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.

I think Yellowstone might be my new favorite national park. Here's a summary of our Yellowstone trip.

We spent two nights in Yellowstone and three nights in Jackson for Grand Teton.

Stayed in Canyon Lodge at Dunraven building fourth floor with a view of the woods. Had some strong thunder storms that was cool to watch out the window. in our last night, the power went out in the afternoon through the next morning when we checked out.

We were able to see Hayden Valley on the way to Canyon Lodge and spotted a bear coming out of the river.

After we checked in we went to the Brink of the Lower falls. Got dumped on by a thunderstorm just as we got to the bottom of the trail.

Next morning we got up early and headed to Lamar Valley for the Lamar Valley River trail. Lots of bison. Got to see a trio of coyotes and a bear that was much further away than the one we saw in Hayden Valley.

After our hike we headed towards Mammoth Hot Springs​ for a hike around the springs.

Called it a day after that and headed back to the lodge for some burgers in the village.

Power went out after dinner, so we just chilled in the room. Wifi was actually still working.

We passed out super early at like 7pm, so ended up waking up at like 2:30am. Decided to head out for stargazing. Tried to stop at inspiration point nearby, but it was too foggy. Headed to Mt. Washburn instead and wow... milkyway was just above us and lots of shooting stars.

Headed back to check out and made our way back to Jackson. On the way back we stopped by Norris Geyser Basin to see Steamboat Geyser.

Continued our drive and took the Firehole Canyon Road detour. Wow, one of my favorite parts of the trip. Got to see a bald eagle chase a crane or some sort of large bird.

Next was the Grand Prismatic Spring ​Overlook. It was pretty foggy at the time so we ended up waiting 45min or so for the fog to clear up a lot. Steam was still rising though, so didn't get to see it completely clear.

Final stop before Jackson was Old Faithful. Got lucky with timing and waited about ten minutes to see it erupt.

​I know Yellowstone has a lot, but I feel like we covered a lot in the two nights and half travel days.

Jackson and Grand Teton were also great.

Edit: Few videos posted in comments.

Hey everyone, my girlfriend and I are going to Yellowstone next week. I have done a decent amount of geologic field work there, mostly completely off trail, but she is not familiar with the area. We aren't in great shape anymore, but I would like to find a fairly secluded hiking trail. Hopefully, with some snow, but not necessary if the hike is too strenuous. I miss the feeling of being completely immersed in the park, but I also want to keep safety in mind.

Do y'all have any suggestions for 2-4 mile hikes with scenic views that aren't super crowded (the last time I went was 2017)?

Thanks!

We have a campsite booked at Madison campground and will be car camping in the next week, should we change our dates to September to get away from the crowds and the heat or stick with our reservation? We see it going up to 40 degrees some days.

Week trip planned for end of September. Staying in Gardiner 3 nights and 3 nights in island park.

My odd day is Friday night. We need to leave Gardiner and head somewhere. I really wanted to see the grand Tetons, but not sure if I can squeeze it in.

I know the park is huge. We don’t have anything really planned besides seeing wildlife so I’m pretty flexible in terms of time.
Would it be worth it to drive south towards Tetons and stay at headwaters? That’s really the only place around there that’s available. It’s not cheap, but I keep thinking it might be worth it.

Would it be too long to drive south that far and then Saturday we would need to be heading to island park. Maps says it’s about hr and half drive from headwaters to island park. Not too bad. Basically are the Tetons worth a day?

Has anyone stayed at headwaters?

Thank you!

going to Yellowstone for a few days in August. have campgrounds booked for Madison and Canyon Campground. I obviously plan to do Old Faithful, grand prismatic spring, Grand Canyon (along with many other stops) but what advice would you have for timing those larger tourist attractions? Is there a better time of day to visit these? Advice for parking? TIA

Zoomed in photo included

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!

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.

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 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.

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

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!

• 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.