Yellowstone National Park Information

Yellowstone National Park has the distinction of being designated the first National Park in the world in 1872. The 2.2 million acre park was also designated a World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve.

Yellowstone National Park is located within the borders of three states, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. More than 95% of Yellowstone is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming. To give you a better idea of the size of Yellowstone, the Park is larger than the states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. Click here to see Yellowstone National Park maps.

Yellowstone National Park is famous for the geothermal features, wildlife, recreation, and scenery.

One of the most famous geothermal features is Old Faithful Geyser. Waiting for and watching the eruption of Old Faithful is a great experience that you will enjoy during your Yellowstone vacation.

While you are in the Old Faithful area, be sure to visit the rustic Old Faithful Inn. You will be amazed at the grandeur and history surrounding this famous landmark. If you plan ahead, you might even be able to reserve a room and stay a few nights in the Old Faithful Inn.

Elevations within the park range from a low of 5,282 feet at Reese Creek to an upper elevation of 11,358 feet on Eagle Peak. Due to the high elevation of the Yellowstone Plateau, and the range of elevations, the temperature extremes throughout the year can be dramatic. On average, January is the coldest month with an average temperature of 9 degrees F. July is the warmest month with an average of 80 degrees F. Both the low and high temperature extremes were recorded in the 1930's. The record low was -66 degrees F and the record high was 98 degrees F. Check here for a Yellowstone Park weather forecast and summary.

Yellowstone is a busy Park during the summer months, with around 3 million visitors annually. Only about 150,000 visitors are recorded during the winter months. Popular summer activities include camping, hiking, backpacking, fishing, horseback riding, photography, and viewing wildlife. Winter activities include cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.

There are five entrances to Yellowstone Park through the communities of West Yellowstone, Gardiner, Cooke City, Cody, and Jackson. Road access within the Park is good during the summer months. Their are several loop roads that connect the popular park attractions. There is 465 miles of road within the Park, with 310 miles being paved.

To help accomodate all the Yellowstone visitors there are nine lodging facilities that provide over 2,200 rooms in the form of hotels and cabins. Due to the limited amount of lodging in Yellowstone Park you will want to make your hotel reservations early. There are also great hotels, resorts, and cabins that are found in the communities surrounding Yellowstone National Park. Click here for more information about Yellowstone lodging.

If you want to experience Yellowstone by camping, there are 12 developed campgrounds that provide over 2,000 campsites within Yellowstone Park. These can fill up quickly during the summer months on a first-come-first-served basis. Fortunately, Yellowstone Park is surrounding by National Forests and private lands that provide additional camping opportunities.

As you can imagine, a large Park like Yellowstone, with 3 million visitors a year needs a lot of employees. There are about 800 (380 permanent) National Park employees and about 3,800 concession employees that run the lodges and restaurants.

While Yellowstone can be crowded during the summer, most of the people are on the roads and in the "front country" around the developed sites. If you want to experience the backcountry and get away from the crowds, their are over 950 miles of trails and 287 backcountry campsites.

One of the most popular attractions in Yellowstone is Old Faithful Geyser. While you are waiting for Old Faithful to erupt, be sure to visit the Old Faithful Inn and spend some time sitting in front of the huge rock fireplace.

In addition to Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National  Park is known for the other geothermal features that occur throughout the area.

A majority of Yellowstone Park is actually within a volcanic caldera. The geothermal activity is evidence of the volcanic activity in the area.

The combination of minerals in the geothermal waters gives many of the hot water pools and geyers their beautiful colors. This spectacular aerial view of one of the many mineral pools is a great example of the vivid colors.