Just took an awesome, multi-week cross-country trip to Yellowstone, and stopped at Indiana Dunes, Badlands and Rushmore on the way.

Went to Old Faithful the very last day of my trip and witnessed this absolute jerk flying a drone around the geyser during an eruption. Grabbed this video, sprinted to the visitor center, and found a ranger. Ranger immediately went out and confronted him and walked him to an awaiting park vehicle.

I left my information behind at the visitor center with another ranger in case they wanted a statement but did not hear back, so I really hope he was banned and heavily penalized. Screw this selfish behavior - this is how incredible natural features get destroyed or changed forever.

Zoomed in photo included

My family plan to spend 3 nights on Yellowstone. We will bring a RV with us. I hope I can get some recommendations for choosing campground and the trip. Thanks in advance.

I am unsure about what kind of jacket to pack for my upcoming trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Teton area in mid August. I know to pack multiple layers. I have a lot of moisture wicking clothes. I also have a really good waterproof rain jacket. And I know what kind of shoes to pack. But I don’t know how heavy a jacket I need. I have an L.L. Bean windproof fleece jacket. It’s definitely heavier than your normal fleece jacket. Per the website about that jacket**…**
COMFORT LEVEL: WARM
Best for multiple seasons, mild temperatures and layering up for adventures.
I also have a Columbia fleece jacket that is definitely not as heavy and not wind proof.
One thing to note, we are not doing any actual hiking. I am going with someone who has some mobility issues so we won’t be walking farther than 1 mile at a time. And not on any serious hiking trails.
Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

Hello! I'm looking for some advice for our upcoming mid-September trip.

We're flying into Bozeman around 9:00 p.m. and would like to get into the park as early as possible the following morning. I know the drive can have a lot of wildlife after dark, so our original plan was to stay overnight in Bozeman and enter through the North Entrance the next morning.

However, I realized Livingston isn't much farther and would put us a little closer to the park. How is the drive from Bozeman to Livingston after dark? Is it generally considered a safe and easy drive, or would you recommend just staying in Bozeman for the night?

Thanks in advance! We're so excited for this trip!

Hi everyone!
Here’s our itinerary for Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We’re coming mainly for wildlife watching and short/easy hikes, and we’ve heard that getting up early is great for spotting animals — we definitely plan to do that, especially in Yellowstone.

Here’s our schedule:
• July 30–31: Grant Campground
• August 1–2: Canyon Campground
• August 3–4: Cody Lake Shore
• August 5: Lizard Creek
• August 6: Colter Bay Campground
• August 7: Madison Campground

We’d love recommendations, ideas for short hikes, and wildlife tips based on this itinerary — ideally alternating between hiking and wildlife viewing.

🦌 Wildlife Watching — Any Tips?

We’re hoping to see bison, elk, pronghorn, and maybe bears or wolves if we’re lucky.
From what we understand, early mornings are best.

Places we’re considering:
• Hayden Valley
• Lamar Valley
• Oxbow Bend
• Willow Flats

If you have specific sunrise spots, we’d love to hear them.

📌 What We’re Looking For
• Short hikes (1–3 hours)
• Wildlife viewing tips
• Sunrise/sunset suggestions
• “Don’t miss this if you’re nearby” ideas
• Anything specific to our campgrounds

Thanks a lot for any help — we’re super excited for this trip!

I’m not great at writing reddit posts, but i drove through Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton national parks on the way back from Northern Idaho. i (18 F) had never been to a national park before, only having been to Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, so i was pumped!! i said as we were driving into the park that i wanted to see a bear, truly not thinking i would. but low and behold, after we got locked out of the car at the petrified redwood, I SAW A FUCKIN GRIZZLY BEAR!!!!! so so sorry for the bad quality video, was definitely excited!!!!! I’m so so happy i got to see this beautiful bear, especially for my first time, ESPECIALLY at my first time in yellowstone! i hope whoever sees this and goes next has an incredible time!!!

Hi,
we’re four guys, and we’ve put together Yellowstone’s restaurant scene in an app called Vota. The concept is simple: you see two places side by side (for example Wonderland Cafe vs. Madison Crossing Lounge), you choose the place you’d rather go to, and the ranking updates instantly. The more people vote, the more accurate the list gets over time. There are still a few duplicates here and there, but I’m continuously cleaning up the data.

Here’s the iPhone version, with categories that actually fit Yellowstone’s food scene:
https://apps.apple.com/app/vota-restaurant-ratings/id6744969212

And here’s the Android version (finally live):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.vota.app

I’d love to know what people here think. Does the ranking feel even remotely right? Are obvious places missing? Are any places ranked way too high or way too low?

The goal is to make something that reflects where locals and regular visitors actually want to eat, not just where tourists or review sites send people.

Hi all!

I’m hoping to get some insight from people about visiting Yellowstone in the winter.

After looking at staying in the Old Faithful Snow Lodge or the Mammoth Hotel, where accommodations were surprisingly reasonable, we’ve had to opt out of that idea because of how expensive the snowcoaches are.

For 3 people to go one way from the MH to the OFSL, it’s more than $500...

So we are now looking at potential options and tours that originate from outside of the park. This link https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm has some NPS approved tours from third parties, and I’m wondering if anyone has any experience or recommendations.

We’re interested in a whole bunch of options! Snowshoeing, skiing, snowmobiling - game for whatever! But just don’t want to have a trip cost us 3K per person...

I am feeling hell lot of regret and guilt , since we came all the way from Seattle to Yellowstone by car, could not make most out of it !

We just went to Yellowstone to 3 nights trip as planned, we covered all of it, now I regret not visiting the grand Teton national park which is just few miles away , we had the time but did not even bother to explore other nearby places due to exhaustion and no cell signal inside the park.
There is no way we can do this much long trip again due to health and budget constraints.

Hello! My husband and I are planning a trip mid-September as follows:
- fly to Idaho Falls, spend night
- one night in Grand Tetons, at Colter Bay (can spend almost the whole day in the park)
- two nights at Old Faithful Lodge
- one night at Mammoth Hotel
- one night Bozeman, then fly home
We are ... able to walk and hike, but not super active. (I don't have great knees.) We are also on a budget. But this is probably our one and only trip there, so we'd like to have a few special activities or meals. Any tips for 60-somethings? :)
TIA!

We want to stay in the park and spend time in 2 different areas/hotels. We are first timers and am wondering what the best 2 areas to stay in to cover the most ground? Thinking 2 nights in each location?

Also looking to do Grand Teton before or after

• Getting up early is nice but it’s not critical - I kept reading the advice of getting up super early to beat the crowds. This is not totally accurate because the nature of the park is short 1hr experiences then on to the next exhibit, it’s unavoidable to plan your whole day around crowds. We hit prismatic at peak time on the 4th of July and it was okay… so better advice is - 11am-4pm are peak times, so if you can avoid the big items then, great. if not things cycle and you will eventually get a spot.
• Picnic Areas are slept on - I saw many people eating out of their car or on the road. we did too for a bit until my wife said pull over! We went to a picnic spot and they are honestly really nice, away from the crowds, and peaceful. there are also a ton in the park so it doesn’t really disrupt your plan.
• Dirt Roads - everyone is doing the same figure 8 trip and hitting the same spots. all the internet wisdom is the same. So turn off on a dirt road and watch people disappear… then you will find something unique.
• The further the quieter - most people don’t hike. so if you can, hike and you will soon see the size of these parks and how remote you can feel.
• Download an audio book - lots of cool Yellowstone audio books to listen to while you drive. They are super insightfu.
• Time your Geyers! We were lucky enough to see BeeHive and Old Faithful erupt at the same time and it was incredible. We learned all the good geysers have people watching and tracking them. You can sometimes plan to see extremely unique events https://geysertimes.org/
• Junior Rangers - we do this at every park. If you have a kid, go get a junior rangers packet and the kids have something to do all car ride and at the end they get a badge.
• Fly Fishing and Swimming - fishing here is incredible and you can get in most bodies of water. It’s worth it
• Animals - first of all NEVER stop traffic for bison or mule deer. I promise you will see tons! Both Valleys were incredible and it’s easy so spot when a group sees something like a bear
• binoculars or scope are amazing - I wasn’t sure if it was worth it but it totally was worth bringing something to look through. the Valleys are big and they help.
• thats all I can think of for now.

Best of luck on your trip. Dont plan too much as it will all fall in to place as you go. Tons to see and you won’t be disappointed.

Remember to leave no trace and take only pictures/videos.

Hey everyone! I have a 10-day trip out west coming up very soon, following the July bar exam. We'll be spending most of the trip in Jackson and Grand Teton National Park, but the last few days will be spent in Yellowstone. I know it is not nearly enough time, but I am trying to make the most of it! We will be leaving Jackson/GTNP early on 8/14, driving through Yellowstone, and staying in a cabin just north of the park in Emigrant. We then have all day on the 15th to explore/hike the northern side of the park, and flying out of Bozeman late on the 16th.

I'd appreciate any recommendations on making the most of the trip. The current plan is to treat our travel day as a car sightseeing day (route recommendations appreciated). Then on our full day, I don't even know where to start because there is so much! I'm completely content to skip some of the stuff that will be absolutely covered up with other tourists.

Thanks in advance!

anyone take a tour that you’d pay to do all over again?

family of four heading to the yellowstone/ tetons in august. we have a couple of excursions booked but am considering adding others.

We are headed north from Grand Teton tomorrow morning. Below is our itinerary for Yellowstone. I’m wishing we had one more night at Lake Yellowstone, but it’s probably too late to make that happen. As it is, I booked everything within the past few months after stalking the Xanterra website for cancellations. I’m wondering when would be the best day to visit the Canyon area and do the Scenic Cruiser boat trip on Lake Yellowstone. I’ve got a 17-year-old kid with me that loves boats, so even though some people say it’s lame, we’re probably doing it. Will we have enough time to do that on the 26th after we leave Roosevelt and make our way to Cody? Or should we try to do that elsewhere in our trip? Not sure if we care to catch the rodeo or museums in Cody. Is there anything else there to do that we should rush out of the park for?

21, 22: Old Faithful cabins
23: Gardiner
24, 25: Roosevelt
26: leave the park and stay in Cody

Tomorrow I’m thinking we’ll visit West Thumb and maybe check out some of the geysers around there before heading over to Old Faithful for a leisurely evening. Morning of the 22nd, I think we’ll do Grand Prismatic, Norris, Paint Pots, etc if we can.

Thanks in advance for your input!

We will be driving into Yellowstone from the Grand Tetons in the middle of next week. How busy is the southern entrance these days? I saw advice to look at the webcams but I didn't see one for the southern entrance.

Ist euch das auch aufgefallen? Die neue Version beginnt mit einer Szene, die mich stark an die Flussüberquerung aus „1883“ erinnert. Eine Familie zieht mit ihrem Hab und Gut durch die Wildnis und dann taucht auch noch das Klavier auf.

Das Klavier erinnert mich sofort an die Szene aus „1883“, wo es ebenfalls eine besondere Bedeutung hatte. Zufall oder eine bewusste Anspielung? 👀

Hat die Produktion hier vielleicht ein kleines Easter Egg für Western-Fans eingebaut? Oder interpretiere ich da zu viel hinein?

Was meint ihr?

We will be in the park on 9/14 and 9/15. We are looking for companions to join us on a 7hr wolf tracker tour. That way we can reduce the cost by half. DM me if interested.

We are visiting Yellowstone starting this weekend. Staying in Gardner and driving in every day for 6 days. We will do some light hiking, 5 miles or so, but nothing back country. As far as attire, will my daughter and I be okay hiking in leggings? Or is it too hot? Teva sandals ok or hiking boots? We want to be comfortable, but we have not been before and I can’t find a weather station in the park. Thanks so much