Yes, You CAN See Yellowstone National Park in 48 Hours
The Second Half of My Yellowstone Adventure
Seeing as it’s been six months since I posted the first half of this story, allow me to refresh your memory:
I wrapped up Grand Teton National Park and headed into Yellowstone, thinking I’d take about four or six days to do it properly. But the crowds and sheer size of the park made me change my mind. Instead, I was going to see how much of the park I could do in how short a time.
In the first 24 hours, I enjoyed the south shore of Yellowstone Lake, saw gorgerous waterfalls and spent the night in West Yellowstone. I watched Old Faithful blow and took photos at Grand Prismatic Spring. I walked around a couple of thermal hot spots and saw steam vents, hot springs, mud pots, and other thermal wonders. I took in Liberty Cap from the roadside and passed through Roosevelt Gate.
Night 2: Wildlife in the Northeast Park
By this time, I’d done three park entrances, smelt enough sulfur to last a lifetime, and was beyond ready for a break. I decided the east entrance would be my goal for the night and went back the way I came, passing through Mammoth and then taking a left toward Tower Junction. The northeast part of the park is the most well-known for wildlife, and I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and bison, elk, and other critters grazing near the road. Most of the time, these were accompanied with crazy gluts of cars. Even in areas where you are not supposed to stop, there would be twenty stopped vehicles clogging up the road. So I pressed on… and on…. until finally I found a nice big pullout that was completely void of people. I threw Danica in park and settled in with a movie while I kept an eye on the landscape, beautiful and sprawling and empty.
I wasn’t disappointed. I peered through my binoculars as a pronghorn grazed thirty feet down the hill and watched a massive herd of bison ford a river in the middle distance. I had dinner there, just enjoying the scenery and the peaceful movements of the wildlife for the rest of the afternoon. And as the sky started to dim, I settled back in the driver’s seat and continued on toward the northeast entrance.
I didn’t get very far. Not long down the road, a massive herd of bison was grazing. And they’d decided the road was really just a nice empty space for them to hang out in. Cars inched forward each time one of them moved out of the way, only for another to take its place. They stood there and stared into the headlights, or shook their heads lazily as they grazed mere feet from my window.
A few of the 200-or-so bison surrounding the road
And, of course, there were some domestic disputes. The males were none-too-pleased when another male happened to set foot too close to a female they like, and would immediately seek to right the offense by charging the other bull. This was really cool, until one of them shoved another right in front of my van and they proceeded to fight right there. I’m not exaggerating. They were slamming into each other mere feet in front of my van. One of them shoved the other so hard he stumbled within two feet of my bumper. I was afraid one of them wouldfall on my van, and these creatures are so huge and brawny that I was sure the thin metal hood would just crumble under its weight.
Luckily, they went tumbling off the road after a few more moments. Danica was saved.
And I tried to stay a little further away from them after that.
Also: now that it’s passed and nothing bad happened, that was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. They were right in front of my face.
After that, my drive was pretty calm. The world kept growing darker around me. I saw shadows of things I wanted to stop and look at in the morning. And then my headlights caught glimpses of animals moving in the trees or scampering off the road. At some point the other cars fell away and I was alone on the road, leaving the park with little fanfare. I thought there might be a town, like the north and west entrances. And there was…. well, there were about ten buildings lining the road, one of them a bar and inn. I ended up driving around in the dark for another half an hour before I ended up at a pullout just outside the park entrance. I brushed my teeth and fell into bed, having woken up at 6 and been on the go most of the day, with midnight fast approaching.
Morning 2: Back through the Northeast Park
I think this part of the park is best in the early morning. The animals are active and the people are not, leaving opportunities to see usually skittish creatures, like red foxes, and making it possible to take it nice and slow and even stop in the middle of the road to enjoy a sighting.
Take this guy, for example. He was just out for a morning stroll, enjoying the first rays of light hitting the golden grass. Before 6 am, I didn’t have to worry about anyone being bothered by me hanging out in the road while he meandered past.
(By the way, this photo is actually a video still, and you can see the video on my Instagram!)
The road between Tower Fall and Canyon Village was closed, so from the Northeast Entrance I had to drive all the way back across the park to Mammoth Hot Springs and retrace my path back to Norris Basin before I could continue my adventure. But I’d left a few sights unseen on my way up, so there were a number of new stops to make.
A few elk grazing in the early morning in the Northeast area of the park
Forces of the Northern Range Self-Guiding Trail
Watching the sun come up as I meandered over the short boardwalk of Forces of the Northern Range Self-Guiding Trail was peaceful and beautiful, and with the crowds that had been at Mammoth the day before thinned out to a handful of early risers scattered across the complex, I was able to really enjoy the features around Liberty Cap.
Liberty Cap
Spectacular limestone terraces around Liberty Cap, steaming in the morning light.
I briefly stopped at Roaring Mountain (aptly named) and then breezed back past Norris toward Canyon Village, where I stopped for souvenirs and to enjoy the transition from hydrothermals and limestone to dense, lush forest. The smell of sulfur abated for the first time since I entered the park, and I rolled the windows down as I headed on to Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
View downriver from the Upper Falls on the North Rim side
I made a point of hitting every major overlook around the falls. North Rim, South Rim, Upper and Lower falls on each side. The view of the Upper falls was best from the North Rim and the view of the lover falls was definitely best from the South Rim — that’s the classic picture on every Yellowstone-related thing since Ansel Adams made it famous. The canyon truly is spectacular. There’s a reason they call it “Grand” Canyon of the Yellowstone. It’s a marvel of plunging cliffs, sculpted into ridges and angles that cast shadows to dramatically play with the yellow tone of the stone, hedged with lush green forests and capped with endless blue skies, both of which are reflected in the bright color of the water pounding away hundreds of feet below. It’s a marvel of nature, a crown jewel of a park already glittering with spectacular treasures.
Upper Falls from the North Rim
The quintessential shot of the lower falls from Artist’s Point
By the time I put the falls in the rearview mirror, it was just shy of noon. I was selective in my stops the rest of the way through the park, having seen hundreds of hydrothermal sights in the last 36 hours and gotten my fill. I did make a quick stop to check out Mud Volcano and Dragon’s Mouth Spring (again, aptly named) and ate lunch while enjoying the serenity of Yellowstone Lake, but then I headed for the East Entrance, and was on my way to Cody, Wyoming, around 1 pm.
So, can you experience the world’s first national park, with nearly 3,500 square miles of land in three states; more than 1,800 archaeological sites, 25 National Historic Places, 900 historic buildings and 720,000 museum items; 5 park entrances accessing 466 miles of roads that will take you to 92 trailheads connecting 1,000 miles of hiking trails; 67 species of animals and over 250 species of birds; and 11 museums and visitor centers, in under 48 hours?
Well, technically, I suppose the answer is no. There is not a person on this planet that could get through all of that in 48 hours. But assuming you don’t want to hike all 1,000 miles of trails, and maybe you’d be happy seeing 10 species of animals and birds, instead of diligently documenting all 300+, then I’d say it’s absolutely doable. I think the key is to get an early start. I managed to get through a lot in the mornings (between 6 and 9 am) that would have taken a lot longer later in the day, simply because of the crowds.
In less than 48 hours, I passed through all five entrances, visited each of the visitor center areas (although most of them were closed because of COVID), hiked a number of trails, saw Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, Liberty Cap, and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, learned about the history, geology, and flora and fauna, had incredible encounters with the wildlife, and more. If that isn’t a comprehensive Yellowstone experience, I don’t know what is.
Well, here it is! The conclusion to that post I wrote nine months ago about something that happened almost a year and a half ago, now. I’m clearly really great at this blogging thing (or not).
I’m also sad to announce that I’m selling the van. As much as I loved traveling in it, this isn’t where my path is headed. I’ll probably write down more of my experiences with Danica in the future, but I’m turning towards new adventures and that’s where my focus is going to be moving forward.