Yellowstone
you gotta have shoes with grip plenty of traction they're different than tennis shoes also don't
forget to bring some sunscreen yeah watch April i have no shame travel tip for you when you're
getting ready for your Yellowstone vacation we highly suggest that you go on a walk or a hike
once or twice a week this will make the walking and hiking in Yellowstone more easy and break in
those new hiking boots that way you don't wind up with blisters let's talk about airports that you
can fly into to see Yellowstone national park the closest airport to Yellowstone is West Yellowstone
airport it's only about 10 minute drive from the park entrance Bozeman international airport is
about an hour and a half from Yellowstone's north entrance this airport is especially convenient
if you're planning to visit both Yellowstone and Glacier national parks which we highly recommend
Glacier as well Idaho Falls regional airport is about two and a half hours from the west entrance
of Yellowstone keep in mind that each one of these little towns has lots of activities to do besides
the park the largest airport for the west entrance is Bozeman Yellowstone international airport it's
about a two hour drive from the park Yellowstone regional airport is in Cody Wyoming which is about
an hour from the east entrance of the park Cody is the year-round aviation gateway to Yellowstone
Jackson Hole airport is inside Grand Teton national park this makes it very easy to visit
both Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks and it's about an hour drive to Yellowstone's
south entrance the main reason why people fly into Salt Lake City Utah is because there are
very limited flights coming and going from those other smaller airports this gives you access to
Utah's mighty five national parks as well see card above for Utah's national park playlist there are
five entrances you should plan on no less than one day per section of the park West Yellowstone
is probably the most popular everything from gift shops restaurants bars campgrounds with
camping cabins hotels probably airbnbs as well but if you want to save some money we suggest
that you go a little further out about a 30-minute drive from West Yellowstone is Island Park Idaho
the south entrance of Yellowstone will actually give you access to a second national park which
Grand Tetons should definitely be on your list it's only about a 57 mile drive about an hour and
a half from the south entrance of Yellowstone to Jackson Wyoming we love Grand Teton national park
definitely worth stopping in but don't be fooled this park is not small you cannot do it in a day
you will be sadly disappointed the east entrance to Yellowstone is just outside of Cody Wyoming
it's only about 52 miles all of these roads are amazing to drive down Cook City and Silver Gate
are just outside of the northeast entrance of Yellowstone this one's quick it's only four
miles Gardiner Montana is about five miles from Yellowstone's north entrance again if
you're like us and looking to save some money on accommodations we suggest driving about an
hour and a half to Bozeman Montana you don't need to stay in the park especially if you didn't make
plans or reservations in advance which i'm notorious for doing we have found staying
further out of the park saves you money saves you a lot of money you know don't be scared
to drive a little bit all the scenery out there is magnificent we prefer to stay in a different
town when we visit yellowstone that way we don't have to keep driving through the same sections
of the park we get to see different sections each day if you have the national parks pass
obviously you can get into both of those parks both of those parks about cost you almost what a
national parks pass costs so it's definitely worth picking one up if you're over the age of
62 you can always get the golden life pass as well and that way you can visit the uh parks for the
rest of your life for free i highly suggest park that car get on a hike that's where you're gonna
see the animals that's where you're gonna just be mind blown of how magnificent this park truly is
come on you give us the excuse to take a break for the people going up get the ride away yep that's
actually the hiking rule hey even if hiking isn't your thing there's still plenty of other things
for you to do yeah park the car and there's plenty of boardwalks that are nice easy strolls
even if you are handicapped there's a lot of places that you can still visit and get out and
explore the elements pets are allowed in the park but they're kept to the parking lots and the main
areas they're not allowed on the boardwalks or the trails they must be on a leash that is not longer
than six feet in length at all times and they're prohibited from all of Yellowstone's back country
uh internet is very limited on your phones as well so i highly suggest downloading any of the maps
that you need music entertainment entertainment Yellowstone's the entertainment absolutely but
you do like music of course you gotta have music gotta have music and it's nice to have some maps
because nothing seems to work in there most of the time right most national parks do not have
and that's the advantage throw your phone out the window just take pictures yes get you unplugged
bonding with nature another thing you want to be sure to include when you're planning your
Yellowstone trip is to bring some binoculars for all of the animal sightings like bears elk
moose bison wolves that a lot of times they're further away as well do not approach wildlife
it's dangerous pro tip you're going to want to get into the park early early that's the best time
to spot animals wildlife get there before sunrise or before dusk best time to see animals
when you're in the national park at dusk or dawn drive extra extra slow
even on the areas outside of the park because that's when the animals are out more than the
rest of the day they see your lights and they do crazy things like run out your car you're looking
at getting that bear spray i know you're going to be tempted by that three dollar bear bell but do
not buy the bear bell all it does is scare the bears away which means you don't see the bears
or any of the other animals only bear spray must see in Yellowstone Old Faithful is just pure power
the mathematical average between eruptions of old faithful is currently 74 minutes
but it doesn't like to act average intervals can range from 60 to 110 minutes
visitors can check for posted prediction times in most buildings of
in the old faithful area discovered in 1870 by the Washburn expedition
Old Faithful was named for its frequent and some what predictable eruptions it can vary in height
from 100 to 180 feet with an average near 130 to 140 feet eruptions normally last between one and
a half minutes to five minutes while Old Faithful is amazing there is so much more to Yellowstone
absolutely that i would say that's probably one of the main attractions but it's really not the
main attraction everything is the main attraction it's so diverse yeah it changes so rapidly i'm
gonna be on this little concrete trail to go see a redwood petrified tree is definitely worth just
a quick stop it is interesting to see a tree that turned into a rock West Thumb paint pots and lake
i really enjoyed visiting West Thumb and seeing Yellowstone Lake back in June i hadn't been there
in years and years and years and it's such a cool area it's butt-up right against the
Yellowstone Lake there's all sorts of paint pots and bubblies underneath the water yeah it's an
active volcano and it's just something that you're not going to see anywhere else in the world
in fact Yellowstone has more than half of all the geysers in the world are in Yellowstone
and i really like there are a couple of very very pretty pools at the West Thumb area oh the colors
magnificent i love Grand Prismatic Spring but that can be so overrun by tourists that it was fun to
see the beautiful turquoisey colors Firehole Falls river and canyon this is easy drive just a one-way
little veer off the main road beautiful along the river the waterfalls is incredible
unfortunately you just can't describe Yellowstone but any one way but incredible
amazing awesome i think it's fascinating about the canyon walls and how they were formed from
lava yeah lava flows 400 feet tall right yeah from like 800 000 years ago or something like that a
see card above the waterfall at Yellowstone grand canyon is just pure power of water rushing it's
as magnificent as Niagara falls in my opinion the Norris Geyser Basin complete loop trail is about
2.9 miles the the trail is best used between March and October Norris Geyser Basin you need to take
the boardwalks very seriously people have died out here by getting off of these boardwalks you
can burn up if you get off of those boardwalks somebody just died there no i know but it's
very very pleasant there are some steps down but it's very accessible take your time on the steps
and enjoy the otherworldly landscape that you'll find along the boardwalks of Norris Geyser Basin
i really enjoyed hiking Tower Falls but unfortunately the road between Tower-Roosevelt
and Chittenden is completely closed until May of 2022. the Mammoth Hot Springs loop is about three
and a half miles there are a lot of steps it's a really different waterfall than you've ever seen
before we highly suggest coming to check this out this is one of the fastest changing places
in Yellowstone if you want to see something really interesting check out the card above
and this trail is best used between April and October the Gibson Falls is
super easy it's right off the road just park walk on a concrete path
pretty much anybody can view this absolutely amazing go check out Nevada City's living museum
i had fun i had a great time i love exploring ghost towns even though this is a museum i highly
suggest putting this on the list it's a quick drive from the west entrance of Yellowstone an easy day
trip Nevada City is right next to Virginia City which is fun has several shops and restaurants
cool old-timey stuff i think it's definitely worth it for both Nevada City and Virginia City in
Montana. If you feel like we're missing anything, we welcome your input, so please comment below.
We want to thank you guys for watching our video all the way to the end. If you would,
hit that subscribe button, share it with a friend and, like always, thank you for living life!
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